Edgar Amiot Funeral

St. Peter’s 11/8/06

Sympathy to Edgar’s family and friends…

At 95 years of age Edgar has lived a full life. He has outlived two wives, Antonia and Marguerite. He was able to live in his own home until he was hospitalized just a few days before his death.

I could not help but think about Edgar when I heard the phrase in the reading from Revelation in that says, “Behold, I make all things new.” If there is one thing Edgar knew about it was taking old things and making them new. He had a gift as carpenter and he could fix just about anything. He used his gifts very well.

He took great delight in being able to fix up something old and make it work like new. He especially took great delight when he it cost him very little. He was a master carpenter. He spent many hours in his workshop making very intricate things. He created windmills, flower planters and wooden puzzles that he gave as gifts to family and friends. He delighted in the time he could spend in his garden and he continued to can his produce right up to the present time.

He was a gifted man. He used hisGod given gifts to take old things and transform them and make them new. He used his gifts to help keep his farm going and he used his gifts to show his family how much he loved them.

Our scriptures also remind us that God is also really good at transforming things and making things new. They remind us that God has a plan. We may not always understand it, but God has a plan for each one of us. The reading from Revelations reminds us part of God’s plan includes a time when Jesus will return in glory and the whole world will be transformed and made new.

I think our gospel today is one Edgar could especially appreciate. Being a farmer he would understand better than most how a grain of wheat that seems deadto the untrained eye can be transformed to bear great fruit when it is planted in the earth. To us Edgar may look like he is dead, but our faith gives us hope to believe that God’s plan is to transform him and that he has been given new life in heaven.

This gospel, however, is not just about life after death. It is also about our life now. We are reminded that loving the way Jesus loved means that we die to our needs and put the needs of others first. That is how our lives produce much fruit in this world. It is in living a life of faith built on this self sacrificing love, that we live the Christian life that we are called to live as followers of Jesus.

These scriptures give us hope – hope that Edgar is not dead – hope that his life has been transformed by our loving God – hope that he will live forever with that loving God – and hope that if we live that life of self sacrificing love in this world, then we can look forward to the day we will be reunited with Edgar and all our loved ones for all eternity.