Simon John Owen

Funeral Mass, 17 October 1995

SS Peter and Paul’s, East Doncaster,

Homily

Today is a taste of summer in its warmth. Today we will lay to rest Simon who brought light to the day.

It is not right that anyone should die or suffer as Simon has done. It is senseless and unjust. I said to him one evening when I went to anoint him, we will not try to explain the inexcusable or provide comfort by reasonings. Faced with the massive fact of his cancer we can only fall silent.

And yet, I came that evening to anoint him and to declare by signs that there is hope for him and for us. It is our Christian faith that good will come from all of this. Mortality is indeed a problem to us. It is not a problem to God. We give thanks for the memory of what Simon has been. We look forward to what he will be. We have memories of his past and we anticipate his future in our ceremony today. We shall eat and drink again when all is renewed.

The time will come, a long way off perhaps, when we will give thanks to God for this illness and this loss. Then we will say ‘You are holy Lord and you have shown your holiness in Simon John Owen whom we bury today but whom you raise forever.’