Faith and Hope

A friend’s mom passed away last week. I went to the viewing yesterday morning, and though I’d already been thinking about it, there was an important symbol by the casket. A symbol of symbols, really, that gives us reminders of faith and hope in times like these.

I am not the most devout Catholic on the block, but when I see the Easter candle lit at viewings and Masses of Christian Burial, I’ve tried to reflect on multiple concepts this one candle gives us.

The Alpha and the Omega: God with us at the beginning and the end.

The Cross: The ultimate sacrifice of Christ, to save us from sin and death.

The light of the candle: The light of Christ that is with us at the beginning (symbolized by our Baptismal candle), at the end, and beyond.

There is a line in the text for the Mass of Christian Burial. I am not sure I remember it exactly, but it reminds us the “life it not ended, is merely changed.”

We have these disquieting reminders of aging and our own mortality. On one level, they can be reminders that this thing called life that isn’t forever, and we’ve got to make our time here count.

There is also one other belief, harder to grasp at times: This isn’t goodbye. Rather, it is “we will see you later.”