Benedictine Cemetery Cross

Day of Burial

January 24, 2005 Day of Burial for Sister Imelda Romans 6:3-4, 8-9

Or are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might live in newness of life. If, then, we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. We know that Christ, raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer has power over him.

This morning we have a special Liturgy of the Hours here for the burial day of Sister Imelda. The hymn this morning is "Unless a Grain of Wheat." The image of a grain of wheat dying and falling into the ground is powerful for me. The grain of wheat must die in order to become a seed for a new harvest of many grains. It is a life giving and very real lesson from God's creation.

Rev. Msgr. Ronald J. Rozniak, Pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Ridgewood, New Jersey addressed the point of faith of acceptance that as St. Paul says in the letter that in death there is new life. Msgr. was speaking several years ago at an Easter Vigil homily after the recent death of his father. It comes to a point in our personal lives when our belief as a Christian in eternal life or life after death is directly put to the test.

Ultimately, the Christian way of life means for me the belief in the Resurrection and our salvation through it. If there is no life after death, much of the Christian religion becomes untethered and lost. To speak or write is one matter and to truly believe and live the Christian life faithfully is another. Today I have great reverence for a Sister who lived 87 years and in 71 of those years was a faithful servant of God in our monastery with an awesome and powerful, simple, quiet faith that was steadfast. God bless her.