The Funeral of William Marcus Luoma (Novmber 13, 2021)

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be alway acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, our strength and our Redeemer. Amen.

Every funeral marks an end and a beginning. It’s an end because those of us who are left say a temporary goodbye, though not an eternal farewell. It’s a beginning because we turn Mark over to God through our prayers and the sacrifice of the Mass and know that he is resting now in those Everlasting Arms.

In Romans 8, which was read just a few moments ago, St. Paul gave us a preview of what that rest looks like when he tells us that “the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” Or, as Jesus says in John 14, “I go to prepare a place for you. In my Father’s house are many mansions.” Both verses give us a view of the life to come; a life where we see God and live in Communion with him eternally. Such a claim might seem to good to be true but that’s how we know it is true. Because God is that great. And so we know that Marc is experiencing that glory now and one day, Lord willing, that will be true of us too.

But how do we get there from here? God can often seem distant. But that perceived distance isn’t because God is objectively far away; he’s closer to us than we are to ourselves. Because this perceived distance comes from the fact that we are not what we should be. So, we ask ourselves, “Why would God want anything to do with us?” But the beauty of the Gospel is found in Paul’s words: “If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” When we were far off from God, separated from him by our sin and rebellion, Our Lord Jesus Christ who is “God from God, light from light, very God of very God” stepped into time and space, took on a body like our body and died on the cross, offering himself to God as the sacrifice for our sins. This is a God who truly is love; who truly is faithful. In a few minutes, before Communion, we’re going to pray a prayer called the Prayer of Humble Access (page 15 in the bulletin). There’s a beautiful line that summarizes the whole story of the Bible, the whole thesis of Christianity because it says that our God is a God “whose property is always to have mercy.” This is the God from whose love we cannot be sundered: “Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

A quick story about God’s faithfulness and Marc. I didn’t have the privilege of knowing Marc all that well. My family and I moved up to Maryland in August of 2019 so I could work here at St. Paul’s. So we were still getting acclimated when COVID-19 disrupted our lives. But I did have the privilege of sitting with Marc while he was in the hospital preparing him to meet our Lord. But on my way there, I got a flat tire right in front of the fair grounds. It had me frustrated and I initially thought I would just have my car towed and go home and maybe visit him the following day. But I was able to pull into Brightview, the retirement community up the street. I do a service there every Friday so they know me and let me call a tow truck. When I mentioned I needed to get to the hospital for a visit, they immediately shuttled me over and I got to sit with Marc for a substantial amount of time. And those hours that we spent together felt longer than they were, not in a bad way but in the sense that I got to know Marc in a way I hadn’t before. And what I learned is that he was a man complicated and flawed, yes but also a man of great strength and conviction. A man who loved his country. A man who loved his wife and children. And a man who loved his God. It was no accident that I got a nail stuck in my tire—God was showing me and hopefully you how he is faithful and how he provides. And now we know that God has provided for Marc.

So today, we are here to formally turn Marc over to God. We pray for the repose of his soul and we offer the sacrifice of the Mass on his behalf, that light perpetual may shine upon him. And we grieve because he’s not longer here. But we can trust that the same God whose property is always to have mercy will be faithful and merciful because nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

And as we celebrate his life today, let us also take this opportunity to place our own lives in context. From dust to dust, ashes to ashes. We will all one day die. So every funeral is an opportunity for us to reflect on our own lives. As we hand Marc over to God, do we trust our Lord with our own lives? Do we participate with God through the lift of the Church? Do we treasure the gifts he gives us in our lives, especially those of our families? God holds all things together in his hands. He holds Marc now. In our deaths, Lord willing, he will hold us too. God loves you. God loves Marc. May he rest in peace.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.