The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser., 1911-11-10
IN MEMORIAM
Father Cunnane's Sermon at the
Funeral of Mr.. Thomas J. Grant

Funeral of Mr.. Thomas J. Grant
81 am the resurrection and the life
he who believeth in me although he b.
| dead shall live-and everyone wh'
liveth and believeth in me shall no
die forever"
There are occasions when silence i:
more befitting our grief than are
words, occasions when the bereavee
heart can better express sympathy
with the living and sorrow for the
dead through the mute glance of the
eye or the pressure of friendly hand
than by utterance from the lips.
Such an occasion for me is the present
one, while l stand before the mortal re-
mains of one l have known so long and
loved so well; of one whose personality
takes me back to boyhood, college days
when first l knew him, and again
through many years of intimate as
sociation in this parish-years during
which learned to admire and esteem
his character and lifework to which
you today render the tribute of your
high regard and homage. You among
whom this lifework was wrought seem,
methinks, by your large presence at
these sad, last rites to say to him:
"And now thy prosperous labor fills
The lips of men with honest praise;
~ hxyc 40 hon
Descend below the golden hills. ~
Yet, grateful as must be honest
praise to the living, and honorable as
it is to the dead, it cannot assuage the
grief of the bereaved or bring true
solace or hope to their hearts.
Death brings US reluctantly to the
darksome, silent, mysterious grave,
and we need amid the shadows a light
from on high whereby to read it's
lessons Alright, and to see the blessed
hope, and promise and consolation be-
yond This light can only emanate
from Him who is the Author of light,
and life, and the Conqueror of death
from the glorifed of the risen Christ,
the light that enlighteneth every man
who cometh into the world, the only
''way, and truth and life
Yet, hearken in your affiiction to the
blessed, enlightening words of assurance
and sweet consolation falling from the
lips of Life Eternal: 81 am the re-
surrection and the life; he who be-
lieveth in me, although he be dead
shall live" While these words sink
into our hearts, we who understand
them and their Divine Guarantee, and
who would be without them, in the
words of the Apostle, of men the most
miserable, can find comfort and hope
and spiritual joy even in the loss of our
beloved ones.
In Him alone, the resurrection and
the life, and His sacred promises,
can poor afflicted mortals find rest and
peace to their souls when through
faith they cry out as did Job of old
in exultant assurance, 81 know my
Redeemer liveth, and shall see Him
with mine own eyes.
81 am the life" says our Lord, and
therefore not the feverish ambitions
and str wings here below for the earth's S
paltry promises, honors, or successes
constitute the life of man, who ''cometh
up like a flower and is destroyed
and feeth as shadow
not the years so fleeting and few of his
mere material and earthly career make
up the substance of his true life; they
are but the shadows; but Christ who is
the life, abiding in the believing soul
through faith, hope, and charity, those
holy graces leading and aiding man to
fashion his thoughts, his ways after
the model of his Divine Teacher and
Exemplar, is mans true life, the life
immortal beyond the grave. This life
begins upon earth in the soul of him
who accepts the word of the Master,
and keeps it, whose days are influenced
and regulated by the faith within him
a faith not dead, but living, a faith
working through harity."
Had the departed for whom we
mourn, this saving faith? We well re-
member how strong it was ever within
him strong with the strength of an in
heritance from forefathers who had
proven their faith by suffering and
persecution.
Faith shows us not only the limita-
tions of our human nature, but those
of our own personality, while it throws
bright light upon the exalted charac-
ter of things spiritual.
from the sacred responsibilities of the
priesthood to which he at one time
aspired.
Faith emphasizes the fidelity of God
to help those who call upon Him, and
rely upon His Divine Aid.
1t was his faith, leading up to hope,
that nerved him, and upheld a courage
Gus and cheerful heart within him,
especially in the trials and struggles of
his earlier manhood.
Faith makes us see in the tedious rou-
tine of life's duties the expression of
Gods Boly Will, and leads US on to ac-
cept it and love it as His very Voice
speaking to US, and guiding US daily.
1t was his faith that made his chosen
calling, the noble one of instructing
the young and ignorant, labor of love
to him. Hence, his never failing
promptness year in and year out, morn
ing after morning, through stress and
storm of weather, in his journeyings to
the little Academy on the hill to meet
the obligations of the day. Hence, the
enthusiasm be threw into his work, an
enthusiasm that was communicated to
his pupils, and produced in them results
so satisfactory and successful
1t was ever from the same strong,
living root of faith within him that
upsprung the flower of Charity, OF