THE parish of Saint Bridget, was Lorraine\u2019s parish for many years. She was, with (her husband) John, a very committed parishioner; tireless in her charity and kindness; patient and always ready to volunteer.<\/p>\n
Yesterday (Sept 8) was the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary and I thought, during Mass, of Lorraine\u2019s faith and trust in God. This is reflected in the order of service which she diligently prepared. The opening hymn: \u00a0\u201cHail Mary, full of grace, The Lord is with you<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n Our sympathies to Leon and Marie-Ange; Peter; Antoinette and Andy; who will miss her and to her many friends in the parish who visited her and knew her in younger days and now.<\/p>\n Lorraine died last Monday, Sept 5, \u00a0at Saint Catherine\u2019s Aged Care. She received the sacraments and was, as always, attended by a caring staff. The family were able to be there to say farewell (not goodbye) and, what is rare, staff and Dr Lim, her GP of many years, stayed around. Such was the quality of this kind lady.<\/p>\n Pope Francis has made 2016 the \u2018Year of Mercy\u2019 and mercy is what Lorraine lived. She could not have chosen a more suitable profession than nursing; her first hospital \u2018the Mercy\u2019 and later, its cousin, Caritas \u2013 Christian love of humankind, where she was Director of Nursing.<\/p>\n But Christian love marked out her virtue; she was dedicated to our parish in the school, helping out in the church (Altar Society) and Christmas parcels with Frank O\u2019Connor; a leader in refugee re-settlement (after Vietnam) and the \u2018Men\u2019s Centre\u2019 in Collingwood where she gave her time and energy.<\/p>\n In later years she was a visitor to the sick at St Catherine\u2019s and then a resident from 2008.<\/p>\n Lorraine wrote the Opening Prayer with an eye on the merciful love of God and the modern parable, chosen for the first reading, \u201cFootprints in the Sand\u201d, extends God\u2019s love and trustworthiness further.<\/p>\n Paul Collins was interviewed on ABC, Lateline, by Emma Alberici concerning the two miracles required for the Canonisation of Mother Teresa of Calcutta \u2013 Now St Teresa. He made the point that the real miracle was not medical but the life of a woman, burdened by being a foreigner and living in dire poverty, who lifted others up from whatever afflicted them. So it must be for us. Our life will be our little miracle in this world.<\/p>\n Whatever difficulties Lorraine had, and there were some, she felt carried along by a love that she, unwittingly, lived out in her own life. As with most of us, whatever experiences we have, are passed on. For Lorraine, it was a heart made whole by the love of God, that expressed itself in self-giving, life-giving relationships with others.<\/p>\n The gospel reading (John 14: 1-7) is a favourite for Christian burial.\u00a0 After the consolation of trusting in God and the assurance that we all have a place with God, there is a strange statement that Jesus Himself is the way we are left with the question, Can a person be the way?<\/p>\n John Martis, a Jesuit, explains as akin to taking a road-trip with someone and being dropped at the destination \u2013 we were not shown the way, that person was the way. So it is with those of us who live in relationship with Jesus. We are taken, by Him, to our eternal destiny.<\/p>\n This intimacy with Jesus is a nearness to the love of God that takes us forward. Marilyn Robinson, who wrote \u2018Gilead\u2019<\/em>, says that it was \u201cjust like going home.\u201d<\/p>\n The Resurrection is the centre of Christian life. St Paul says: \u201cif Christ has not risen then in vain do we believe.\u201d And, he adds, that the sufferings of this present time cannot be compared to the future glory that will be revealed to us.<\/p>\n I have come to see that our life cannot be separated from our death. The early Christians took these words up in their art and inscriptions. They etched on the walls of the catacombs \u2013 their burial places \u2013 phrases such as \u2018dies natalis\u2019<\/em> \u2013 the day of my birth to paradise. And the striking words: \u201cMy night has no darkness.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Lorraine no doubt had her moments of difficulty but there was always light in her darkness. St John puts it well when speaking about Jesus: \u201cWhoever follows me will have the light of life and will never walk in darkness.\u201d<\/p>\n Vale<\/em> gentle woman, always remembered for a life lived in love; a merciful soul now at peace with God.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" THE parish of Saint Bridget, was Lorraine\u2019s parish for many years. She was, with (her husband) John, a very committed parishioner; tireless in her charity and kindness; patient and always […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-notices"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/kmgit.com\/testbuzz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/kmgit.com\/testbuzz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/kmgit.com\/testbuzz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kmgit.com\/testbuzz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kmgit.com\/testbuzz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2296"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/kmgit.com\/testbuzz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2296\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2297,"href":"http:\/\/kmgit.com\/testbuzz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2296\/revisions\/2297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/kmgit.com\/testbuzz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kmgit.com\/testbuzz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/kmgit.com\/testbuzz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}