Dad's Funeral

For those who would like I am posting the funeral homily and some pictures.  Again, thank-you for all your Masses, prayers, and condolences.  Thanks also to Fr. Charlie Richmond for live-streaming the funeral which can still be viewed on Facebook at the St. Mary's - Viroqua page.  Thanks too to Vosseteig Funeral Home, Westby for their assistance.

Daniel 12:1-3

Psalm 23
Revelations 14:13
John 19:17-18, 25-30

Hail Mary, full of grace…

Dad died in the eyes of this world at 4:12 AM, Monday, April 6, 2020;  in the eyes of God, my father passed over from this life into eternal life on Monday of Holy Week in the year of our Lord, 2020.

As I sat through the night Sunday night – Monday morning, and in the days since to this Holy Thursday I have seen the hand of providence all over my father’s passing.  The point of our life on earth is to live in Christ and for Christ to continue acting in this world through us: to be a reflection of His life and light.

These convergences begin with this funeral, celebrated on this Holy Thursday morning and without Holy Mass, because on Holy Thursday there IS only the Chrism Mass and the Mass, this evening, of the Lord’s Supper.  In the midst of this corona virus pandemic, in which not even my brothers and sister are able to be with us, not to mention my parent’s many friends and extended family, we must wait until the pandemic has passed before we can gather; and so we shall, around the Lord’s own Table on which is made present to us that Eucharist Who’s institution we will celebrate this evening.  This Eucharist, the Real Presence of Christ, will be celebrated when we can be together to celebrate it – one Body in Christ.

There is more.  Dad loved his Lord; he was devoted to Him, just as he was devoted to my mother.  And so, one of my clearest memories of growing up is that we NEVER missed Sunday Mass.  Drive through a snow-storm, drive for hours through south Georgia in the late 70’s, on vacation, even on vacation with their Lutheran friends: Mass, that is, their time with Jesus, present in the Most Holy Eucharist, was NOT to be missed.  So, it strikes me as even more poignant that we bury Dad on this day on which our Lord instituted and gifted us with His own Body & Blood, the Most Holy Eucharist.

Speaking of devotion to my mother, it seems fitting that they met in college selling brooms for the Newman Club at what was then La Crosse State.  They were so devoted to one another that it was rare that they were apart except for work or volunteering: lately, Dad at the Bethel Buttik or “Come to Supper”, and Mom at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe and church.  A neighbor once commented that to the children our house was never just “Ed’s house” or “Pat’s house”, it was always “Ed & Pat’s house”.  What a beautiful lesson not only in Christian Marriage, but in the love of God for each of His children, to which Christian Marriage points us.  There is no question, about their devotion for each other, and in it I learned so beautifully about God’s love for me.

It’s no wonder that one of Dad’s favorite saints was St. Joseph.  They were both carpenters; and they were both devoted to the wife God had given them.  He also had a particular love for Blessed Solanus Casey, whose Icon as it would happen, shows him over a big soup pot, ladle in hand.

Dad’s faith was truly and very naturally the touchstone of his life.  Most of the time people only experienced it in his kindness or his desire to help others: students, neighbors, friends, and those most in need.  Every once in a while this underlying faith did come to the surface in a way that everyone could see, if they had eyes to see.  I remember sitting in Dad’s office at school one day hearing him tell his chemistry students that they should be consulting with their lab partner about the color of their titrations, not him; after all, “That’s why God gave you lab partners!” he said.

Of course, I do know that Mom & Dad’s faith was well known.  Dad decided to bring an exchange student home one day, she was having a rough time in her original placement.  I remember hearing the exchange coordinator warned that student “they are really serious Catholics, are you sure you want to go there?”  Happily, Rosa, being from Spain, was serious herself, in the way of her culture, and she taught us all a lot that year about our common faith as she learned about our country.

I knew from the moment Dad passed over on Monday morning that the Gospel passage from John, proclaimed today, had to be the Gospel for his funeral.  In that passage we hear Our Lord saying to His mother, Mary, “woman, behold your son,” and then to John, the beloved disciple, “behold, your mother”.  At about 4:10, Monday morning, Dad started to struggle a little.  Mom and I were near, and Mom got up and said to Dad, “It’s ok Ed.  Go!  Be with Jesus.  Be with Lori.”  He fussed a bit more and then Mom said, “the kid’s will take care of me, go.”  And he was gone.  How beautiful.  How like him.  He wouldn’t go until he was confident that Mom would be taken care of, until his task on earth was done.

Brothers & Sisters, the point of this life is to be conformed to Christ, to reflect the light of Christ; to live in Christ, to die in Christ, and to rise to new life in Christ.  May this be the legacy of my father who showed to me and to so many others by his actions “Our Father”; and profiting by his example may we, through the grace and mercy of our Lord, Jesus Christ, and in the power of His Passion, Death, and Resurrection, meet again in the eternal feast of Lamb Who has been slain and yet lives.

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Have mercy on him.

St. Mary, Pray for him.

St. Joseph, husband of Mary, Pray for him.

St. Joseph, the Workman, Pray for him.

St. Wenceslaus, Pray for him.

St. Edward the Confessor, Pray for him.

Blessed Solanus Casey, Pray for him.

All holy men and women, Pray for him.

In the name of the Father…

 

Savannah & Dustin Kenyon
Godchildren

Keith & Kristine Kenyon