Mass for Deceased Members of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul

Celebrated by Archbishop Denis Hart
at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Melbourne,
on Tuesday, 12th November, 2002, at 7.30pm

Homily

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

I am very pleased to be with you today to remember in a special way those patrons and members of the Saint Vincent de Paul Society who have died this past year. I think too we might include in our prayers all those who have been recipients of the famed V de P charity and compassion. Many of these too have gone to God this year, and many others are sick, struggling, and lonely. We remember them all as we come before the altar of the Lord, asking for forgiveness and eternal rest for all the departed.

November is of course the traditional ‘month of the dead’ for Catholics. Each year we set this month aside to remember, in particular our own deceased family, friends, and colleagues. This year, however, our thoughts are also with others who need our prayers. I am thinking of the young people who have died violently and long before their time in Bali, those who died last month in Moscow, and others elsewhere. It seems no time at all since we gathered in churches across the land to pray for the murder of New Yorkers last year. A year later we gathered again, this time to pray for our own dead. And we all remain only too aware that the spectres of war and terrorist atrocity still hang over our land and our world.

In a society in which many do not share our faith, secular customs and traditions have developed for honouring the dead and expressing grief —vast carpets of flowers are laid, memorial concerts takes place, there is mass media coverage, and so forth. These practices are sincere and often moving attempts to come to terms with violence and sudden death. But we must not forget too our own Christian ways of marking death and remembering the dead.

As Christians, we pray for the dead, in particular praying for their eternal rest and their forgiveness; we offer Masses for the repose of souls, particularly in this month of November; we ponder the Scriptures and the teaching of the Church on the meaning of death and suffering; and we work — as the St Vincent de Paul Society knows so well — to support those who are left behind, needy and heartbroken.

In our first reading today we hear the wonderful news that God will destroy death forever. Isaiah pictures this as a banquet on a mountaintop: God will raise his people up from their mourning and anxiety, and bring them to share with him in eternal life. Sometimes we can find this difficult to grasp — particularly when we are the ones who are bereaved or anxious. Yet, as Our Lord explains in the Gospel, unless wheat grains fall and lie buried in the earth, they can never bring about a rich harvest.

It takes time to yield a harvest. As all of us know in our drought-stricken land, waiting for new growth and new life is frustrating and frightening. In life and in death, we need great patience and great faith. We are called to believe that, despite all appearances, new life will come again, if only we persevere and have faith.

Like us, Jesus suffered at the thought of his own death. He wept tears of blood and he prayed that there might be another way. But sometimes there is no other way. When this is so, we should remember: ‘the Lord Jesus has already been through this; he has shown us the way. In time, his banquet of eternal life will begin.’

I am very conscious of the good that the Society does in the Archdiocese and throughout our country. We are all deeply proud of your work and I am personally very grateful for all that you do. It is important too that you continue your works of charity by praying for your departed colleagues, friends, and benefactors. Though they are beyond our sight, they need our prayers now, as they needed our support in life.

So I thank you again for all the wonderful work that you do. And I ask you all to pray with me that God will remove the mourning veil, and that he will keep us all in his care in these troubled times.

+ Denis J. Hart,
Archbishop of Melbourne.