As Samantha would say ~ keep it short okay Uncle Keith – okay Sam, alright .

Because yes, we are here today to simply remember Samantha and to simply pray for her.                                  And even when it still seems like a very bad dream that one morning we will wake up from - the reality slowly begins to sink in.   Our daughter, our grand-daughter, our sister, our niece,                        aunt, cousin and friend Samantha – Sam.

It is true that not all of us can be a Ghandi or a Mother Teresa or a Martin Luther King and                be the cause of wide sweeping beautiful changes in this world but   IT IS TRUE  –  it is true   that each us, including Sam, and maybe especially Sam, are given by God a little corner of                  the world. And all that we have to do – is to make a difference in that little corner of the world – there to make a difference.     And I tried to imagine if everyone, everyone, in their corner of the world did as well as Samantha did in her 32 years; as lovingly as she did in 32 years                        what a beautiful world this would be – filled with peace, filled generosity, filled with love.                                                                                                                                              Yes also full of cats !         But a beautiful beautiful  world.

I  and you  certainly knew this is of Samantha – Like most of you I have known her all her life.                                   And we have ALL seen that generosity; that intelligence; that kindness. You could always rely on Sam  --- whether it be at work at Lufthansa when she would work Christmas and holidays        so that others with families could have time off ;  or how she would be there for mom and dad when dad was so sick - she was the number one chauffeur and fixer upper.                                                                       In so many ways Samantha put others first.   That was her corner of the world.                                    Her corner of the world from God.  Of what she did.                                                                                                       But ofcourse also having lotsa fun doing so.  

I will call it her quirkiness. Yes, even as a child her quirkiness – Actually I was trying to remember if she was the one who started the water fight inside the cottage at Love Sick Lake or maybe it was Fr Peter !  But she always had this warmth; this kindness of heart.                            And yes her quirkiness.                                                                                                                                                    How in her corner of the world she managed to mix- Airplanes and Cats; Formula One Racing and Knitting; Women’s involvement in Formula One, London paraphernalia,music and Dr Who;                    how she accepted and loved all people. This reminded me of the posting that I pulled off                       her Facebook page that says so much for her corner of the world –     I like weird people –                     the black sheep, the odd ducks, the rejects and the eccentrics, the loners, the lost and                            the forgotten. More often than not these people have the most beautiful souls.

Sounds actually like Pope Francis.

Samantha both … had …… and saw ….  the beautiful soul in everyone.                                                                And that is how Samantha cared for the corner of the world given to her from God.                          The odd ducks, the eccentrics, the lonely and the forgotten.

And if she only knew …..  hers was the most beautiful soul of all.

Our Gospel   our prayers for today  -                                                                                                                                                                                      Yes God sees that beautiful corner of the world that Sam nurtured as He sees all things ;                                             And He was present there in that place                                                                                                                       and He is also present here in this place, this corner of the world.                                                                                                                        

The Gospel I choose for today tells us of another family – another very young family - Lazarus and his sisters Martha and Mary. And it tells how that day many had come to be with Mary and Martha over the death of their young brother Lazarus.  First of all like that family  –                        we have been overwhelmed by the support for Anne, mom, David and Kristin and Frank and all the family. We  thank God for this.

And,   as in the Gospel,    Jesus stands among them  – and us - and all the help that He offers.                  I do not think that it was a coincidence that her brother David got time off from Air Force in  Nova Scotia to be staying  there in the house when this tragedy happened That was by the Hand of God. Or I was just down the road. Or the outpouring of help from neighbours and friends. Yes it was the hand of God -  of Jesus’ help in a very real way.

And - Yes like Martha in the Gospel we too are very – like, very upset and can ask –                                 where are you ?   Lord help us. What am I going to do ? What is happening ?    

But then we hear Jesus’ voice and his prayer                                                                                                                                       – not giving advice or answers but simply saying –                                                                                                                                   I am here; I am the Way; I am Truth; I am Love, I am Life.                                                                                       And at a time like this that may be all we need to know.                                                                                      Way, Truth, Life, Love –                                                                                                                                           -                   because that is what filled Samantha’s corner was filled with -  Truth,   Love,   Life.

Enough ? Have I preached enough ?  – no…. not enough – for the time has been short.

Sammy  Sam  Samantha

Your garden has bloomed. Your garden has flourished. That beautiful corner of the world.                      As the seeds of the flower die and are blown by the winds We will catch those seeds and replant them again and again.

Good Shepherd take her hand, see her quirky smile, her gentle heart, her kind spirit,                                   keep her in Your care and  keep her a breath away from us.

Amen

Father Keith Wallace   St Bernadette’s Catholic Church Ajax  Uncle of Samantha Kurcsis

 

In one corner of our church bulletin  I usually ad a blurb called ‘Catholic Quiz’. It is a multiple choice Q and A of our faith. You will not see it in today’s Easter bulletin as they bulletin is quite full with words of thanks for Lent and Holy Week.               A few weeks ago the question was – When does Lent end ? Is it – Start of Easter Saturday Mass, Easter Sunday, the start of Mass of Holy Thursday or 3:00 Good Friday ? The answer is – the start of Mass of Holy Thursday.  True the 40 days conclude on Palm Sunday then followed by Holy Week Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday but it is on Holy Thursday that the purple of Lent concludes. This is why we heard the Gloria on Holy Thursday, the bells on Holy Thursday and so on. What the church actually does in it wisdom is to put together the three great days of Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter into what we call the Tridium. Tri – three – the three days of faith. In some ways it is as if this is ‘one’ Mass , ‘one’ Liturgy but in three ‘parts’. That is why you saw at the end of Holy Thursday Mass there was no final blessing – it is as if we ‘continue’ into Good Friday then Easter Vigil. That is also why you saw the three time elevation of the cross and now the three time elevation of the Easter candle – all in the same spots. That is also why it is so difficult to preach on Easter alone – to isolate Easter from Holy Thursday and Good Friday; to preach only on Easter – it is impossible to do. Rater we have to put all three days – the one continuous Liturgy together as one and preach on this three day faith.  It is also interesting that along with these three days of belief are the three great Christian virtues – that of faith, hope and love. Is that not interesting that we have three days and three virtues. Thus it is important connect all the pieces of the puzzle – to fit everything together this Easter Day.                                                                                                                                                   Faith – the Faith of Holy Thursday. Yes it does take faith to believe in the Eucharist. To truly believe that this bread becomes Jesus’ Body – His very Flesh. It takes Faith. It takes Faith to believe that the wine is to be consecrated into His Blood. Not everyone believes this  - it does take Faith. We even see that in the Bible – remember the passage of St John when Jesus spoke of His Body. The crowds began to question Him – how can you give us Your Body ? Jesus then did not back down – actually He upped the ante – and said This is My Flesh ! And the Scriptures say – many turned and left Him. So yes dear friends it takes Faith to believe. Not every one has that Faith. We respect that.  Yet our Faith is well rooted. Yes Jesus was a miracle worker and certainly then could have miraculously changed bread to His Body. But – we can have even further confidence is this – because of Easter Sunday !  For Easter is the proof that Jesus is the Living God !  He has come back from the dead and thus, even more than a ‘miracle’ He has shown that He is the Living God ! And as the Living God – He was there when the whole universe was created – and so surely He can ‘change’ bread into His Body and wine into His Blood. We then can have great confidence in our Holy Thursday Faith…. All because of Easter Sunday. Likewise – Love. The Love of Good Friday – the sacrificial Love of Good Friday. We see this – again the three days as one – in the Love of the washing of the feet of Holy Thursday. But the Love of Good Friday is rooted in Easter Sunday . For in Easter we see the power, the immense glory and power of God. He who changes death into life. And therefore with the, and in the power of Easter Sunday this gives great grace to Good Friday Love. With this power of Easter Sunday we are able to love and to offer a Good Friday love and never be exhausted by it. With the power of Easter Sunday our Good Friday Love can stretch to the ends of the earth. We can love because of Easter Sunday. Our hearts can stretch out to the victims of the ferry boat accident in South Korea,  can stretch out to the events of the Ukraine, to the people of Palestine, the homeless at St Vincent Kitchen in Oshawa and the seniors at Ballycliffe Home. And in the power of Easter our Good Friday love will never run out ! Thus the Faith of Holy Thursday, the Love of Good Friday …..                                                      and the Hope , the Hope of Easter Sunday. For Hope truly finds its roots in Easter. For in Jesus , and Jesus alone did one arise – no-one has ever done this before or since. Yes people such as Lazarus arose but only to die again. Only in Jesus Christ did one Rise and Live forever. And this fact gives us Easter hope. Again – if He can bring life from death; if He can move from the cross to the tomb in the fact of His Rising then our difficulties and our situations certainly He can take care of. If He can do this on Easter Sunday then He can care for any situation, any person or situation that we are praying for. The virtue of Easter is truly – Hope.                                                                                                                                                                       I pray for each and every one of you, as I know that you pray for me.   I pray that your children will grow strong. I pray that you will have good health and cheer. I pray that you will do well in life.  And yet on this day .. I pray for those gifts – of Faith, Love and Hope;  Holy Thursday Faith, Good Friday Love and Easter Hope.   Easter Homily 2014 Fr Keith Wallace