Funeral Mass for Sr. Mary Joseph 29/5/23
Philippians 2:1-11; Matthew 5:1-12
You are probably familiar with the words attributed by Shakespeare to Mark Antony “I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him”. We might truthfully say “We come to bury Sr. Mary Joseph, not to praise her”, yet I feel that it is impossible to bury Sister Mary Joseph without praising her.
A faithful child of God through ninety years, a professed religious through almost 68 years; a dedicated teacher, particularly of those less naturally gifted mathematically; a beloved friend to her community, to her wide-ranging family; to her former pupils, indeed to everyone whom she met: how could we fail to praise her? She would, I am sure, object strongly to being praised, which is one of the most praiseworthy attributes of all.
All of you will have your own memories of Sister Mary Joseph, which you will be able to share as you mingle afterwards: I shall simply throw in two penn’orth of my own. (For the benefit of the post-decimalisation generation, I should perhaps point out that two penn’orth, or pennyworth, was a small measure which could comprise a scoop of Cali and a penny Spanish, a tube of Polo mints, or four Mojo chews—not something to be sneezed at.)
On one occasion, I encountered Sr. Mary Joseph bustling towards the library, a book protruding from the basket on her walking frame. “I have to be there quickly,” she explained. “I borrowed this book, and it is due back at noon.” Despite my suggestion that the community was hardly likely to impose sanctions if she were to hold onto it for a little longer, Sister’s sense of duty and propriety, along with her concern not to inconvenience anybody, ensured that she would beat the deadline.
Our scripture readings were clearly chosen with Sr. Mary Joseph very personally in mind. In fact, they were chosen by her for her Diamond Jubilee, and I am tempted simply to re-read them, while inviting you to apply them to the SMJ whom you knew.
“Everybody is to be self-effacing”, we are instructed in the Letter to the Philippians, “so that nobody thinks of their own interests first, but everybody thinks of other people’s interests instead”. Does that ring any bells?
St. Paul links all of this to the self-emptying of Christ, who humbled Himself to “assume the condition of a slave” and who died a slave’s death. All of us are called to an imitation of Christ the Son of God. I leave it to you to consider how well Sr. Mary Joseph succeeded in that imitation, and in her acclamation of Christ as Lord, an acclamation to which we are also called.
Turning to the Gospel, I think that it is fair to say that imitation, or perhaps fulfilment, is required of us again by the Beatitudes. “Blessed are the poor in spirit” says Our Lord. He is calling us, not to be poor-spirited, but to have a genuine humility. The sisters here groan and start to throw things when I remind them for the umpteenth time that the word “humility” comes from the Latin humus meaning “soil” or “ground”, so to be humble, to be poor in spirit, is to have your feet on the ground, not to have an exalted opinion of yourself.
To be gentle, to mourn with those who mourn, to desire and work for justice, to be merciful, pure in heart, a peacemaker—would you agree that Sr. Mary Joseph was all of those? I hope that she wasn’t persecuted, though having a Jewish father she would have been aware of the reality of persecution. And our prayer today is that she is now rejoicing and being glad, in anticipation or enjoyment of her heavenly reward.
Which brings us to the main point of today. We are here for many things—to remember; to give thanks; to mourn, though not too much—but above all, to pray. I stand open to correction, but I imagine that if Sr. Mary Joseph ever needed to rebuke a pupil, she would have done so more in sorrow and disappointment than in anger. If we were to neglect to pray for her, that she may be cleansed of any sins she may have committed, and may be brought to share fully in the glory of the resurrection, then she would feel that we deserved a mild rebuke, again more in sorrow than in anger.
So let us not neglect that duty, which we owe to Sr. Mary Joseph both today and in the future. Eternal rest….
