Bishop on Memorial Day, Marian feastday: ‘May we all respond to God’s voice’
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Themes of service and sacrifice converged and expanded during Mass in the Resurrection Catholic Cemetery Mausoleum in Jefferson City the last Monday of May.
Not only was it Memorial Day, it was the Feast of Mary, Mother of the Church.
The bishop rested his message on God’s Holy Word.
“God spoke: ‘Let there be light!’ And there was light. ‘Let the land be separated from the sea!’ And it all came about through the calling of his voice,’” said Bishop Ralph B. O’Donnell, who offered the Mass.
He pointed to how Adam and Eve listened to a voice other than God’s and wound up losing through disobedience their own place and a place for their descendants in the Garden of Eden.
Jesus, the Word Made Flesh, came to restore what had been lost, by offering himself as the perfect sacrifice on the cross.
“And from the cross comes the voice of the Beloved, the new Adam, born of the new Eve, the Immaculate Conception,” said Bishop O’Donnell. “Our Mother is given to us by the voice of the Son of God speaking to John: ‘Behold your Mother,’ and to Mary, ‘Behold your son.’”
At that moment, Jesus’s Mother became the Mother of the Church.
United voices
A sizable assembly joined Bishop O’Donnell for worship in the Mausoleum Chapel, where dozens of deceased Catholics in marble-faced vaults await the sound of God’s trumpet on the Last Day.
The bishop spoke of remembering the men and women who over the centuries have given their lives in service to this country.
“We also remember all those who have died since last year, and in a special way, those who now serve,” he said.
“We are grateful for their service and the protection that they provide, and we ask God’s blessings upon them and for their safety,” he stated.
Deacon Richard Telhorst, who assists the pastor of St. Peter Parish in Jefferson City, assisted the bishop at the altar.
A visiting seminarian for the Kansas City-St. Joseph diocese and a young man who hopes to begin seminary formation for this diocese in the fall served as altar servers.
The bishop noted that he enjoys strolling from his home to Resurrection Cemetery, “walking these hollowed grounds” and stopping to visit the burial places of deceased priests and bishops of the diocese.
“Thanks to all who take care of the grounds,” he said. “Thank you for your commitment to the care of these sacred spaces where our loved ones await the Resurrection.
“Let us pray today as we gather and remember those whose voices have impacted us — our family members, the generations who have taught us, those who are buried here, those who have been lost way too young,” he said.
“Let us pray that we will continue to listen for the voice of Christ, that we will allow him to instruct us,” the bishop continued, “and that in our continuing to grow in faith and live as the Body of Christ, all will see through us the gift of God’s mercy and his call to grow in faith and to experience the gift of eternal life.”
