Remembrance Service
Thursday – 4 November 2010
Monastery of St. Alphonsus
Gathering Song Quietly Peacefully (Dvorak adapt. Lori True)
All sing:Quietly peacefully may they rest in you
Quietly peacefully lead them back to you
Quietly peacefully may they rest in you
Quietly peacefully bring them home to you
Go in peace as the saints lead you on your way
May the angels take you home to God’s holy place.
Quietly peacefully may they rest in you
Quietly peacefully lead them back to you
Quietly peacefully may they rest in you
Quietly peacefully bring them home to you
God has come to carry you to your dwelling place
Do not fear, Christ bids you come; meet God face to face.
Quietly peacefully may they rest in you
Quietly peacefully lead them back to you
Quietly peacefully may they rest in you
Quietly peacefully bring them home to you
Lay your burdens, calm your fears; you are not alone.
Loving arms welcome you safely to God’s home.
Quietly peacefully may they rest in you
Quietly peacefully lead them back to you
Quietly peacefully may they rest in you
Quietly peacefully bring them home to you
Opening Prayer Let us pray,
All say: God of tenderness and peace,
Be with us this evening as we gather to remember, to pray, to reflect.
Look kindly on those we lift up to you in remembrance.
Fill us with hope in your power to heal and to save.
Give us comfort in our sadness and support us in our loss
We ask this in the Spirit, through Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Song Deus Meus Adiuva Me (Trad. arr. David Mooney) (My God, listen to me)
Reflection
A loved one is a treasure of the heart and losing a loved one islike losing a piece of yourself, but the love that this person brought you did not leave, for the essence of the soul lingers. It cannot escape your heart, for it has been there forever. Cling to the memories and let them find their way to heal you. The love and laughter, the joy in the togetherness you shared, will make you strong. You come to realise that
your time together, no matter how long, was meant to be and you were blessed to have such a precious gift of love in your life. Keep your heart beating with the loving memories and trust in your faith to guide you through. Know that though life moves on the beauty of love stays behind to embrace you. Your loved one has left you that to hold in your heart forever.
Instrumental
Reading I Thessalonians 4: 13-14
We want you to be quite certain, about those who have died, to make sure that you do not grieve about them, like the other people who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again, and that it will be the same for those who have died in Jesus: God will bring them with him.
Song In Death There is no Sorrow (J.S. Bach)
All sing: In death there is no sorrow, the grave has lost its fears
Our saviour on the morrow, will wipe away all tears.
We shall behold His splendour and see Him glorified
With angels ever render the praise of Him who died.
Reflection
Death is nothing at all – I have only slipped away into the next room. Whatever we were to each other, that we are still. Call me by my old familiar name. Speak to me in the easy way you always used. Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes we enjoyed together. Play, smile, think of me, pray for me. Let my name be the household word that it always was. Let it be spoken without effort. Life means all that it ever
meant. It is the same as it ever was. Why should I be out of your mind because I am out of your sight? I am but waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very near just around the corner. All is well. Nothing is past; nothing is lost. One brief moment and all will be as it was before – only better, infinitely happier and forever – we will all be one together with Christ.
Instrumental
Reading John 20:11
Mary stayed outside near the tomb, weeping. Then, still weeping, she stooped to look inside, and saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had been, one at the head, the other at the feet. They said, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ ‘They have taken my Lord away,’ she replied, ‘and I don’t know where they have put him.’ As she said this she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, though she did not recognise him. Jesus said, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said, ‘Sir, if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and remove him.’ ‘Jesus said, ‘Mary!’ She knew him then and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabbuni!’
Song Take Me Home (David Haas)
All sing: Take me home, to your dwelling place, in your sweet embrace,
Ready to hold me, in your arms, take me home,
To your loving eyes, with you alone I’ll rise
Singing forever, in your arms, take me home.
With you all pain is left behind,
no sorrow or death on that day.
O my God, how I’ve longed to know your love,
come wipe my tears, and take my fears away.
Take me home, to your dwelling place, in your sweet embrace,
Ready to hold me, in your arms, take me home,
To your loving eyes, with you alone I’ll rise
Singing forever, in your arms, take me home.
O my God, the road is long and hard,
open your heart come to me.
God, with you my sorrow turns to dancing,
reach out your hand and set my spirits free.
Take me home, to your dwelling place, in your sweet embrace,
Ready to hold me, in your arms, take me home,
To your loving eyes, with you alone I’ll rise
Singing forever, in your arms, take me home.
Reflection Hard Times
We watched as our son slipped away from us. His bedroom became a no-go area. His TV and music masked a deeper silence in his soul. He seemed like a gold fish in a bowl of darkness, going round in circles in his mind and always deeper. Our words were charged with love and support, our eyes and arms longed to connect and support. But no emotions seemed to penetrate his Teflon defences. Our love and concern slid off him, to be trodden into the carpet, as he walked back to his room. Then it happened, the thing we were powerless to stop: the self-destructing overdose, the medics, the trauma. We were scared to death. Then, back at home it suddenly happened, like switching on a light. He was back with us! No really there! To be talked with and touched. I could feel his heart and he could feel mine. That means a hell of a lot to a dad.
Reading John 20:25-29
Thomas, called the Twin who was one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. When the
disciples said, ‘We have seen the Lord,’ he answered, ‘Unless I see the holes that the nails made in his
hands and can put my finger into the holes they made, and unless I can put my hand into his side, I
refuse to believe.’ Eight days later the disciples were in the house again and Thomas was with
them. The doors were closed, but Jesus came in and stood among them. ‘Peace be with you,’ he said.
Then he spoke to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; look, here are my hands. Give me your hand; put it into
my side. Doubt no longer but believe.’ Thomas replied, ‘My Lord and My God!’
Candle of Remembrance
We now light a candle to remember our loved ones: from this candle we hold in our hearts all those have died.
We hold in our hearts all those who grieve the loss of loved ones, friends, colleagues.
We hold in our hearts all those whose lives have been torn by grief.
We invoke the spirit of compassion.
In mystery we are born, in mystery we live and in mystery we die.
If we remember and are remembered, life endures, meaning reigns and hope deserves.
Litany of Remembrance
Let us remember those who have lived and loved, those who have left us a blessed heritage.
Let us remember the light filled ones who enkindled our spirits with their influence and the spark of their beliefs. We remember them.
Let us remember the risk takers, who faced their fears and took action, who sought justice even though they had to pay a price for it.
We remember them.
Let us remember the vulnerable ones who allowed us to care for them, allowed us to be with them in their time of need. We remember them.
Let us remember the faith-filled ones who led us by word and example into a deeper relationship with God. We remember them.
Let us remember the brave ones, who walked through their struggles with hope, who taught us how to trust. We remember them.
Let us remember the great lovers of life, whose humour and enthusiasm lifted our spirits and brought us joy. We remember them.
Let us remember the nurturers, who gave us birth physically or spiritually, who gave us support by their caring presence.
Song Grandfather’s Clock
My grandfather’s clock was too tall for the shelf,
so it stood ninety years on the floor.
It was taller by half than the old man himself,
though it weighed not a pennyweight more.
It was bought on the morn of the day he was born,
and was always his treasure and pride.
But it stopped, short, never to go again, when the old man died.
Reflection Grandfather’s Prayer of the Earth (Douglas Wood)
When I was little, my Granddad was my best friend. Being with him always made the world seem just right. Granddad and I liked to go for walks in the woods together. While we walked, I would ask him questions about things I wasn’t sure of. “Why is it, Granddad…?” I would ask. And “What if…?” And Does it ever…?” One day I asked my Granddad about prayers.
For a long time, Granddad was quiet. He didn’t say anything until we came to the tallest trees in the forest. And then he answered with a question. “Do you know, son,” he whispered “that trees pray?” I listened closely but could not hear them. “See how they reach for the sky,” he said. “They reach and reach – for clouds and sun and moon and stars. And what else is reaching for heaven but a prayer?” We walked a little further and came to a small stream and we sat down on an old mossy rock.
“Rocks pray, too” said Granddad. “Peebles and boulders and weathered hills are still and silent, two important ways to pray”. “Do streams pray, too, Granddad?” I asked. “Streams, rivers and lakes pray in many ways.” “Sometimes they pray silently like the rocks. They lie still reflecting clouds, birds or the first evening star” “Sometimes they pray with movement, flowing across the face of the earth, giving themselves to oceans and to the sky.” “Sometimes waters pray with laughter, chuckling to their friends the rocks, and sometimes they pray by dancing, leaping in to the air and falling back again.”
“Are our prayers answered, Granddad?” I asked. He smiled. “Most prayers are not really questions,” he said “And if we listen very closely a prayer is often its own answer.” “We pray because we are hear so when we change ourselves…. We can change the world.
Then one day, my Granddad was gone. And no matter how hard I prayed he would not come back. He couldn’t come back. I prayed and prayed and prayed until I couldn’t pray any more, And so I didn’t, for a long time. And the world seemed dark and lonely without my Granddad in it.
Until one day I went for a walk. I found a big rock under some tall trees and sat down on it. Overhead the branches swayed and a breeze whispered in the leaves. I heard a stream flowing nearby and a robin singing from a honeysuckle bush. And I heard something else, too – I heard prayers. The earth was praying, just like Granddad had said. So I joined in. “Thank you”, I prayed, “for tall trees and sweet flowers, for still rocks and singing birds and especially… for my Granddad.” And as I prayed something changed, and my Granddad seemed somehow near. And for the first time in a long time the world seemed just right
Song Fields of Gold
Introduction to Leaves
Falling Leaves remind me of how the seasons change, And though youre not beside me now, youre with me everyday…
These are the words of a beautiful song by Francis Black.
The journey of the leaf represents each individual human life, from its blossoming on the tree to its resting place on the ground by the foot of it.
Like the leaf, we are all born to die but we bask in the colour, the shape and size that God gave us until we do so. We see the other beautiful things around us, like the leaf. We feel the power of the wind, the presence of rain, the absence of flowers in spring.
Today we remember all our fellow leaves who have left this world to blossom in the next one. We believe that even though our loved ones are gone, they remain with us through the power of the wind, in the presence of rain and in the flowers in spring. May God forever bless them. Amen.
Song Falling Leaves (Dave McGilton)
Falling leaves remind me of how the seasons change
And though youre not beside me now
Youre with me everyday
Who know where the time goes
And how it slips away
Were like a seed on the winter snow
Well seek another day believe me
Summer breeze surrounds me
Theres sunlight everywhere
I can feel your arms around me now
Somehow I feel youre always there
Who knows where the wind blows
Or why you went away
The only thing that I know now
Is that well meet again someday, believe meThey say time is a healer
They say love never ends
And there are times when I need you
I need all the love that youre sending to me
Falling leaves remind me of how the seasons change
And though youre not beside me now
Youre with me everyday
Who know where the time goes
And how it slips away
Were like a seed on the winter snow
Well seek another day believe me
Falling leaves remind me
We all must slip away
Someday
And though youre not beside me now
Youre with me everyday
Who know where the time goes
And how it slips away
Were like a seed on the winter snow
Well seek another day believe me
Summer breeze surrounds me
Theres sunlight everywhere
I can feel your arms around me now
Somehow I feel youre always there
Who knows where the wind blows
Or why you went away
The only thing that I know now
Is that well meet again someday, believe meThey say time is a healer
They say love never ends
And there are times when I need you
I need all the love that youre sending to me
Falling leaves remind me of how the seasons change
And though youre not beside me now
Youre with me everyday
Who know where the time goes
And how it slips away
Were like a seed on the winter snow
Well seek another day believe me
Falling leaves remind me
We all must slip away
Someday
Reflection The Tree of Life and Death
Slowly she celebrated the sacrament of Letting Go.
First she surrendered her Green, then the Orange, Yellow and Red.
Finally she let go of her Brown shedding her last leaf she stood empty and silent, stripped bare. Leaning against the winter sky she began her vigil of trust.
And Jesus said: And why worry about clothing? Think of the flowers growing in the fields; they neither have to work or spin; yet I assure you that not even Solomon in all his regalia was robed like one of these.
Shedding her last leaf she watched its journey to the ground. She stood in silence wearing the colour of emptiness, her branches wondering: How do you give shade with so much gone?
And Jesus said: Do not be anxious or overly concerned.
And then, the sacrament of waiting began.
The sunrise and sunset watched with tenderness, clothing her with silhouettes they kept her hope alive.
They helped her understand that her vulnerability, her dependence and need, her emptiness, her readiness to receive were giving her a new kind of beauty.
Every morning and every evening they stood in silence and celebrated together the sacrament of waiting.
Procession with Leaves of Remembrance
Dona Nobis Pacem (Owen Lynch)
There is a Place (Liam Lawton)
Reflection
When you walk through the storm; Hold your head up high;
And dont be afraid of the dark; At the end of the storm; Theres a golden sky; And the sweet silver song of the lark. Walk on, through the wind, Walk on, through the rain, Though your dreams be tossed and blown, Walk on, walk on, with hope in your heart, and you’ll never walk alone, you’ll never walk alone.
When you walk through the storm; Hold your head up high;
And dont be afraid of the dark; At the end of the storm; Theres a golden sky; And the sweet silver song of the lark. Walk on, through the wind, Walk on, through the rain, Though your dreams be tossed and blown, Walk on, walk on, with hope in your heart, and you’ll never walk alone, you’ll never walk alone.
Song Jesus King of Angels (Fernando Ortega)
Jesus King of angels, heaven’s light
shine your face upon the house tonight.
And let no evil come into my dreams.
Light of heaven, keep me in Your peace.
The universe is vast beyond the stars,
but You are mindful when a sparrow falls,
And mindful of the anxious thoughts that find me,
surround me, and bind me.
Jesus king of angels, Heaven’s light,
hold my hand and keep me through this night.
Concluding Prayer Let us pray
All say: God of light and hope,
Shine now in hearts darkened by grief and loss
Fill us with hope in your promise and give us the strength to carry on
hold those we love who have died in your tender care
And grant us the peace that only you can give.
We pray this in the Spirit, through Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Song Night Has Fallen (Malawi Trad.) – Words
Night has fallen, Night has fallen.
God our maker, guard us sleeping.
Darkness now has come, darkness now has come.
God our maker, guard us sleeping.
We are with you, Lord, we are with you, Lord.
God our maker, guard us sleeping.
See your children, Lord. See your children, Lord
God our maker, guard us sleeping.
Keep us in your love, keep us in your love.
God our maker, guard us sleeping.
Fill us with your light, Fill us with your light.
God our maker, guard us sleeping.
Blessing Celtic Blessing
May the God of gentleness be with you,
caressing you with sunlight and rain and wind.
May his tenderness shine through you to warm
all those who are hurt and lonely.
may the blessing of Gentleness be upon you.
May the God of Strength be with you,
holding you in strong-fingered hands
and may you be a sacrament of His strength
to those whose hands you hold.
May the blessing of Strength be upon you.
May the God of Peace be with you,
taking away your fears and doubts and
may the mantle of your peace cover those who are troubled and anxious.
May the blessing of Peace be upon you.
The guarding of the God of life be on you,
the guarding of the Loving Christ be on you,
the guarding of the Holy Spirit be on you to aid
And uphold you each day and night of your lives.
Song May the Road Rise to Meet You (Lori True)
All sing: May the road rise to meet you.
May the wind be at your back.
May the sunshine warm up on your face,
May the rain fall softly on your fields,
And until we meet again
May you keep safe in the gentle loving arms of God.