Last week I was visiting my soon-to-be 99-year-old mother. Of course, like people around the globe, the two of us spent way too many hours watching Queen Elizabeth’s extended funeral in all its pageantry. At one point, my mother turned to me and asked me to contact our local funeral director to begin planning her funeral. I looked at her and said, “I don’t think we can get all those horses, the Beefeaters, and bands here in our little village on the Niagara River.” She responded, “I know, but wouldn’t it be something if we did.”
After laughing together for a few moments, she told me she was serious. Always practical, my mother wanted to ensure she had enough savings to cover the cost of her funeral. I shook my head and did as I was requested.
While that was a light moment in our viewing of the Queen’s funeral, watching it invited both of us, and I assume many others, to reflect on the stark reality that the fate of every human is to leave this world and all we love in it. The always practical Saint Francis de Sales wrote, “The world is only peopled to people heaven.” (Letters to Persons in the World, II 33)
While much was made of Queen Elizabeth’s longevity as Queen and her many accomplishments, her fate, like ours, is to leave all that behind and begin a new life, which our faith promises is more - much more!
Saint Francis de Sales encouraged people to ponder and reflect on life beyond the one we have on earth. He encouraged this not to create fear or anxiety but to stir up hope in eternal life, allowing our confidence in eternal life to assist us in the challenges of this life. In doing so, no matter what our challenges are, we can walk with heads high and hearts full of joy. To quote Francis once again, “We should live in this world as though our spirit were already in heaven.” (The Spirit of Saint Francis de Sales, IV, 6)
Fr. Jack Loughran, OSFS
Provincial
Toledo-Detroit Province
