When Death Comes

It is bad enough when we are sick or injured ourselves, but it is often more painful when our loved ones are sick or hurt, especially when they are dying, observes Cardinal Donald Wuerl in the second installment of his series on the end of life. However, in this, we are not alone.

In faith and prayer, we know that in his compassion, Jesus suffers with the one who is dying and so, in watching a loved one die, we find ourselves like Mary at the foot of the Cross. He is with them in a special way in the sacrament of anointing of the sick, which should be requested whenever death is near, but is also available for any serious illness. Here, the loving and merciful hand of Christ our Savior is extended to touch the whole person, body and soul.

While we are certainly grateful for doctors and nurses, eventually all medical remedies fail no matter how great their skills. When death comes, when someone near and dear to us is suddenly ripped away, leaving a gaping wound in our own life, it can shake us as profoundly as an earthquake. It also places us before death’s arrogant claim to have the last word.

The presence of faith helps. It does not totally eliminate our sadness, but it does provide the blessed assurance that while medicine cannot save those we love or us, in the end, the Lord of Life can. He can bring real healing. He can make a reality the words, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live, and whoever is alive and believes in me will never die” (John 11:25-26).

Blessed Sacrament Lovingly Remembers Rev. Terry Cramer

In this moment of sorrow, the Lord is in our midst and consoles us with his word:
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

So often we turn to our priests, asking them to console us and pray for us, especially in times of distress, such as when a loved one has died. Last evening, the Blessed Sacrament community came together to pray for one of our former priests, Rev. Terry Cramer, and offer our support and condolences to his family to console them in this difficult time. This is how Father John Cregan began his homily before a crowded church at the Memorial Mass for our former father and eternal brother in Christ.

Father Cregan recounted how so many people from all stations of life remembered Father Cramer not only for his excellent teaching in his homilies, but especially for the care and compassion he brought to others. From weddings to baptisms to funerals and much more in between, he was a priest who really cared and brought the consolation of Christ to many people. For this we give thanks to God, for the life of Terry Cramer, for his priesthood, for the joy and comfort he brought to his spiritual family at Blessed Sacrament and elsewhere.

Raising of Lazarus by Duccio

Jesus is always about life and that gives us hope, Father Cregan emphasized, noting Saint Paul's assurance that nothing can separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:38-39). As the Mass readings said, this "hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the holy Spirit that has been given to us [and] God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us" (Romans 5:5-8).

This is a great blessing and grace for which we ask God in all humility for our brother Terry as well as ourselves. Even though too often we all stray and fail to live up to the promises of Christ, our Lord in His mercy tells us, "this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose anything of what he gave me, but that I should raise it [on] the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him [on] the last day" (John 6:39-40).

Terry Allen Cramer was given to God in Baptism and Holy Orders, anointing him with the Holy Spirit and sealing his soul with an indelible mark as belonging to the Lord. Having been consecrated and configured to Christ, permanently marked with the sign of faith and the seal of eternal life, with our prayers to Divine Mercy for the repose of his soul, we have hope that he may know the blessed vision of God and the resurrection of the body (CCC 1272-74, 1581-84).

This Memorial Mass also reminds us that we are all family. Priests may come and go, parishioners of Blessed Sacrament may come and go, but family is forever. Even though one may leave, he or she will always be our brother or sister, one family, a loving communion in God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Nothing can separate us from this love.

God of faithfulness, in your wisdom you have called your servant Terry out of this world; release him from the bonds of sin and welcome him into your presence, so that he may enjoy eternal life and peace and be raised up in glory with all your saints.

Eternal rest grant unto all your faithful departed, O Lord. Let perpetual light shine upon them. May their souls, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

"Faith helps us to see a horizon beyond this world"

Today, we honor all of our veterans who have sought to protect our nation, our liberties, our families, our lives. We pray for them all, but especially for those who gave that last full measure of devotion, sacrificing their lives so that others might live and be free.

In November, we come to the end of the liturgical calendar on the Solemnity of Christ the King, which this year also concludes the Year of Faith, which has been a time of fruitful grace for the Church and the world. Beginning with All Saints Day and All Souls Day, the month is a time set aside by the Church for us to contemplate the last things, not only the end of the entire world, but the end of our own personal worlds, that is to say, the endings of our own individual lives and the lives of our loved ones.

Last week, our neighbor across the river, Cardinal Donald Wuerl, began a series on the end of life. In his first installment, he reminds us,

as we hear on Ash Wednesday, “Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return.” One day, our bodies will fail. Death comes for us all, at least biologically, and it could come at any moment, whether after a lengthy illness or a sudden event. The ending of life on this earth, however, while it may cause some understandable apprehension, need not be cause for despair.

The Lord “is not God of the dead, but of the living” (Luke 20:38). Life in this world is preliminary to what lies ahead.

Given that death might come at any time, Cardinal Wuerl counsels, it is prudent for us to prepare.

"Lord, for your faithful people life is changed, not ended."

Life is a wonderful thing. A great gift - the greatest of gifts and blessings - from God. But as good as life in this world is, it is not the highest good - that is, our earthly life is not the be all and end all.

As we reflect on the deaths this year of those close to us and pray for the repose of their souls, including recently Rev. Terry Cramer, we remember that we were made by God for something even better. This is something we cannot lose sight of, especially as we contemplate the horror of the loss of an estimated 10,000 lives in the Philippines in the wake of the typhoon that struck there last week. Rather, as Bishop Paul Loverde reminds us in his recent column,

there is no denying that we are pilgrims in this world, with a final destination elsewhere. Saint Paul likens us to runners in the same race, warning us that we must “Run so as to win” (1 Cor 9:24). Our eyes must be focused on the finish line and what route we are taking to get there. Eternal life is not an abstract concept, but a concrete reality. When we pass from this world, we will find ourselves face-to-face with Jesus Christ, and the manner in which we “ran the race” will determine our final and eternal dwelling. . . .

God of Divine Mercy, Remember Your Son Terry Cramer

It is with great sadness that we have learned of the death of one of Blessed Sacrament's former priests, Rev. Terry A. Cramer, on Thursday, November 7, 2013, at the young age of 46. We remember how warm and loving he was and those who heard his homilies always came away learning just a little bit more about the faith than they knew before.

On Wednesday, November 13, there will be a visitation from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Everly Funeral Home, 10565 Main Street in Fairfax (just west of Chain Bridge Road), with a funeral service at that same location the following day at 11 a.m.

UPDATED: The Blessed Sacrament community will gather for a Memorial Mass on Tuesday, November 12, at 7 p.m. Through the Holy Spirit, the community is joined together in faith as one Body in Christ to reaffirm in sign and symbol, word and gesture, that each believer through baptism shares in Christ’s death and resurrection and can look to the day when all the elect will be raised up and united in the kingdom of light and peace.

Please pray for our former father and eternal brother in Christ.

All-powerful and merciful God, we commend to you Terry, your son, whom you have called from this life to yourself. You turn the darkness of death into the dawn of new life. In your unending mercy and love, show compassion to your son, blot out any sins he may have committed through human weakness and embrace him in your arms. In this world he has died: let him live with you forever.

Lord Jesus, our Redeemer, you willingly gave yourself up to death so that all people might be saved and pass from death into a new life. Listen to our prayers. We pray for our brother Terry and commend him to your mercy. For his sake you came down from heaven. By dying you opened the gates of life for those who believe in you. Lord Jesus, holy and compassionate: forgive Terry his sins, do not let our brother be parted from you, but by your glorious power, give him light, joy, and peace in heaven where you live forever and ever. Amen.