of Helene Lorenzo
July 24, 2014
Rev 14: 13
John 6: 51-58
Salesian Missions, New Rochelle
Helene Gaito
Lorenzo worked as the province’s bookkeeper for some 30 years. She retired
around 1996 and wanted her funeral rites celebrated here if possible, which her loving family was all in favor of, as well. In the absence of the director of the community (on vacation), the task/honor fell to his vicar, your humble blogger.
[I hope to have a photo of Mrs. Lorenzo eventually.]
“Blessed
are the dead who die in the Lord. Yes,
let them find rest from their labors, for their works accompany them” (Rev 14:
13).
A
little less than 2 weeks ago, the Salesian Sisters were celebrating their
jubilarians, the sisters professed for 40, 50, 60, 65, even 70 years. Fr. Jim Heuser began the serious part of his
homily—his homilies never begin seriously—by observing why we were there: not
because we love the Salesian Sisters, but because God loves the Salesian Sisters.
That
apropos here, too. Yes, we’ve come
because we loved Helene Lorenzo and because she loved us; but the more
fundamental reason we’re here is because our Lord Jesus loved Helene and
continues to love her.
The
Lord Jesus loves all of us, of course—each of us individually and all of us
together as his people. He showed his
love for Helene, in particular, by calling her to belong to him in his
Church—calling her in Baptism to enter the mystery of his death and the
resurrection, inviting her to “eat the flesh of the Son of Man” in the
Eucharist (John 6:53), forgiving her sins in the sacrament of
Reconciliation. Helene lived in the Lord
every day, and so she was fully prepared to “die in the Lord” when her days
ended and she passed over, we trust, in Jesus’ love, to the endless day where
God has destroyed death forever and wiped the tears from all faces (Is 25:8).
The
Lord Jesus showed his love for Helene by working thru her. The works that accompany her as she goes to
the Father are the works she did in the power of Jesus, day by day, as she
lived in the Lord: works such as her
44-year marriage and her family life.
While she and John weren’t blessed with children of their own, she was a
mother figure to many of you, and perhaps for a few priests and brothers as
well. At one point, Jesus compared
himself to a mother hen in his concern for the people of Jerusalem (Matt 23:37),
and we may say that Helene had a like concern for so many people—a work that
accompanies her.
Most
of Helene’s working life was done for religious institutions, mainly the
Salesians. Her work wasn’t a job but a
ministry, a way of serving the Lord Jesus by helping, indirectly, young people
in schools and youth centers and immigrants and other needy folk in our
parishes. Helene’s office work
underpinned much of what the Salesians were able to do for the young and the
poor during the 30 years that she kept our books, as well as supporting church
ministry earlier at OL of Victory, and even what the public authorities did for
the poor in Mt. Vernon. No doubt, in her
last years she sustained our ministry with her prayers. These works, done in and with Christ,
accompany her as she goes to the Father.
The
root meaning of the word liturgy is
“public service.” Liturgy is a kind of
work, the best of works. It’s primarily
the work that God does—saving us thru the passion, death, and resurrection of
Jesus, in which we participate when we celebrate the Eucharist and the other
sacraments. Helene’s lifelong, faithful
participation in the Eucharist, the Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus, is
another good work that accompanies her to the Father. Jesus accompanies her to the Father, with his
promise, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him
(or her). … The one who feeds on me will
have life because of me” (John 6:56-57).
“Blessed,”
indeed, “are those who die in the Lord….
Let them find rest from their labors” (Rev 14:13), eternal rest, in the
life of our Lord Jesus Christ.
No comments:
Post a Comment