Canon Gerry Powell P.P.

On behalf of the Christian community of Tullylish I welcome all of you who have come from near and far to be with us in  remembering our dead whose remains are interred in this cemetery.

To remember is human, natural and necessary if we are to know who we are. We learn our identity by remembering all those who have made our history. Without remembering no one could have an identity or a hope for the future. It is because of the faith of our ancestors that we are here. St. Paul reminds us that “faith comes from hearing.” Our faith tells us that in death life is changed not ended.

Today we remember the recently deceased. We remember those long dead, those who shared our childhood years, those who were our companions and friends during our adult years, those who served as priests in this parish, those who shared our faith,  our hopes for the future, those who gave us love and received our own, our relatives, friends, neighbours and those with no one to pray for them. As we share these memories we know that part of us has gone into eternity and part of them remains with us.

By our presence here we are making sacramental in a very concrete way our communion with them in the risen Christ. This is the sacred event, a great expression of our Catholic faith in the Resurrection and eternal life , and a social occasion to meet up with loved ones. May God speak to our hearts as we think of the mystery of death and ask him to remember and in remembering to forgive and to reward.

               As much as death takes from us, it also gives. It teaches us what is truly important like giving back after a lifetime of taking, going after something we should never have let go of  or looking back at what made us who we are.   Amen.