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Jesus vs Terminator

What would happen if Hollywood got hold of salvation history? The following video is meant to be funny and it is. But consider that it unwittingly makes a very important point. You see, Hollywood loves the happy ending and notions like the cross are quite foreign there. Hence, in this clip the Terminator, (Arnold!) won’t let Jesus die! According to Hollywood Jesus, our hero has to live. Now if Hollywood with its worldly perspective got its way we’d still be dead in our sins. An old Gospel song says, “He would not come down from that Cross just to save himself. He decided to die just to save me.”

So now that you’ve permitted me to be serious for just a moment, enjoy a rather silly video, though please overlook the “cartoonish” violence that is part of the shtick.

I’m in the Holy Land this week until November 8th. I have scheduled blogs that will appear each day while I’m away so stay tuned! My participation in the comments however may be a little light since my time with the internet will be sporadic. Comments will be moderated by someone else on the team and I’ll participate when I can. – Msgr Pope.

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Natural Law is Not New

The Natural Law Tradition of the Catholic Church is often criticised by some Protestants and more often by secularists. Some think of it as merely an invention of the scholastic period. Others (esp. some of the Protestants) think we should limit our discourse to the Scriptures alone. But Catholicism has always seen God’s revelation in broader terms that Scripture alone. To be sure, Scripture along with Sacred Tradition is revelation it is clearest manifestation. But creation too is revelation from God and speaks to his will and to his attributes.

Natural Law, far from being an invention of the Middle Ages is enshrined in Scripture. We find it in the Wisdom Tradition of the Scriptures and also in the New Testament. Most clearly, St. Paul points to it in the Letter to the Romans:

What may be known about God is plain to [the Gentiles],  because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. (Rom 1:19-20)

Notice that St. Paul does not speak of murky sort of revelation vaguely noticeable in creation but rather a revelation that can be “clearly seen.” Paul does not call this revelation “natural law” (that designation would come later) but what we now call Natural Law is what Paul is speaking of here.

Further, the concept of “Logos” present in the prologue to St. John’s Gospel also enshrines Natural Law premises. The ancient Jews, particularly those who collected the Wisdom Tradition in the Scriptures (Books such as Wisdom, Sirach, Ecclesiastes, Proverbs etc.) understood that the created world has a Logike (a kind of Logic) based on the fact that God made it through his Logos (Word). When God spoke creation into existence through his Word (Logos) his Logos sets things forth with a Logike(logic) that is discernible and could be studied to make one wise in the ways (the logic) of God. We have come to call this scriptural teaching, Natural Law. In effect we can discern a logic of rationality to what God has made and come to know of God and his will for us.

As a final example of the antiquity of Natural Law in the I would like to share excerpts from one of the Church Fathers, Athanasius who teaches on in his great work, “Against the Arians.” In this excerpt Athanasius uses the term “Wisdom” but the teaching, as you shall see is the same as the Logos tradition and what we have come to call “Natural Law.”  Here are excerpts:

An impress of Wisdom has been created in us and in all his works. Therefore, the true Wisdom which shaped the world claims for himself all that bears his image…Wisdom himself is not created, because he is the Creator, but by reason of the created image of himself found in his works, he speaks [of himself] as if he were a creature, and he says: The Lord created me in his works, when his purpose first unfolded.   The likeness of Wisdom has been stamped upon creatures in order that the world may recognise in it the Word who was its maker and through the Word come to know the Father. This is Paul’s teaching: What can be known about God is clear to them, for God has shown it to them. Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature has been there for the mind to perceive in things that have been made….So there is a wisdom in created things, as the son of Sirach too bears witness: The Lord has poured it out upon all his works, to be with men as his gift, and with wisdom he has abundantly equipped those who love him….and in the light of this wisdom the heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament proclaims the work of his hands. –  Discourse “Against the Arians” by St Athanasius

Hence we see a valuable and very ancient pearl in what we have come to call Natural Law. In these secular times the testimony of Natural Tradition gives us something of a basis to address a world that rejects the authority of Scripture. The use of Scripture may still be best in the circle of believers, (though even there the testimony of Natural Law should not be overlooked), but Natural Law can provide a possible basis for discussion with non-believers. Even here, there are challenges today. In an age as “skeptical” as ours the plain testimony of “reality” is not so plain to some who radically doubt that we can or should derive moral norms from things that appear in creation. Still Natural Law at least provides some navigating points for a discussion with most non-believers.

One of the glories of the Catholic Church is our rich appeal to several sources for truth. Scripture surely ranks first but Sacred Tradition supplies us additional revelation in addition an interpretive key for the Scriptures. Further, Natural Law, attested to in the Scriptures also supplies a witness to the truth about God and it reveals his glory. This is the broad and beautiful foundation upon which the Catholic faith rests.

The following video sets forth the challenges that a radical skepticism poses and illustrates why the Natural Law is a precious gift to be recovered and respected.

I’m in the Holy Land this week until November 8th. I have scheduled blogs that will appear each day while I’m away so stay tuned! My participation in the comments however may be a little light since my time with the internet will be sporadic. Comments will be moderated by someone else on the team and I’ll participate when I can. – Msgr Pope.

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Time to Act

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Faithful Citizenship

As you probably know from the news, the House has begun debate on a health care bill. Now is the time to weigh in. If you are having trouble wading through the material, I call your attention to the latest newsletter from the Maryland Catholic Conference. http://capwiz.com/mdcath/issues/alert/?alertid=14280056

Both in the health care debate and the same-sex marriage debate, many people wonder why the church is “getting into politics.”  In both cases, one could say that the church has always been a partner with the state. We are the single largest private provider of health care in the U.S.. When a priest witnesses the marriage of a couple, he represents both the church and the state. Unlike, many European, Central and South American countries in which couples must have a civil ceremony before a church wedding, in the U.S. this is not the case, the priest (or any minister) is given authority from the state to solemnize the marriage in the name of the state.

The Mission of the Laity

Perhaps, more importantly, it is the vocation of the lay person, by virtue of the prophetic charism of our  Baptism, that we bear Christ and the Good News to the world. It is the laity whom the church assumes will take the lead in building the reign of God by bringing the Gospel to bear on the issues of the day. This does not mean making the state Catholic, but rather taking seriously our responsibility to assess decisions, legislation, and law in light of our conscience and the teaching of the Church.

Religious Liberty

Both of these issues also raise serious questions about the Constitution’s protection of religious liberty and the practice of religion. Pope Benedict spoke to this issue in his address to the United Nations during his 2008 visit to the United States. To the U. N. General Assembly he said “It is inconceivable, then, that believers should have to suppress a part of themselves–their faith–in order to be active citizens. It should never be necessary to deny God in order to enjoy one’s rights….The full guarantee of religious liberty cannot be limited to the free exercise of worship, but has to give due consideration to the public dimension of religion, and hence to the possibility of believers playing their part in building social order” (General Assembly of the United Nations, 4/18/08).

The proposed legislation on both topics involve serious threats to both individuals and Catholic(and other religious) organizations to both meet the mandate to serve all of God’s people and to be able to preserve our freedom to live and teach the faith. It is unimaginable that the Church would limit the services of our schools, hospitals, social service agencies and other programs to Catholics only.  This, in and of itself,  is against the teaching of the Church. However, it is also unimaginable that we would place ourselves in a compromising position with regard to the Gospel.

The partnership of Church and State in the U.S has been enormously successful in building a school system and health care system that has educated and cared for millions of Americans.  It would be a tremendous loss to our communities to lose this partnership.

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Holy Land Greetings

I have been in the Holy Land since Saturday and send you all greetings. Though this is not my first visit here I am aware of certain special blessings on this trip.

Mass on Calvary– Today I had the privilege of celebrating Mass at the top of Mount Calvary (Golgotha). As many of you know, the site of the crucifixion and burial of the Lord is well attested to archaeologically and historically. A large Church was built over the site at first in the Byzantine period (the period just after the Edict of Constantine). Parts of the current Church date back to the 7thCentury. At one end of the Church is a tall hill, covered over by the Church structure but reachable by steep stairs. At the top of the platform high up in the church the rock face of Calvary is exposed and there is a hole (under the Orthodox Altar) which pilgrims can reach through to touch the spot where the cross stood. Just six feet to the right of that is the Roman Catholic Altar. I was privileged today to celebrate Mass at that very altar with my parish group. You can see it in the photo to the right. In the photo the altar with the red cloth is the Orthodox altar directly over the site of the Crucifixion. The Roman Catholic Altar is to the right with a white lace altar cloth. In a previous pilgrimage we used a chapel in an annex of the church far away from Calvary. But today I got to celebrate right on Golgotha. It is one of the highlights of my whole life.

The Holy Land is Catholic – Another strong impression of my visit is that to visit the Holy Land is “enter” the Catholic Church, at least physically. At almost every site, the place is dominated by a Catholic Church: At Capernaum, the place where the loaves and fishes were multiplied, Cana, Nazareth, the Mount of the Beatitudes, Mt Tabor, in all these places there is only one Church building, it is a Catholic Church Building. In Jerusalem too, most all of the sites have a Catholic Church: The Mount of Olives, Dominus Flevit, the Garden of Gethsemene, the upper room and on Mount Sion (DormitionChurch and site of the Last Supper), the house of Caiaphas, the palce of the trial before Pontius Pilate etc. I wonder what Protestant Christians experience as they visit site after site and see, once again, a Catholic Church, (Blessed Sacrament and all)  either at the site or literally on top of it? And in the few sites where the church is not Catholic (Bethlehem and Holy Sepulchre) it is the Orthodox who oversee it and in both cases there is a strong Roman Catholic presence as well. I do not intend to convey a triumphalist attitude but only to say I feel very proud and happy to be a Catholic here in the Holy Land. Almost every site is fundamentally a Catholic site.

Grateful for the Franciscans– Lastly I want to say that we ought to be very grateful to the Franciscans of the Holy Land for the wonderful care they give these holy sites. They have surely been most kind to our group in allowing us to say Mass as well. At each site they are hospitable to everyone and keep the Churches clean and the holy sites in good repair. They have also been respectful of archeology and been most helpful to the process of verifying the authenticity of the sites.  I contrast the wonderful care of the Franciscans with the less than impressive condition of the several places controlled by the Orthodox. I am sadly surprised at the poor conditions in those places and would expect more from our Orthodox brethren (more on this in a future post).  Bottom line here is: We have much for which to be grateful to the Franciscans of the Holy Land. It is through their kindness that I have been able to celebrate Mass not only today but each day at many sites: Mt. Beatitude, Mount Sion and Holy Sepulchre.

These are just a few thoughts as I send you greetings from the Holy Land.

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The Universal Prayer

To my mind, one of the most remarkable prayers ever written was one attributed to Pope Clement XI. He was Pope from 1700-1721. The prayer is called “universal”  because of its sweeping themes. Upon completing it one may well ask if anything was left out, and one would have to conclude, likely not!

If you are looking for a prayer to set on your night stand, this is surely one of them. I often pray this prayer when my mind is dull. I admire its beauty and style. It is deeply personal and humble. It is not trite but neither is it stuffy. One of my favorite sections is this:

Let me love you, my Lord and my God,
And see myself as I really am:
A pilgrim in this world,
A Christian called to respect and love
All whose lives I touch,
Those under my authority,
My friends and my enemies.

As beautiful and helpful as the Universal Prayer is, it is almost unknown. It is a bit longish to reproduce fully here on the blog page but I have made a PDF you can open, download or print. You can get it here:   THE UNIVERSAL PRAYER

Here also is a video wherein the prayer is recited. Now off to prayer with you!

I’m in the Holy Land this week until November 8th. I have scheduled blogs that will appear each day while I’m away so stay tuned! My participation in the comments however may be a little light since my time with the internet will be sporadic. Comments will be moderated by someone else on the team and I’ll participate when I can. – Msgr Pope.

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Five Hard Truths That Will Set You Free

Some years ago I read an essay by  the Franciscan Theologian Richard Rohr. I will say that I do not share a lot of agreement with Richard Rohr (no need to detail that here) but I found this particular essay compelling. I do not recall the exact title of that essay but in my mind the title “Five Hard Truths that Will Set You Free” seems the best title.  The following  five truths from that essay are indeed hard truths. They tend to rock our world and stab at the heart of some of our most cherished modern notions. But if they can be accepted for the truth they convey they bring great peace. We live is a rather self-absorbed, self-pre-occupied time and these five truths are not only good medicine for that but they also help us to have more realistic expectations as we live in an imperfect and limited world. Study these truths well. If they irritate you a bit, good, they’re supposed to. They are meant to provoke thought and reassessment. The principles are Richard Rohr’s the comments are mine.

  1. Life is hard –We live in rather comfortable times. These are times of convenience and central air conditioning. Medicine has removed a lot of pain and suffering and consumer goods are in abundance and variety. Entertainment comes in many varieties and is often inexpensive. Hard labor is something few of us know, obesity is common due to over abundance. Because of all these creature comforts we have tended to expect that life should always be peachy. We are rather outraged at suffering, inconvenience and delay. Our ancestors lived lives that were far more brutal and short and they often spoke of life as a “vale of tears” and understood that suffering was just a part of life. But when we suffer we start to think in terms of lawsuits. Suffering seems obnoxious to us, hard work, unreasonable! We are often easily angered and flung into anxiety at the mere threat of suffering. This principle reminds us that suffering and difficulty are part of life, something that should be expected. Accepting suffering does not mean we have to like it. But acceptance of the fact that life can be hard at times means we get less angry and anxious when it does come. We do not lose serenity. Accepting that suffering is inevitable brings a strange sort of peace. We are freed from unrealistic expectations that merely breed resentments. We also become more grateful for the joys we do experience. Accepting that life can be hard is a truth that sets us free.
  2. Your life is not about you– If you want to make God laugh tell Him your plans. We often like to think that we should just be able to do what ever pleases us and maximizes our “self-actualization.” However, we do not decide alone what course our life will take. In this age of “nobody tells me what to do” it is important to be reminded that our true happiness comes not from getting what we want but what God wants. Our destiny isn’t to follow our star but to follow God. True peace comes from careful discernment of God’s will for us. It is sad how few people today ever really speak with God about important things like careers, entering into a marriage, pondering a large project. We just go off and do what we please and expect God to bail us out if it doesn’t go well. You and I do not exist merely for our own whims, we have a place in God’s plan. Our serenity is greater when we prayerfully discern that place and humbly seek God’s will. Accepting the fact that we are not merely masters of our own destiny and captains of our own ship gives us greater peace and usually saves us a lot of mileage. Humbly accepting the truth that my life is not simply about me and what I want is a truth that sets me free. This is true because we often don’t get what we want. If we can allow life to unfold more and not demand that everything be simply what I want I am  more serene and free.
  3. You are not in control– Control is something of an illusion. You and I may have plans for tomorrow but there are many things between now and tomorrow over which I have no control. For example, I cannot even control or guarantee the next beat of my heart. Hence I may think I have tomorrow under control but tomorrow is not promised and may never come. Because we think we control a few things we think we can control many things. Not really. Our attempts to control and manipulate outcomes are comical if not hurtful. Thinking that we can control many things leads us to think that we must control them. This in turn leads to great anxiety and often anger. We usually think that if we are in control we will be less anxious. This is not true, we are more anxious. The more we think we can control the more we try to control and thus the greater our burdens and anxiety. In the end we get angry because we discover that there many things and people we cannot control after all. This causes frustration and fear. We would be freer and less anxious if we would simply accept the fact that there are many things, most things, over which I have no control. Our expectation of everything being under control is unrealistic. Life comes at you fast and brooding over unpredictable things and uncontrollable matters is bondage. Simply accepting that I am often not in control is freeing.
  4. You are not that important– Uh Oh! Now this one hurts. I thought the whole world should revolve around me. I thought it was only my feelings that mattered and my well- being that was important. Truth be told, we are loved by God in a very particular way but that does not over rule the fact that I must often yield to others who are also loved by God in a very special way. The truth is sometimes that other people are more important than me. I might even be called on to give my life so that others may live. I must often yield to others whose needs are more crucial than mine. The world doesn’t exist just for me and what I want. There is great peace and freedom in coming to accept this. We are often made so anxious if we are not recognized and others are or if our feelings and preferences are not everyone’s priority. Accepting the truth that I am not that important allows us to relax and enjoy caring about other people and celebrating their importance too.
  5. You are going to die. – Oh man, that’s cold. Yes, it is a hard truth but it is very freeing. We get all worked up about what this world dishes out. But talk a walk in a cemetery. Those folks were all worked up too. Now their struggles are over and, if they were faithful they are with God. Trouble don’t last always. This truth also helps us to do the most important thing: get ready to meet God. So many people spend their lives clowning around and goofing off. Yet our most urgent priority is to prepare to meet God. In the end, this is freeing because we are loosed from the many, excessive and contrary demands of the world and we concentrate on doing the one thing necessary. Our life simplifies and we don’t take this world too seriously, it is passing away. There is peace and freedom in coming to accept this.

So there you have them. Five hard truths that will set you free. Think about them. Memorize them too and pull them out when life comes at you fast and hard with it’s agenda of control, self importance and empty promises of perfect comfort here on earth. A simple, sober, humble and focused life brings great serenity.

I’m in the Holy Land this week until November 8th. I have scheduled blogs that will appear each day while I’m away so stay tuned! My participation in the comments however may be a little light since my time with the internet will be sporadic. Comments will be moderated by someone else on the team and I’ll participate when I can. – Msgr Pope.

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Good Grief

As a priest I walk with a lot of people in their grief. It’s a regular part of priesthood but lately it’s been hard and heavy:

  • A parishioner lost her 4 year old nephew when, climbing on a dresser, it fell over on him and he was killed
  • Another parishioner lost her 25 year old son, know well to us all, when he was shot to death.
  • Our beloved receptionist at the parish went home last Friday, apparently healthy,  and died in her sleep.
  • The mother of our previous pastor, known and loved by all in this parish died last week after a long illness.

Grief is one of the most painful and terrible emotions we can experience. It can crush us like a ton of bricks or loom over us like a dark cloud. Sometimes in sudden loss we just go numb only to discover that numbness is not a lack of feeling at all. It is a feeling, a kind of general malaise lurking in us like a low grade depression. Grief sometimes comes in cycles. One day we think we are finally getting better and suddenly we’re back in the soup, for no particular reason we can discern and we wonder what we did wrong.

Grief just has a life of its own. I often tell people that you can’t get around grief you just have to go through it and experience it to its top. It seldom lets us off the hook. It has something to say to us, something to give us.

I have often thought the gift that grief gives us is love. Many years ago Simon and Garfunkel sang the song “I am a Rock, I am an Island.” The song celebrated a loveless solitude and declared “If I never loved I never would have cried.” The final line of the song said, “And a rock feels no pain, and an Island never cries.”  Perhaps they do not. But we who love do cry and grieve. And it is precisely the grief that can deepen our love.

Many years ago (1990) my sister died in a fire. She had been mentally ill all her life and I struggled to relate to her. In many ways I feared her. When I first got news she had died in the fire I just went numb. We in the family wondered if we might be able to view her body or not. The funeral director told us we could view her privately but since her skin has been singed in the fire it was too delicate to touch her. Further, because of this,  he had not been able to adjust her face in any way. Nevertheless he thought she was presentable enough for the family to have a private viewing. We I looked upon my sister and saw her face it was very clear that she was crying when she died. For the first time in my life I wept for my sister and lamented the awful mental illness that had caused her such hardship. For the first time I understood her dignity. I guess I am sorry that it took her death for me to come to that appreciation and love of her. But that was the gift that my grief gave me, it intensified my love for my sister. I still cry from time to time when I think of that moment. It was painful but it was a gift and it remains so.

If we let it, our grief will bring us gifts in strange packages. Because of it our love and respect for those we have lost is intensified. Our longing for union with them one day again is deepened and our memories of them become more precious. It is true that the intensity of grief may lessen over the years but most of us know it never completely departs. Why should it? If we love there should always be a part of us that cannot bear to be apart from those we love. We grieve because we love and thank God we love, thank God we love.

Nothing can fill the gap when we are away from those we love, and it would be wrong to try and find anything. We must simply hold out and win through. That sounds very hard at first, but at the same time it is a great consolation, since leaving the gap unfilled preserves the bonds between us. It is nonsense to say that God fills the gap. God does not fill it, but keeps it empty so that our communion with each other may be kept alive, even at the cost of pain. Dietrich Bonhoeffer  – Letters from Prison

Here is a video that depicts grief. I hope you’ll listen closely to the words of the song for they eloquently describe grief. The video portion shows a young woman lamenting the loss of her boyfriend. She struggles to be free of her grief even to the point of tearing up one of his letters. But the problem is not on the paper, it is in her heart. The only way to respect her grief and be free of its strongest shakles is to accept the gift it brings, love undying.

I’m in the Holy Land this week until November 8th. I have scheduled blogs that will appear each day while I’m away so stay tuned! My participation in the comments however may be a little light since my time with the internet will be sporadic. Comments will be moderated by someone else on the team and I’ll participate when I can. – Msgr Pope.

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Silly things commonly said at funerals.

Adding to my thoughts on “grateful and brokenhearted”, one common mistake we make upon learning of someone’s death, is that we try to avoid or minimize our grief.  I think those who know us and love us but, were not necessarily as affected by the loss, want us to get past the grieving as quickly as possible.  So, frankly, in their attempts to help us, they do and say some silly things.

“Homegoing service”

Let start with calling a funeral a “Homegoing service.”  I have always been bothered by this!  I have begged my family to make sure that when I die, do let anyone call my funeral a “homegoing service.”  I need a funeral, not a “homegoing service.”  I need an evening of prayers followed by a Mass of Christian burial.  Why?  First of all, anything else it implies that no one is supposed to be sad at my death.  Not only are we supposed to be sad at the death of someone;  God is sad at the death of someone because, death was never part of His plan for us.  Death entered the world because of our sins, not because God planned it.  God will overcome it nonetheless.  But, to call the funeral rites a “homegoing service” confuses joy with hope.

My father died when I was only nine years old and there was NOTHING joyous about that.  I was sad then and over 30 years later, I get sad now.   Furthermore, I actually get resentful if someone suggests that I am not supposed to be sad anymore.  However, each time I pray for him, I am filled with hope.  That is what being a Catholic is all about; Hope.  And genuine Christian hope feels wonderful and can actually make you smile.

God needed another angel in heaven.

First off, we are not angels.  Angels are angels.  Human beings are human beings.  God does not need us to be an angel or anything else for that matter. Rather, God WANTS us to be part of the heavenly kingdom. To suggest that when a musician dies, God needed another player for some ethereal orchestra is silly.  The heavenly kingdom would get along fine without us.  Instead, God loves us and WANTS us to be part of it.  He does not NEED us.  How cruel and selfish would it be for God to cause pain and suffering because of some otherworldly essential?  God did not plan for your death or the death of your loved one.  He only planned His response, through His own death and resurrection.

We should not be sad today.

When I hear this, I want to scream, “Are you kidding?!”   When Lazarus died, Jesus wept.  When any of the faithful dies, I would like to think Jesus weeps.  I am convinced that Jesus shares our sadness.   However, unlike us sinners, Jesus responds to death with perfect love and hope.  Nonetheless, even though death has been overcome by Christ, the pain and sadness we feel initially is no different from the pain and sadness our own Mother Mary felt at the foot of the Cross.  When I preside at a funeral, I pray that the congregates leave with a renewed and sustained hope in the resurrection of their loved one.  But to suggest that one should not be sad or that one should not cry would be misguided at best, if not cruel.

Christ our Hope

During Pope Benedict’s visit to the United States, the theme “Christ our hope” was repeated throughout the visit.  Regarding Christian hope, the Catechism of the Catholic Church reads, “We firmly believe, and hence we hope that, just as Christ is truly risen from the dead and lives for ever, so after death the righteous will live for ever with the risen Christ and he will raise them up on the last day. Our resurrection, like his own, will be the work of the Most Holy Trinity:

If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit who dwells in you. – Rom 8:11

Brothers and Sisters, as we commemorate the faithful departed today, let us weep if needed and let us be sad. Also, let us remember fondly our loved ones and, if possible recall a good memory or two.  But, most importantly, let us hope for the joy of the resurrection of all us.