Ave Maria!
Estrella Rios, RIP
Generally
speaking, Catholics do not eulogize their dead—that is to say that we do not
make elaborate speeches about the worldly accomplishments about our deceased
loved ones. But I am going to tell you just two or three of my
recollections of Estrella Rios, because they represent good things that all of
us should strive to imitate.
I
met Estrella and her husband Jórge quite a number of years ago, when we were
offering our Sunday Masses at the Ramada Inn, a few blocks south of here.
They had traveled extensively around the area, trying to find the traditional
Mass. I would commend their example to you, and urge you to keep to the
Faith, even if it causes you to make sacrifices.
They
told me that they were going to celebrate their fiftieth wedding anniversary in
a few weeks, which were did at holy Mass on that day. I don’t remember
exactly when that was, but I would guess that they had to be married for a total
of sixty years, or maybe sixty-five. Again I would commend their example
to you—a rather marvelous achievement in our times, when marriage has become
more and more a temporary arrangement of convenience for so many couples.
No marriage is perfect—they had to work at it for it to last all those
years—a tenacity that we would all do well to emulate.
They
told me, also, that they had escaped from Castro’s Cuba. I had friends
in high school that had made the same journey, so I had heard a lot of very bad
stories, and always had respect for those with the courage to defy the regime,
at least by leaving. They had a good sense of humor about it. “Was
it hard to leave Cuba?” I asked. “No,” she said, “they are happy
to see people leave . . . as long as they take absolutely
nothing”! Again, I commend their example to you, for Marxism is not
dead, and still represents a terrible threat to society and religion; to
salvation, prosperity, and liberty. It is something to be resisted, and
best to be resisted while maintaining a good sense of humor.
We
will miss Estrella, for that is a very human and natural thing to do.
Those of you who were especially close to her will find a big piece missing from
your lives. Time will heal the pain of loss, but in the meanwhile don’t
ashamed to cry a little-or a lot, if it makes you feel better. You will
probably feel a little foolish the first or second time you have something to
tell her, and suddenly realize that she can no longer answer the phone—we all
do things like that. Whatever you do, be sure not to allow time to erase
her memory from your mind.
“Seventy
is the sum of our years, or eighty if we are strong,” says the Psalmist.
Death is a natural thing, for all material things eventually break down.
The shiny new car you bought ten years ago has a lot of scratches, if you still
have it at all; the new dress, even that diamond jewelry eventually loses
its luster. The human body is no different. Eventually it comes to
its end, even with all of the high technology of the hospital emergency room.
But
there is more to the human being than the material body, for God created us “a
little lower than the angels,” with a spiritual element much like
theirs—indeed, much like His own.
We know this spiritual element as the soul. And unlike the body and every
other material thing, the soul is immortal—it has no parts to break down and
wear out.
Do
people really have a soul? Of course they do! It is not hard to
recognize the soul in a man or a woman, for human beings are much more than just
their material parts. Man—like God and the angels—has both intellect
and will; that is to say that they are capable of both thinking and of
loving. These powers of the spirit transcend the limits of material being.
The
human intellect allows for introspection. It allows knowing one’s own
existence, and the part one plays in society and in the world. A human
being can look down into his own heart, where conscience dwells, and where the
Holy Ghost resides. He can also look above on a clear winter night, and
recognize in that order and beauty the handiwork of God. Men and women
alone among their fellow material creatures are endowed with these gifts of God.
They
are uniquely capable of abstraction. That is to say that the soul can draw
concepts out of the material things around it. It can contemplate
concepts like truth and justice and freedom, compassion and love. It can
contemplate these things, and can desire them, and can strive to make the
concepts into realities. It is something far more than just his material
beings that is capable of going our to the poor and the sick and the confused.
The love of husband and wife and family and friends is above and beyond mere
material being. We are more than the sum of our material parts, for the
soul, the seat of this reason and love—like God and the angels—goes on
forever.
In
God’s original plan, men and women were to be preserved from death by God’s
special graces—we speak of “preternatural” gifts possessed by Adam and Eve
that preserved them from the physical difficulties we all naturally experience.
Unfortunately, Adam and Eve lost those gifts when they disobeyed God’s command
and sin entered the world. Very much like a man who squandered a great
fortune, Adam could not pass on to his descendents what he did no have—the
fortune was gone.
But
even then, God was merciful and promised to send a Redeemer, a Man born of a
woman—a Man who was the Son of God Himself. He would not take away our
physical discomforts, and we would still die. Indeed, He died for us in
great discomfort, so that the gates of Heaven could be opened once again—so
that immortal souls of men and women could spend eternity in happiness, as it
had been planned from the beginning.
And
on the last day—the day of judgment—God will restore our bodies for all
eternity. A marvelous thing for those who have followed His Commandments,
but an ominous threat to those who do not—a body intended for the delights of
Heaven, perpetually doomed to the penalties of Hell.
But
even there, God has provided for those of us who are weak, and prone to stray
from His path. The Son of God gave us the Sacraments to strengthen us as
we journey through life to death, and on to eternity. We see them at work
in Estrella’s life:
In
Baptism, Estrella received the sanctifying grace of God that would make soul
radically pleasing to Him.
In
Confirmation, He strengthened her with the Holy Ghost, so that she could
willingly and openly profess the Catholic faith.
He
nourished these graces regularly when she received His own body and blood in
Holy Communion.
When
she fell from grace, as we all do, He revived His graces through Sacramental
Confession and the absolution by His priests.
In
the Sacrament of Matrimony, God blessed Estrella with a faithful husband, Jórge,
and gave them children to carry on where they would eventually have to leave
off.
However
sorrowful it was for those whom she left behind, her death a few days ago was a
victory won in cooperation with God. One of the greatest privileges any
priest may have is the opportunity to bring that Sacraments to those in their
final hours. She was absolved of her sins, anointed with the Oil of the
Sick, and received the Apostolic Blessing with it plenary indulgence.
Let
me close with just a few things that I think are appropriate to mention whenever
people gather like this to mourn their dead. I said much the same thing
when we mourned Jórge, but I believe they are worth repeating:
“It
is therefore a holy and a wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may
be loosed from their sins.”
While sins and the punishment due to sin may be forgiven during this life, our
Lord speaks of sins forgiven “in the world to come.”
We
pray for the dead that God will swiftly cleanse them of those small sins and
imperfections that might keep them temporarily from enjoying the glory of
heaven. That, by His mercy, He might quickly forgive the punishment that
is due to their sins in Justice.
But,
we also pray for the dead, that we might receive something for ourselves;
that by reflecting on the realities of life and death, of heaven and hell, we
might be more motivated to keep His Commandments and receive His Sacraments in
order to ensure our own eternal salvation. These are things not
just to talk about, for they are realities; we might even say the only
realities, for nothing else matters if we lose our souls.
Finally,
we pray for the dead, so that they will pray for us. The souls in
Purgatory need our prayers, for which they are eternally grateful.
Remember that they are God's saints, soon to share the glory of heaven with Him;
powerful intercessors on our behalf. Let us not forget those who have gone
before us, lest they forget to pray for us.
