paxabbey at The Abbey of Our Lady of Exile, Mount St Benedict, Tunapuna, Port of Spain 00014 TT - Homily for the funeral Mass of Fr Abbot's Mother - Friday 24 July 2009
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Homily for the funeral Mass of Fr Abbot's Mother - Friday 24 July 2009 |
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| MRS RITA PEREIRA, nee CATTINE |
In the comforting words of a great Indian poet and Hindu mystic, “Death is not extinguishing the light, but putting out the lamp because the dawn has come.” And he asks us to remember that "The day that we fear as our last, the last our eyes shall see, is really but our birthday into eternity."
Death is the one experience which transcends the boundaries of race and religion. It is a universal phenomenon and has been a source of reflection in all avenues of human thought. For the Hindu and the Christian, for the Muslim and the Rastafarian, it is a mystery of untold depth. For the Benedictine monk, to reflect on the mystery of death is one of the tools of good works, which St Benedict encourages his monks to apply in the workshop of the monastery: “Keep death daily before one’s eyes.”
When we read about the tragedy of death in the newspapers it saddens us. When our neighbour tells us about a death in her family, we feel pity and compassion. But when death hits us closer home, when it is the death of a relative and even more so the death of a mother, we are often dumbstruck and bewildered – we are speechless and there is often no word that can console us – not even the words of Rabindranath Tagore or St Benedict.
On the death of a mother who loved her children as her own self, it is even more painful. And this is the pain that we, her children, feel today – it is a pain too deep for words – a pain too severe to fathom. I speak with sadness about the death of our dear mother, Rita. In Greek, Rita means pearl. In Sanskrit, it means true. But because she has asked us not to have a eulogy at her funeral, I am not supposed to tell you that our mother was both a pearl of great price and one who was always true to her word.
I am not supposed to tell you the wonderful ways in which she showed this selfless love for her children. So I will not tell you that our mother had a heart that was kind and loving. I will not tell you how she was always looking to feed someone – to provide food for the hungry. And one of her favourite topics of conversation was food. She was always cooking food, “dishing out” food, providing food, talking about food. She always wanted to know if her children had had enough food to eat and if they wanted more food. And Mom is in good company.
I say this because the image of food was also a popular image among the Hebrew Prophets. This morning’s reading from Isaiah uses the image of a banquet for the place of liberation that we are all destined for: “On this mountain the Lord of hosts will prepare for all peoples a banquet of rich food.” It is joy and gladness that the Lord invites us to: “he will remove the mourning veil covering all peoples, and the shroud enwrapping all nations; He will destroy death forever.”
While there is sadness today, we are invited by the Prophets to look beyond the veil of mourning and to see the truth and the beauty of the new life that our mother has embarked upon. For the Christian, death is a doorway to a new form of existence. It is truly, as Rabindranath Tagore so beautifully puts it, “our birthday into eternity.”
Mom was always yearning for the joy of the kingdom. Her great love for children was demonstrative of this. It mirrored the joy that Jesus knew when he welcomed the little children to himself. Even as a youth, and actively engaged in the Legion of Mary, Mom was seeking to find fulfilment in God and God alone. She sought to live a religious life, but when she applied to a convent of sisters, she was told that she was not acceptable as her birth status was illegitimate. In those days, in order to join the seminary or to enter religious life, one had to have been born from married parents.
She continued her search and it was then that she found Albert, our Father. They were both devout legionaries. If we were to think that Pop’s devotion to the Legion of Mary was due merely to an admiration of Edel Quinn or Frank Duff, or even of Jesus and Mary, then we need to look again. And when we look again we will see a young lady by the name of Rita Cattine. This beautiful young lady was to be yet another motivation for Pop’s interest in the Legion. She married him and within a few years gave him six children. We are all grateful to her for the values that she passed on to us, particularly that of selflessness.
It is easy to see why Albert pursued Rita so zealously when we look at the prayer card which you received today. There we see the Rita that Albert knew. She was a woman of astounding beauty who always dressed exquisitely and elegantly and who knew what is was to be a woman. And if some of you had been wondering how all her children have such good looks, your question is answered today when you look at the photo on the card.
During this funeral Mass, we focus as well on vocations to the diocesan priesthood (the vocation of my brother, Christian), and to the Benedictines (my own vocation). Pope St Pius X once said: “Every priestly vocation comes from the heart of God but passes through the heart of a mother.” As we celebrate the life and death of our dear mother, Rita, we pray for all mothers. We pray that they may be mothers to their sons and daughters not merely of their physical needs, but also of their minds and their hearts. For the future of our nation depends on the quality of our mothers and the condition of their heart. Thank you Mom for loving us! Thank you for allowing us to pass through your own heart! Thank you for being our mother! And thank you for being a mother to countless persons who looked to you for love, for friendship and for food.
(Readings at the funeral Mass: Isaiah 25; Mark 10:13-16)