Funerals have occupied me for the last several days. Friday was the service for our beloved Polly Stewart Fritch, integral part of our parish family.  Saturday was the service for long-time Christ Church member Warren Greene. Monday was, of course, the state funeral for Queen Elizabeth followed by the more personal one held at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle.

       Reflecting on these very different, and in each case moving ceremonies, I’m left with three primary impressions: unity, continuity and hope.

Unity

       Funerals are unifying. Of course, they’re sad occasions. We’ve lost loved ones. Grief is a painful emotion; sometimes—depending on our relationship—overwhelming, overpowering, devastating. It can be crippling.

       At the same time, we come together to celebrate the life of the person we’ve lost, express our love for them and commend them into the presence of our all-loving God. We come unified in our need to express our love, to remember the person we honor, to cherish our memories. We gain unifying strength from the other mourners; from the Lord, we find the power to carry on.

       The queen’s two funerals and the days leading up to them, as we’ve seen and heard on television, have also been an enormously unifying time for the United Kingdom and actually for the world. Never in my lifetime have I seen such an outpouring of love and respect for anyone as I’ve seen in these past several days for the Queen. Someone on the streets of London was quoted as saying, “She was the glue that held our nation together.”

       Also unifying for us Episcopalians have been the familiar words of our Book of Common Prayer. The same basic service for Polly in our chapel, for Warren here in the church, and for the Queen at Westminster Abbey and St. George’s Chapel viewed by millions. Unity.

Continuity.

       My second take away was continuity. Polly, Warren, the Queen—each in their own, distinctive, very different way made a mark on the people whose lives they touched. Aspects of their words, their actions, their personalities have impacted people in ways that are lasting. 

       We lay friends and loved ones to rest. We mourn and celebrate them. We carry them with us. They are a part of us, we are a part of each other, forever. Continuity.    

Hope.

       Three, hope.

       I’ve officiated at more funerals and memorial services in this past year that at any time in my 30-plus years of ministry.  And each time my faith has been strengthened.

       Every time I lead the congregation in the beautiful words of the Burial Rite, every time I hear the scripture readings again, my faith has become stronger. Faith in the Lord who loves us, faith in the Lord who gave His life for us and rose from the dead to ensure us, to promise you and me—and all of us who put our faith in Him–that this life is not all there is. We will move on after this life into another, still more wonderful, everlasting life with our loved ones who’ve gone before and now are with Him.

       “Lo, I am with you always. ALWAYS.”

       On page 507 in our Prayer Book  we read:
“The liturgy for the dead is an Easter liturgy. It finds all its meaning in the resurrection. Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we, too shall be raised.

       “The liturgy, therefore, is characterized by joy, in the certainty that ‘neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

       UNITY. CONTINUITY. HOPE. AND, THANKS TO THE LORD’S PROMISES TO US, ONE MORE: JOY!

A homily preached at Christ Church Greenwich, Connecticut, on Tuesday, September 20, 2022, by Priest Associate, the Reverend Terence L. Elsberry.