Celebrant: Fr. Tony Corr

For some people death comes as a result of a long, slow wearing down process. But for others death comes like a bolt out of the blue. When people die like that we are naturally shocked and saddened.

It doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t seem fair. Their work is cut short, their plans are reduced to rubble, and everything is thrown into confusion. We are left with a terrible sense of loss.

When we lose someone we love, part of ourselves seems to die with them.

There are fragments of the lives and experience of our loved ones that will for years come to awaken memories for us of the people they were, the things they said, the ways they had: fragments of times gone by that will forever keep the memory alive, word’s spoken and events remembered that will flood into the mind and continue to remind us of the person who’s gone.

An unexpected loss robs us of our sense of security, our plans for the future and even our joy in life. The fears and emotions you are feeling today are natural to those who lose a loved one so unexpectedly.

God invites us all to bring our pain, our loss, our regrets, and our memories to him that he might help us carry this burden of grief and pain. Jesus joins us in our sorrow. He listens to our sad story.

When someone we love dies, we feel the need to connect our lives with them. We recall our memories of them and we thank God for the gifts he gave us through them.

Bridie’s family over the last few days have recalled numerous memories of Bridie as a wife, mother, grandmother, sister and friend.

Bridie was born in Ballintaggart, Portadown on the 6^th June, 1956, and the youngest of four girls to Daniel and Josephine McKeever. After leaving Coharra primary school, Bridie attended St. Brigid’s Secondary School and then obtained employment with Ulster Laces.

In 1973, at the age of 17, she met Jackie in the Thoroughfare, Banbridge and seven years later they married in Mullavilly Chapel. One year later, their son Jonathan arrived, followed two years later by their daughter Kelly and now their family was complete.

Bridie and Jackie lived with Bridie’s parents for a short while after they were married before they got their house in Corcrain and then 22 years ago they moved to their present home in Lenaderg.

Bridie was a very popular lady and she enjoyed a game of bingo. Country music was also a favourite and a few weeks ago she travelled to Bundoran to see Robert Mizzell and liked nothing more than to have a dance. Face book was Bridie’s guilty pleasure – always checking in to see what was what!

Bridie was very close to her sisters, Rosaleen, Lily and Mary and she absolutely adored her two grandchildren, Sarah-Ann and Noah.

At the First Friday Mass in St. Colman’s Bann Primary School, Bridie was always first through the door to make sure she got the front row seat! Bridie loved the company of children and she thoroughly enjoyed the children’s Mass.

Bridie’s death was sudden and unexpected. A sudden death brings home to us how fleeting life is, and how precarious is the hold we have on it. We are not made of stone but of very fragile material.

Life can be taken away from us in the twinkling of an eye. However, the brevity and fragility of life also bring home to us how precious is the treasure we carry in earthen vessels.

Jesus was aware of the uncertainty of life. His parable stresses the fact that death can surprise us at any moment. Even though death may come to us like a thief in the night, Jesus doesn’t come to us like that.

Jesus is our Saviour, and our Brother. He comes to take us to the wedding feast of the kingdom of heaven. Even though such a vision doesn’t rob death of its uncertainty, it does change the way we regard it.

No doubt all of us would like to have the chance to prepare for death, with our plans carried out and our work done. But we don’t know if we will have that chance.

What we do have is an opportunity to be faithful to our responsibilities and commitments on a daily basis, like the servant Jesus spoke about in the Gospel story. The rest is in God’s hands. The faithful servant doesn’t fear the master’s return. He welcomes it.

On my own behalf, and on behalf of Canon Powell, I extend our deepest sympathy to Bridie’s husband Jackie and to her daughter Kelly and son Jonathan.

I extend our sympathy to her daughter-in-law Clare, son-in-law David, grandchildren, Sarah-Ann and Noah and to her sisters: Rosaleen, Lily and Mary, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, nephews, nieces and entire family circle.

May Bridie’s gentle soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.