"When the dead rise, they will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven." (Mark 12:25)
After my mother died in January, Dad told me that he was bothered by this saying from the synoptic gospels. He and Mom lived for 61 years as one flesh, carrying in their very bones the conviction expressed in Genesis that they were no longer two but one. Now that his wife had been returned to the Father, his sense of loss would be even greater if he could not look forward to being reunited with her in heaven.
I hope I helped him, when I expressed my belief that since God is love, the love of my parents could only be made perfect in God; if that love were changed, somehow it would be made even more whole and complete than the beautiful Sacrament they embodied during their life together.
Since my father died last week, I've thought about this even more. In a letter written to Mom a few months before they married in 1950, Dad writes of his conviction that Mom would be God's instrument of grace for the salvation of his soul. And for the 49 years I knew them, it seemed clear to me that his devotion to Mom was surpassed only by his devotion to God.
I thank God for the graces I've received through the lives of my parents, Jim and Eileen Daly. And I thank my friends and family for the outpouring of love and prayers on our behalf.
I thank God for the graces I've received through the lives of my parents, Jim and Eileen Daly. And I thank my friends and family for the outpouring of love and prayers on our behalf.
