A Homily Preached at a Cemetery Mass

As we gather here for this graveyard Mass, it is well for us to remember what it is we are doing when we gather in a cemetery and when we care for a graveyard. The monuments and crosses scattered about us remind us that this is a place of memories. Indeed, many of them bear the inscription In Loving Memory. Buried all around us are our departed ancestors, relations and friends. From them we have received so much and it is only right and just that we continue to be grateful to them and show our respect by caring for their graves. Rememberance of the dead is a mark of basic human decency.
Maybe we honour parents or grandparents who did so much for us when we were young, passing on their wisdom, their values and their faith. Perhaps we remember the kindness of departed friends and relations. Perhaps we’re here as a mark of respect to ancestors that we have no personal memory of, but about whom we’ve heard from our elders. We should also remember the many unknown and forgotten people here in this graveyard, many of whom lived lives of hardship and struggle that we today cannot fully understand. Our remembrance of the dead bears witness to the fact that a person’s good deeds and the memories of a life well-lived are of lasting value.

As Christians, however, a place like this is not simply about memories. It is not only about remembering with affection those who have gone before us. We also remember them with hope. Christ promises us that those the Father has given Him will be raised up on the last day. At every Sunday Mass we finish the Creed by saying We believe in the Resurrection of the dead, and life everlasting, Amen. We remember the Risen Christ appearing to His disciples in His glorified flesh and we believe that His victory over death is such that not only do our souls survive but that at the end of time, both body and soul will be re-united and restored in an extraordinary way that we cannot comprehend on this side of the grave. However, the respect we show to the remains of the deceased and out visits to the graves of our departed loved ones is a very concrete way of expressing our faith in this mysterious resurrection of the body. By coming to the very place where a loved one’s mortal remains were laid to rest, we are saying that we trust that some day both body and soul will be glorified, and the relationships which have been interrupted by death, will be restored in the paradise that Christ Himself has promised to those who die in His peace.

Finally, we remember the words of scripture that it is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they might be released from their sins. Above all, an occasion like this is an opportunity to pray for our dead, and assist them in their final purification. Perhaps we don’t hear enough about purgatory and the importance of praying for the dead any more. Perhaps we make the mistake of thinking of the idea of purgatory as being a gloomy kind of idea. It is no such thing. It is one of the most merciful doctrines in the Catechism. To those who die in a state of grace, but have some residual imperfection or some outstanding reparation for a sin is given the chance of a final purification, so that they are totally happy when they meet their Maker in His glory. Were they not to receive this time of preparation, their joy in the presence of God would be marred by their shame at their imperfection and unworthiness. They would be like guests who found themselves at a wedding wearing the dirty old clothes they use for work about the farm. Purgatory is like the chance to clean up and get changed, so that they are ready for the great wedding-feast of heaven. Lord knows, we might all be grateful for the opportunity. I remember once hearing of a distinguished theologian who told his students that the Holy Souls are happy souls. They know that they are on the threshold of seeing God face-to-face, and it is a great mercy to speed them through this last period of preparation, so that they can worthily and joyfully see God face-to-face.

We therefore pray here for our dead – not in sorrow, but in anticipation. We also pray that this cemetery will continue to be a worthy place of remembrance and a place of prayer. Whether we are going to end up buried here or somewhere else, let us also ask the Lord to bless those who care for graveyards and ask Him that future generations will not neglect to care for our resting places and will not forget to assist us with their prayers for the dead when will have need of them.