Alive in the Lord, Until We Meet Again

It has been said that cemeteries are not just in the burial business, they are in the “Memory business”. Memories are wonderful things. When we love someone, their lives remain with us. We remember “the Good”: the good times and good lives.

However, our Catholic Cemeteries are, in fact, about so much more. The great gift of our Catholic Faith—and therefore Catholic Cemeteries—is that we believe that “Life is changed, not ended.” We believe that God, in His love, will bring us to be with Him forever in heaven. We believe in the resurrection of the body, our body, our loved one’s body.

Reflecting on his visit to the catacombs in Rome, Father Xavier De Pinto recounted: “On the pagan epitaphs, they used to write sentences, such as Farewell, nevermore. What a sad thing to put. But in the Christian catacombs, the epitaph would read, Alive in the Lord, until we meet again.”

Our cemeteries are much more than a place of memories. They are filled with Hope. Hope in the Lord, trust in the Lord that the promises made to us at our baptism will be fulfilled.

“A question many people have is, ‘Is a loved one happy?’ With our faith, we know that God is merciful and brings them into His kingdom. That gives people a lot of hope,” reflects Deacon James Shaughnessy from Catholic Family Services.

Every Advent, as we prepare to celebrate Jesus’ birth, we also pause to remember His promise that He will come again. We pray as a Church, “Maranatha… Come Lord Jesus!” This is the silent prayer of everyone buried in a Catholic Cemetery: “Come Lord Jesus!”

Our cemeteries, therefore, are not just a place of memory; they are Advent Gardens of Hope, of great expectations of the glory that awaits us all. At Catholic Cemeteries, we are committed to the reverent maintenance of our cemeteries. This means that we will continue to care for our cemeteries, your cemeteries, until Our Lord returns as He promised He would.