Margaret Palliser, OP
Memorial Mass for
Sr. Jane Reynolds, OP
  

Proverbs 31:10-31       ˜       Ephesians 1:3-10       ˜       Gospel: John 6:37-40       ˜

As I looked around the chapel during this morning’s first reading from Proverbs, I could see the heads all nodding in recognition.
Our dear sister Jane . . .   her value is far beyond the price of pearls.

She brought good all the days of her life.
She opened her mouth in wisdom,
and on her tongue was kindly counsel . . . she was always the soul of discretion!

She often rose while it was still dark,
            to prepare her classes for her students,
to bake bread and to prepare healthy new dishes for her community.

At night her lamp was undimmed
(more often than not, glowing above her sewing machine!)
She obtained wool . . . and cotton . . . and corduroy . . .  and silk . . . and flannel . . .
and made clothing with oh so skillful hands.
She made her own coverlets
—and dresses, and skirts, and blouses, and jackets.
Fine linen and purple were her clothing.

I don’t think there is anyone else in the congregation
who could dress with the elegance of Jane
 —right down to those high heel pumps I could never have balanced on!
But more than that, she was clothed with strength and dignity,

Jane was the essence of gentleness and elegance:
A gentle power:
like the strength of a blade of grass that can pierce through an inch of concrete.
Elegant:  I can still see her in Rosary Academy’s faculty lunchroom . . .  
Jane’s brown bag lunch always contained the slice of lemon for her tea
—in that delicate bone china teacup.  Now that’s elegance!

But ultimately, the Jane we remember today was a very human woman,
a woman who knew her need for God,
a woman of prayer:  
Jane knew how to give things over to God, how to trust God.
 
And now it is our turn to give Jane over to God.

And what are we to make of this moment
when we commend our dear sister Jane to God. 

It really is all about Jesus. 
When we stop to think about it, we would not be here
if Jesus had not lived the life he did in ancient Palestine. 
We would be somewhere else,
doing something else,
and doing it with people other than those with whom we have come together today. 
This building would not be here,
this wonderful community of Dominican women would not be here celebrating Jane’s life.

Nothing but the fact of Jesus makes sense of what we are doing here. 
The path he traveled leads to here. 
And, as today’s gospel reminds us, it leads to eternal life. 

The deepest things are utterly simple. 
That's what makes them difficult to grasp. 
Up to a point, we are more at home with complexity than we are with simplicity. 
A complex notion can be taken apart and examined piece by piece,
but a simple notion has no parts: it has to be grasped whole. 
Today we are being asked to grasp Jane’s life as a whole.

The gentleness and elegance of Jane’s life of loving commitment to her God
is the meaning of this moment. 
We don’t have to think about it, or analyze it, or explain it. 
We simply (and gently and elegantly) live this moment,
this moment which IS the meaning of life. 
We are invited to be in this moment:
here with Jane, with Jesus, with our God, with one another. 
To celebrate that presence is why we gather here at this table.  

To have even a glimpse of that presence in our experience of Eucharist
is much more important than to become entangled in thinking about it,
in trying to make sense of it all. 
in trying to put together the many pieces of the puzzle of our lives,
Our sister Jane is now in that place where the mind is clear of all thinking
and there is just presence. 
We rejoice with her and ask God to comfort us
by giving us a glimpse of that presence here and now at this altar.