COME, SHARE YOUR LORD’S JOY

My favorite Aunt died last week at St. Mary of the Woods, Indiana. She was 99.9 years of age. What follows is what I wrote in an obituary for the funeral home. May she rest in the peace of Christ. https://spsmw.org/

“Florida calling. Sister Adrian Marie, my Aunt, and I talked about this topic a few days before she died. I would like to share some of our conversation, not a long one, but one that focused on what lies ahead for her using what went behind her throughout her lifetime.

For those who believe in the Resurrection, life is changed, not ended. The good times and love she shared with us, love that comes directly from Christ Himself, she is experiencing in Heaven right now. We are the ones who should “weep for ourselves and our children.” At Baptism, she received a golden thread, Jesus Christ, unbreakable and with whom she could thread all of us, our experiences, happy times, sunrises and sunsets, as well as times of challenge. She loved Gethsemani and St. Benedict’s saying, “that in all things, may God be glorified.” She put that tread through all the nuns and laity associated with St. Mary of the Woods, especially her beloved companion Sister Thomas Jeanne; she threaded her love for the Eucharist in Adoration before the Blessed Sacrament Chapel at the Woods; she threaded the golden thread for all the children she taught and for whom she gave her life in a living martyrdom of Love; she threaded together all the reunions that she loved so much so that the family heritage might be passed on, and what a heritage that was; she threaded her beloved Mom and Dad, her brothers and sister, all her nieces and nephews, those of us honored to be her blood and for those whom she adopted with that one golden thread; she threaded all her friends and experiences in Las Vegas and Los Angeles, those with whom she lived in her apartment on Amhurst Blvd in L.A., especially for dear friends Governor Gray and Sharon Davis, and Arthur and Janet Kassal; come to think of it, she put a golden thread through about anyone she met and all life events. I don’t know this to be a fact, but I Hope (upper case H) that all those persons, events, situations that she threaded with the Golden Thread of Christ, will be her heaven. If so, we are all in for one big reunion, one that has no beginning nor end. She loved and respected all nationalities but especially the Jewish people. She had many Jewish friends and kept recounting to me how kind and loving they were to her and Sister Thomas Jeanne. A couple of days ago, we spoke of the purpose of life as described in the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 6:5 and in the New Testament (Matthew 22:36) and how both Jews and Jesus had the exact same purpose. She loved that. Look it up.

For those who do not believe in the Resurrection, Sister Adrian Marie lived her life fulfilling the destiny of what each human should try to attain, to love others. In her case, she added, “…as Christ loved us.” It did not matter to her that others did not believe as she did or had abandoned their traditions for which she had taught them all those years. What mattered was the person in front of her.

It takes a lifetime to rise above the struggle of setbacks and successes, if we ever do, to be being kind and putting up with depression, with positive thinking about people and recognizing that they often disappoint us, of loving without any hope of seeing that love returned. What counts is our trying to rise above our setbacks and struggles. This is unconditional love and Sister Adrian Marie was a wonderful example for each of us in the holy tradition of Saint Mother Theodore. Just because your road is rocky doesn’t mean you are on the wrong road, I used to tell her when her physical ailments got too much to carry by herself. Christ was always there for her to help her carry her cross daily. I told her that Christ won’t carry it for you, but will carry it with you. Her life is a testament to that Faith, that Hope in the Resurrection, and especially Love for us all. Her reward? ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35 for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ” Matthew 25:33-35″

THE GRAND HANDOFF

The last thing I remember saying to Sister was to echo the words of Christ, “Don’t be afraid.” She is in the arms of Christ, wrapped in that Notre Dame blanket, and is safe and home. We are the ones who must be willing to let go and let Christ take her to the next stage of her life. This is the big handoff. “Don’t be afraid,” says Christ, “I am with you. You will have your turn to move from self to God. Don’t worry, I won’t drop you.”

Michael

Michael F. Conrad, Ed.D., Professed Lay Cistercian