Monday, December 11, 2006

Eternal Rest, Grant Unto Her, O Lord...

She was beautiful.

She was fun to be around, and popular with her peers. She was always willing to look out for her younger brothers and sisters. She was an aspiring artist and a great cook. She was my oldest sister, and today would have been her birthday, had she not been struck down and killed by a drunk driver at the age of sixteen. That was many years ago now, and I still pray for her soul.

Today, as I usually do on Sharon's birthday, I had Mass celebrated for the repose of her soul. The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the greatest help we can offer, since it is the sacrifice of Christ Himself, and does not depend on the piety of the priest who offers it or the people who attend it.

I find it reassuring to know that God exists outside of time - that for the Lord, the past does not exist; the future does not exist. Everything is an eternal present. That means our prayers for others, even years after their death, have already been taken into account by God, so that even now we can pray for the happy death of our loved ones.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

since i didn't know our sister, and only seen very few pictures of her, and heard so many wonderful things about her, i'd like to add my happy birthday to our sister. May she be in the joy of heaven with Christ the King, and our Blessed Mother.

Anonymous said...

I also had Mass said for Sharron.My memories of her include her not-so-good side, so I know that she really needs our prayers. We were only 13 months apart in age an got into all kinds of scrapes together- she led, I followed. After her death, I dreamed about her every night for 10 years. Please pray for her soul.

paramedicgirl said...

Sharon was just a regular teenager of the times, and teenagers today are no different. I believe that God takes certain people when He does, as an act of mercy to them, so that they can attain eternal salvation before they merit eternal damnation. I have also read in the writings of the saints, but I can't remember which saint it was, that sometimes, when a soul is destined for hell, God can, by an act of His own mercy, take them before they merit the deepest depths of hell. As Catholics, we believe that we should pray for the souls of all the dead, as we have no way of knowing who is in hell. The Church remains silent on this issue.

Dust I Am said...

I agree with your comments about God existing outside of time with the result that our prayers extend both into the past and the future.

God knows the prayers we will say for someone, even many years hence. As a good God, He can respond to those prayers in the time immediately before death when the dying person needs them the most.