Yes, as St. Paul says, our time on this earth is not meant to last forever – "We have not here our eternal home." How deeply that truth was brought home to me and to all who attended Larsan's wake and funeral over the last two days.
Our labor and suffering here is meant to prepare us for eternal weight of Glory in a world beyond our own – and again, as St. Paul says, the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing to the Glory that awaits us. And Larsan now sees the Glory!
The students at our school were at the services to the point of overflowing, and all seemed so open to this message – that Larsan has already what the rest of us still strive for, and strive for so often through cost, cross, crisis, and challenge.
The numbers at the wake and funeral were unbelievable. Over five hundred cars followed the hearse to the cemetery from the Church. Two lanes of the highway were blocked by the police for the five mile stretch on Rte. 95. Larsan was laid to rest in the cemetery right across the street from school property. White doves were released into the air after the closing prayer at the gravesite.
On Friday evening over a thousand people came to pay their respects. The waiting line went out the Church – the wake was in the Church – and around the whole parking lot into the neighborhood beyond. I said to Larsan's mother that it was a miracle that she and Larsan's father were able to greet all those people, and give each person their special moment with them. She agreed. She said the Lord strengthened her for that challenge, and that she would have had it no other way than to honor each and every person who came out to pay their respects to her son.
As for the Feehan students. I was bursting with pride and love for them. Three of them gave tributes to Larsan at the funeral, and all of their talks centered on how he was a witness to Christ's love for us all. They shared too so many examples of how Larsan demonstrated courage and strength through Christ to proclaim His Love boldly by his words and deeds – "I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me." (Phil. 4:13)
What I saw so profoundly throughout the whole time of our coming together was how much became "sacraments" to each other – people who allowed the power of Christ's Love to reach out through our love, and touch and heal and strengthen others in the process. It was like the embodiment of what the "Mission Talk" on the Antioch urges us to become: "sacraments to the world". Especially in the student tributes before the whole congregation, you could feel that their words were a word from God, for through their words all of us were inspired, comforted, and strengthened. Those students were truly vessels of Grace. The whole experience was a true celebration of Church, "Church" as a people filled with the Holy Spirit, and through the power of the Holy Spirit, a people becoming the Face of Christ for each other.
In my prayer during the service it was so clear just how much we need people, especially to face the unthinkable, which the tragic loss of Larsan's life truly was. Unless we come together in times like that we cannot handle such "dark hours" in our lives. We were truly not meant to handle such crises all alone. Yes, "I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me", but how much His Love wants to reach out and touch our lives through others.
Well. There's so much more I could write about, but enough for now. Forgive me if I got too heavy in this letter, but realize that I just have come through a most anointed and graced experience. It was that experience, more than any other right now that I felt led in the Spirit to share with you.
To all my friends, let us all live for the praise of his glory, for whatever "season" it is given to us by the Lord to live on this earth…
I hold you all in my heart,
In His Love for you,
Peace,
Doug +
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