As we conclude the month of October — designated as Respect Life Month — it seems appropriate to reflect on end-of-life issues.
Doesn’t it seem that our society today pays much more attention to the beginning of life than the end of it? We get excited about the birth of a baby. We have baby showers, spend time getting the nursery decorated, and send out birth announcements when the baby is born. We buy cards and gifts for the new child.
When she was a 13-year-old girl living in Belgium, Mariette Coffman walked in a procession behind a hearse carrying the remains of Fr. Damien de Veuster on May 3, 1936.
“I remember that the hearse was drawn by six white horses,” said Mariette. Father Damien’s remains were shipped from Hawaii, where the Belgian missionary had ministered to people with leprosy until he himself died of the disease. Mariette recalls that the ship landed in Antwerp and his remains were taken to Louvain, where he was buried.
What a great feast day we celebrated on Sunday, a feast that calls us to focus on one of the phrases in the Creed over which we might grow accustomed to pass too quickly. We say at the end of the creed, “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints…”
