Homily given by Bishop John Sherrington at Westminster Cathedral on Sunday 7th November 2021 at the Mass for those who have died in the pandemic
The Mass this evening is offered for the souls of all those who have died during the pandemic. We pray that the Lord may welcome them home into the promise of eternal life in heaven where they will shine with the glory of the saints. May they rest in peace.
The Feast of All Saints and the Commemoration of All Souls earlier in the week have attuned our hearts to praying for those who have died. On the Feast of All Saints, we glimpsed the glory of God and looked forward to the hope of sharing in Christ’s Resurrection when we will see the Father face-to-face. On All Souls Day, we prayed for those being purified before they are worthy to see the fullness and holiness of God. Our Mass this evening is part of that prayer offered by the Church during November for those who have died. This deeply Catholic understanding of prayer for the dead reminds us of the mercy of God and the need to be made holy before we can see God face-to-face. St Catherine of Genoa (d. 1510), a Genoese noblewoman, who served the sick and poor in hospitals and went on to become a leader in these hospitals, helps us understand the mystery of purgatory. She describes the purification of purgatory as the removal of the rust of sin so that those who have died can be cleaned, restored and transformed to meet God. She describes the burning love which the soul that has partially glimpsed God experiences. This desire for God leads to purification and the melting away of the history and effects of sin as the soul is drawn gently into the life of God and led to holiness. We affirm in the Creed the final transformation at the General Judgement when the resurrection of the body will lead to the fulfilment of the ‘new heavens and new earth’.
This evening we offer to the Father in this Mass all those who died during the pandemic, often in lonely circumstances and with great suffering. We pray for the many families who were unable to be consoled by a funeral service or Requiem Mass during the time when churches were closed. Whilst small groups of mourners gathered at the graveside or in the crematorium, they did not receive the full consolation of the Church’s liturgy. Often amid the beauty of spring as it burst forth into the world last year, this season provided its own sign of Easter blessings in the bleak world of social distancing, isolation, and testing. The hope of Easter and the light of the Paschal Candle, though celebrated in empty churches, continued to shine forth and proclaim the resurrection of Christ from the dead and the hope expressed in the Preface for the Dead, ‘Indeed for your faithful, Lord, life is changed not ended, and when this earthly dwelling turns to dust, and eternal dwelling is made ready for them in heaven.’
St Paul tells us that ‘If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.’ (Rom 14:8) Living in Christ, the readings today speak of divine logic and not human logic and forcefully tell us that God’s ways are not our ways.
In the parable of the widow’s mite, Jesus speaks of the gift and abundant blessings that flow from generosity. Just as she offered all that she had, we too are called to use our gifts and talents generously without counting the cost for the wellbeing and flourishing of others. We thank all those whose commitment bore the burdens of the day during the pandemic and who continue to do so, especially in hospitals and care homes, and all those, especially essential workers, who went the extra mile for others in threatening and unknown circumstances. The dedicated presence of hospital chaplains brought consolation to those who were sick and dying, if possible with the sacraments, although they needed to dress in PPE and knew that it was right to take the risk and enter COVID zones. The fear was palpable, and we can all too easily forget the sacrifices that were made. The powerful inspiration of the quiet widow is an invitation to go the extra mile to serve those in need. Like the Sidonian widow in the story of the prophet Elijah, generosity brings forth an abundance of God’s gifts in ways we cannot understand or predict.
Our inspiration and exemplar is Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, who offered himself once and for all, bearing the weight of our sins, so that we would be redeemed, receive his gift of grace and gain entry to the glories of heaven. In the words of the Letter to the Hebrews, ‘he has made his appearance once and for all, now at the end of the last age, to do away with sin by sacrificing himself.’ We adore thee O Christ and we praise Thee because by Thy holy cross, Thou hast redeemed the world.
Over the centuries at times of sickness, pestilence and plague, people have sought the intercession of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. We recall that the second half of the Hail Mary asking her intercession comes from the time of the Black Death. Pope Francis, on Easter Sunday last year, prayed before the icon of Our Lady Salus Populi Romani and the miraculous crucifix from the church of San Marcello in Rome. We ask her intercession again for all who continue to suffer from the pandemic. The Pietà at the front of the Cathedral is a source of comfort for all those who mourn as the Blessed Mother held and grieved over her son’s corpse.
May Our Lady of Sorrows bring consolation to those in need.
Bishop John Sherrington