My Thoughts on 08/01/2021

Today I was at an early morning funeral for Annie, who was fifty years old. What was poignant was that the only mourner was her dear husband. No, she didn’t die of Covid 19. Yesterday there were 1,162 deaths from Covid. In today’s world we expect to live to seventy or eighty years old. In these present times the prospect of death in the for front of the minds of many people.

Here is the opening prayer at this morning’s funeral. “Lord our God, the death of our sister recalls our human condition and the brevity of our lives on earth. But for those who believe in your love, death is not the end, nor does it destroy the bonds that we forge in our lives.”

In Chapter 4 of the Rule of St Benedict it simple says “Remember to keep death before your eyes daily”. One monk, when he was told by the doctor that his cancer had spread rapidly, wrote:

I believe that Benedict and the monks who lived in the centuries before him knew that keeping death in mind daily would paradoxically help monks and all fellow humans live richer lives now. Looking at this process in a simple, head-on way can release the hidden anxieties and help us to surrender to the mystery that Christ has promised us. It is a time to feel deep gratitude for the life we have been given, for the friends and family we love and who extend their love so freely.

Dear Lord bring the light of Christ’s resurrection to this time of testing and pain as we pray for all those who have died of Covid 19, this week and for all those who love them.

Canon Father Anthony Charlton
Canon Father Anthony CharltonParish Priest