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may they rest in peace: mass for deceased bishops at cathedral

On Saturday, November 3, 2007, in the Blessed Sacrament chapel of the Cathedral, Bishop Edward K. Braxton celebrated the first annual Mass for deacons, priests and bishops of the Diocese of Belleville who have died. Bishop Stanley Schlarman and other priests from the Diocese concelebrated with him. 

In his homily based upon the words of Saint Paul to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 15:5157) “Behold, I tell you a mystery!” the Bishop reflected on the great mystery of death and the Christian counter cultural hope of eternal life with Christ. He invited the participants to reflect on all of the good works of service accomplished by the deacons, priests and bishops who  have served the Church of Belleville during the one hundred and twenty year history of the Diocese. He prayed by name for the deacons and priests who have died during his service as Shepherd of this Local Church.

The Bishop said, “The Catholic tradition of praying for those who have died goes back to the earliest days of the Church. St. Thomas More embraced his martyrdom saying, ‘You pray for me and I will pray for you, until we meet merrily again in heaven.’ Nevertheless, in our contemporary secular, materialistic culture the hope of eternal life is dismissed by many neuro- scientists who argue that all of the spiritual aspects of the human person which Christians attribute to the human soul can be fully explained by the complexity of the human brain. In their view death is the total destruction of the human person.  They answer Hamlet’s question, ‘To be, or not to be?’ definitively, saying death is the end. It is the state of not being. While these scientists reject the possibility of the existence of an immortal soul or the resurrection of the dead, the popular culture trivializes Christian spirituality with television programs on which people from ‘the other side’ inform people of the whereabouts of their lost car keys. This has nothing to do with the mystery of which Saint Paul is speaking when he asks, ‘O death, where is your victory?’ It has nothing to do with our belief that in death life is not ended, but changed.”

 Later in the homily Bishop Braxton observed, “We Catholics may at times do things that diminish our appreciation of the need to pray often for those who have died. The Liturgy of the Mass of Christian Burial, for instance, is often incorrectly called the Mass of the Resurrection. However, there is nothing in the funeral liturgy itself that suggests that we are celebrating the resurrection of those who have died. The rite says we are mourning their death and praying for them in the hope that they may share in the mystery of the resurrection of Christ. If we knew with certainty that our loved ones were already experiencing the joy of eternal life with Christ in heaven, then they would have no need of our prayers.  Instead, we should be asking them to pray for us!”

At the end of the Mass the Bishop and the congregation went down into the crypt and prayed for  Bishop John Janssen, Bishop Henry Althoff, Bishop William Cosgrove, and Bishop John Wurm, who are buried there. The service ended in the upper chapel where Bishop Zuroweste is buried. Here, the Bishop incensed and sprinkled with holy water the tomb of our third Bishop and prayed for him. As the assembly departed, Bishop Braxton urged them to pray for all of the faithful departed during the month of November. Next year this Mass is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 8, 2008 in the Cathedral.