I welcome you to this funeral liturgy for Pauline Thank you for joining us today – especially all those who have travelled a great distance to be with us today.

Death is always a shock; even more so when it’s the death of someone close to us who has died long before her time. We all come here to remember a lady, to give thanks, even in our grief, for her life, to offer each other, and especially those who will most miss her, the consolation of our love and our presence with you today; and to offer also the promise of eternal life.

Our consolation will be the happy memories we have of Pauline; our sadness is that she has gone from us. Our sure Christian hope is that the Lord our God will welcome her home and that one day we will be united together in heaven. In the depth of our loss and hope we now pray and offer this Eucharist for Pauline

We come to God, knowing we need his mercy and forgiveness, and so in preparing to celebrate the Mass we call to mind our sins.

Homily

We gather here today in sadness with the family of Pauline Rooney Our thoughts are for you. We ask God to send his Consoler to bring his peace to your hearts and to your homes. We give thanks to God for the life that he gave Pauline and pray in faith that he will welcome her home to everlasting happiness in heaven.

There is as the Scriptures remind us, a time for every season under heaven. As we gather in Laurencetown Church we reflect on the mystery of time and providence that are in God’s hands: there is indeed a time to die, a time to weep, a time to mourn, a time to keep silence, a time to speak, a time to love.

Holding a vigil for Pauline, her family have shared memories of who she was and what she meant to them. We mourn her passing, we cherish her memory. Above all you have remembered the humanity of a good person. Today as we gather in sorrow to remember Pauline. A burden of pain, burden of loss, burden of grief weighs heavily on you all. We gather as a community - our presence here today is our way of reaching out to the Rooney family.

Pauline was born in Gilford on New Year’s Day 1945, daughter of Andrew and Margaret McCrum and sister of Marie and Jim. Educated in St. John’s Primary School and St. Patrick’s in Banbridge, Pauline began her working life in Blane’s Factory as a stitcher. She also worked in Point Residential Home. Pauline loved watching television and going for a walk with her constant companion – her dog Sadie.

Her two sons Conor and Andrew were her pride and joy and she was more than happy that they had both settled in America. She attended all the important occasions there, including Conor’s wedding to Jennifer and the christening of her precious grandson, Jack. No 56 Miller Park was like a shrine to Jack and she always carried photos of her family to show to anyone who enquired of them. She was looking forward to the birth of her second grandchild in November.

Pauline had a great sense of humour and a lot of love for everyone – but could also be stubborn at times. The boys kept in constant touch with her and when Pauline was hospitalised recently, Andrew offered to come home, but she would have none of it. Doctor Logan was always warned ‘not to annoy the boys’ – she hated fuss.

When Conor spoke to her at 10.30pm on Friday evening, she said she assured him she was ‘fine’ and would speak to him over the weekend. Three hours later, he received the phone call to say his mum had died.

We remember a lovely person, a lady who was a treasure to you all. Letting go of her today is not going to be easy for Pauline was a great lover of family, people and life itself. Thank you to all who cared for her and loved her in life. Now her suffering is over. As Pauline has died now a part of you dies as well. You are filled with sorrow because her death leaves a gap that no-one else can fill adequately. When we remember her today we cannot help recalling the things she said and the way she said them, the things she did and her way of doing them but sadness is tinged with hope and expectation. We pray that she is with the Lord and we look forward to the day when we will be reunited with her. Christ’s resurrection assures us that if we follow him we will rise again. It is only with death that life really makes sense, it’s our leap into eternity, it is God calling us home to be with him forever. At a time like this we come face to face with our own mortality.

Living a truly Catholic life is about waiting in hope and as people of hope we believe in the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Pauline’s period of waiting is now over. No one can say she got life easy. All those years of worry, loneliness and sorrow and rearing a family when times were hard have made of her life a pilgrimage of pain - a journey from birth to death and the reason she could see purpose in the pain or sense in the suffering was because Jesus Christ came on this earth to conquer death and save us from our sins.

She brought love, care and friendship to those who knew her. She did not enjoy good health. She died after her strength could no longer meet the challenge of life. Today then we bid farewell to Pauline. Despite your sense of loss, you will face the future with courage and hope, knowing that that is what your mummy would want you to do. We comfort one another in the sure confidence that for Pauline life has changed, not ended. We also derive comfort from the conviction that she is at peace with God. Today I extend our sympathy to her two loving sons Conor and Andrew, brother Jim, daughter in law Jennifer, grandson Jack and the entire family circle. Eternal rest …