A Time to Every Purpose
The etched-glass sanctuary window in the chapel at St Joseph's Nursing Home features four season of foliage, an image of Christ crucified, and the Scripture passage “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven” (Ecclesiastes 3:1).
This morning, both before and after the Mass at St. Joe’s, I stopped by the room of one of our residents who was nearing the very end of her life’s journey. Her family was with her and keeping vigil at her bedside.
After Mass, and our usual communion visits with many of the residents, I went with Sr. Teresa back to the room of our dying resident. Sadly, she passed-away at nearly the exact moment we entered the room (where we then immediately prayed for her and with her family).
I knew this resident to be an incredibly faith-filled woman who loved her God with all of her heart, mind, and soul. And so I’m very confident she is now with the Lord!
After spending some time with her family, I returned to the chapel, and once again I was deeply struck by the sanctuary window and the message it contains.
What came heavily to my mind was that all of 2023, and then January of 2024, were incredibly difficult times for me, and my family and friends, as we faced the reality of the deaths of many loved ones (the names of +Doug Bruchman, +Marjorie McDonell, +Gene Dore, +Richard Sies, +Tom Sheehan, +Dottie Stokes-Wallace, +Linda Malat Tiburzi, quite a few friars of my community, and most recently my young friend and protege +Nicholas Hickman immediately filled my thoughts).
The resident who passed-away this morning at St. Joe’s died in the same room that once belonged to my mom +Carolyn Marie Winterling-Dore. I was with my mom in that very same space when she passed-away on September 13, 2018. I could not help but to think of my mom as today’s family shared a similar experience of grief and loss!
Indeed, although it may not seem very clear to us as we pass through the significant moments of our lives, there surely is “a time to every purpose under heaven . . . ”
May eternal rest be granted to all those we’ve loved and lost!
Jesus said: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he/she die, yet shall he/she live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26)
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“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven.”
Praise God! 🙏
Friar Timothy
