Eulogy for Mom
Delivered at St. Bridgets Catholic Parish, Mesa, AZ
For those who don’t know me, I am “#4”
On behalf of my family I want to thank each of you for taking time out of your busy schedules to be here. Thank you to the choir members and to Father and Deacon, and the volunteers.
I grew up with 5 kids in the family. 6 children were never born. Yet mom named them because she knew that they were persons from conception. They were her children and like all her children she loved them.
The 5 of us who were born are… #1, #2, #3, #4 and #5. Over the years we’ve joked about who mom loved most. Was it #1, Ken, #2, Lorraine, #3, Ray, #5 Paula or #4 myself. The answer is none of them. Spend some time with mom and it wasn’t long before you would learn who she loved the most — Jesus. She wrote songs, poems, painted pictures of and about Jesus. Mom wanted everyone to know him.
We are gathered here to celebrate mom’s life — a live well lived. The bad news is that life here on earth comes to an end, we die. The reason we die is sin. It started in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve sinned and part of the curse was death. It’s because of sin that we die. We’re all sinners.
You’re a sinner if you’ve:
- Used God’s name as a curse word.
- Stolen anything.
- Didn’t always honor your parents.
…and this is just three of the 10 Commandments.
As a result, we’re all going to die as proof that we’re sinners. Our destiny without Jesus is Hell. Yes, I said hell in church. If you’re not happy with the show you can get your money back on the way out. While hell is not a nice word God made both heaven and hell. He’s not just a god of love, he’s also a god of Justice. The bible is clear that we who sin will spend eternity paying for our own sins that we’ve committed in this life.
That’s the bad news.
The Good News is the one mom loved the most — Jesus!
Jesus lived a perfectly sinless life. And because he was God, only he could pay for ALL our sins. Where we could only pay for our own sins, Jesus could pay for the sins of everyone.
Jesus died on the cross, and just as he rose from the dead — All who believe will rise as well.
MOM BELIEVED!
So the real celebration today is not for her short time on earth – no – we’re celebrating her life in heaven. By the gracious gift of God that was given to her, mom believed in the work of Jesus. That by his payment on the cross she could turn from her sins and trust in Jesus. So today she is writing songs, and poems, and celebrating Jesus with the six children we’ve never met. She is celebrating and worshipping the one she loved most.
If she were here, she would be praising God and telling each of us to put our faith in the one she loves most — Jesus!
Let’s pray…