Funeral

Yesterday, Tuesday November 22, I concelebrated the funeral Mass of Mother Mary of the Angels. The sisters had to rearrange their chapel so that they could maintain their cloister, and welcome the 50 people who came to the funeral. Fr. Edmond Kline, their chaplain, gave a great sermon. At the end of the Mass the people had to leave so that we could carry her body outside and to the burial plot. Only priests are allowed into the cloister, so we had the privilege of carrying the casket through the gate and to the place of burial. It had rained the night before, so the ground was very wet. With every step we took we became a little bit taller as we collected mud on the bottom of our shoes. Mother is the first sister to have died, and her plot is the first on their property. There is no grass, there is no fence. It was bare earth with a hole in the ground. After the prayers we lowered the casket into the ground with ropes, and then we had to leave quickly. We were in the cloister as an exception to the rule, for this special occasion. We left the sisters there next to the grave of their mother. She had taken a vow of poverty many years before, so death took her body, but she had already given everything away a long time ago. She began to draw close to Jesus a long time ago, and death allowed her to realize the union for she has longed. For me, this experience is a reminder to get rid of those things that hold me back from Jesus. I pray for her soul, and when she enters heaven I ask her to pray for me.