About 60 friends and family members joined the St. Clement Redemptorist community to commemorate our beloved deceased confreres at the second annual Memorial Mass in Liguori.
The inaugural celebration was scheduled on All Souls Day last year, but winter weather descended upon Liguori and many people could not participate. Those who did braved cold, rainy weather. This year’s celebration was held earlier – on October 8 – which proved to be a warm day with plenty of sunshine.
Provincial Vicar John Fahey Guerra presided at the Memorial Mass. He shared a moving homily, describing the recent loss of his much beloved mother. He said that although she is no longer here with him, he can feel her presence every day – especially at mealtimes, when she cooked and was always in the midst of her family at the table. When we gather for the Eucharist, we have the same experience because Jesus told us to ‘Do this in memory of me’ at the Last Supper.
We remembered all of those confreres who have celebrated the Eucharist with us, sat at the table with us, and ministered to and with us, during their time on earth. This is an occasion for us to prove to them and to our community that their teaching and ministry was not lost, but will always be appreciated and cherished.
We remembered, in particular, three members of the St. Clement community who died this year: Fr. Al Babin, Fr. Kyle Fisher and Br. Marvin Hamann.
Fr. John also thanked the staff of St. Clement’s who assist and support the members of this community. Their loving caring for the sick is always appreciated.
After the liturgy, everyone was invited to the cemetery, where the tombs of our beloved confreres were blessed.
A luncheon was provided to give friends and family members opportunities to share their stories and precious memories of the departed confreres, which made our celebration all the more memorable.