November 7, 2014

My Journey to God

My Good and Faithful Stewards

A friend or a loved one has died
No need for sorrow harbored inside
Celebration of a life so vibrantly lived
Past sins that God has moved to forgive.
Celebration of a life

Grief the faithful departed would not want
No wailing and tears of those who rant
Celebrants not mourners are desired
For the deceased whose mortality is retired.
Celebration of a life

God gives life as a gift from heaven above
He gives this to all mortals with abundant love
What is done with that life is a gift back to Him
Life full of love and faith lived right up to the brim.
Celebration of a life

The journey of growing closer to God ended
This is cause for celebration with joy extended
Let the prayers be joyful for a faithful life
That enters the heavenly realm free of strife.
Celebration of a life

Survivors come together in fond remembrance
To give testimony and eulogies as spiritual sustenance.
Like prayers they rise like incense in sincere homage
Honoring a life of faith pursued with hope and courage.

By Ken Ogorek
 

(Ken Ogorek is director of catechesis for the archdiocese and is a member of St. Pius X Parish in Indianapolis. He wrote this poem as a song based on the following texts: Catechism of the Catholic Church # 95, 947–953, 1942–1948, 2404, 2447, 2548, with reference to “Ecclesia in America” [“The Church in America”], and “On the Encounter with the Living Jesus Christ: The Way to Conversion, Communion, and Solidarity in America” by St. Pope John Paul II.)

(Kenneth Ogorek ©2003. Tune: Johann M. Speiss, 1715-1772.) †

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