Remembering Those Who Have Died
Remembrance Sunday, November 13, 2022
Friday afternoon at the Cenotaph in Goderich.
Fine weather for a mid-November morning.
Hundreds of people gathered to remember ~ to pray for ~ the veterans who are still with us, the thousands killed in battle through one war or another and the men and women who serve in the armed forces today.
All ages, all walks of life, across Canada, we were a Community at Prayer.
One prayer. One in the Lord. One body.
And we do this annually, year after year, lest we forget.
Most gathered were standing on the lawn or walkways, but some walked around the crowds.
A young mother and her two children passed by.
The little boy looked up at his Mom and smiling he said ‘I want a picture with Frosty the Snowman!’
The little girl was much younger.
She smiled and raised her hand to wave at the smiling faces around her.
Throughout the generations, young men and women leave their homes, their loved ones, their spouses and children, their mothers, fathers, and siblings for future young families, for a young mother’s freedom to safely walk around the Square perhaps to introduce her children to Remembrance Day, or perhaps simply to enjoy the lovely weather.
The Veterans have taught us to pray for the day when war will end.
They know the cost of war ~ the trauma and the great loss of human life.
Today, Remembrance Sunday, we acknowledge the great sacrifice of veterans young and old and those who lost their life at war.
On Remembrance Sunday, we also remember our loved ones, family, friends, neighbours, and fellow church members who died this past year and those for whom we still grieve.
So very many people have died in recent years who have been members of Christ Church and St. George’s.
We miss them yet we also give thanks for their friendship, their faith, and all God accomplished through them.
Their lives have made a difference.
Remembering the lives of the faithful departed, though, takes us beyond their earthly lives to the promises of our faith.
Wisdom teaches us today that it looks like they have died, but they are at peace.
The souls of the faithful are in the hand of God and torment will not touch them again.
They abide in the Lord with him in love.
You see, God is the source of our faith.
Jesus tells the faithful that we are his forever.
Nothing the Father has given him will be lost, but will be raised up on the last day.
Raised up to the mystical body of all the servants and saints in Christ.
We abide in him just as he abides in us.
We are one body in Christ Jesus today and forever more.
Today we give thanks for the testimony of the faithful who gathered in this place before us and we pray that following their examples, we too will be one with them in Christ Jesus forevermore.