Funeral sermon

Today our parish community has gathered to escort the body of our poor sister (name) on the last earthly path. It is possible that in addition to natural grief, our hearts may also be asked: What happens after death? Of course, we can answer this question from God’s revelation and the teaching of the Church, but we still need to strengthen our faith and hope. The famous film producer Cecil B. de Mille liked to retreat into solitude when he had to solve a problem. One day he sailed on his boat to a lake in Maine, and he was just aimlessly carried away by the waves to think about his problem. The boat drove to the mainland and stuck on the shallow water, there was only a few inches of water. De Mile looked down and saw the bottom dotted with water beetles. One of them floated to the surface and slowly crawled up the boat wall. When he reached the edge of the boat, he died.

De Mille returned to his problem. After a while, he saw a beetle again. Armor cracked in the hot sun. Suddenly, the armor broke and the dragonfly showed up. She took to the air and played in all the colors in the sun. This winged creature could fly farther than the beetle would have gone through in days. The dragonfly again approached the surface where de Mille saw her shadow in the water. It is very likely that the water beetles also saw the dragonfly in depth, but her former mate now lived in another world beyond their understanding. They still lived their modest existence, while their winged relatives enjoyed full freedom between heaven and earth. When de Mille later talked about his experience, he ended with an emphatic question: “Will the Creator of the universe not do for man what he will do for a beetle?” (Mosaic of Joy, Magdalena Richter, LÚČ, Bratislava 1997, p. 96).

Our sister (name), whose body we bury today, has already experienced this new life. And perhaps now we are amazed at our grief, which is not agreeing with the beauty of the new life which we hope God has given her. Although we do not yet have this experience of eternal life in God, it makes sense to think about and prepare for it. The gospel calls us to vigilance and the very fact that we do not know the hour of our own death encourages us to do so. In this sense, Thomas of  Kempen says: “When the last hour comes, you will start thinking completely about your previous life and you will be very sorry that you have been so careless and indifferent.” our faith and hope, but somehow reveal the features of future life with God. And death thus ceases to be a great unknown for us, which arouses fear, but a joyous gateway to a new and eternal life. Amen.