Yesterday (Monday) the DEL epistle reading was this:
We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.
For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died.
For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died.
For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord for ever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.
This is the word of the Lord.
1 Thessalonians 4.13–end
The previous night, Sunday evening, my Dad died - peacefully and with his family around him. How wonderful to have this reading the next morning!
Dad was a clergyman, being ordained at the youngest possible age, 23, and living until he was 92. His funeral will be on Monday 8 September 2025 at 10.30 am in the Transitional Cathedral, Christchurch.
Oh so sorry +Peter, though as the reading says, we do not grieve without hope. But we do grieve!
ReplyDeleteBlessings, love and prayers for you and your family.
God of hope, comfort +Peter and his family, for the sake of Jesus Your Son who with You and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God for ever.
ReplyDeleteMy deepest sympathies to you and your family, Peter. Your father's work touched so many lives! What a beautiful, fitting reading.
ReplyDeleteMay the Comforter be especially near to you all at this time, and give you strength. Ordained from age 23, wow.
ReplyDelete+Brian’s passing especially touches me because he was a good friend of my husband Chris, who died in 1997. +Brian proofread and wrote the foreword for Chris’s book, ‘The Wounded Lion’, a history of 19th century NZ around the life of the missionary Octavius Hadfield, which was published early in our marriage.
ReplyDelete+Brian also led and preached at a service in Wanganui Collegiate chapel that we attended. He talked on the healing of the man at the pool of Bethesda, who had been sick for 38 years, which had an impact on both Chris and me, with ‘Do you want to be healed?’ Chris was a tetraplegic, and was one of the most whole people I have ever known, and continually prayed about healing. I remember the service very vividly, and there was even a young boy (grandson?) who climbed into the pulpit as +Brian spoke. I am grateful for lovely memories and +Brian’s wisdom and kindness.
Hey +Peter so saddened to hear your news. I will pray for you and all close to your Dad, for peace through the grief and God’s presence. I remember him fondly while doing an interview for an Anglican Life article, wisdom is definitely what comes to mind. Take Care of each other.
ReplyDeletePeter, prayers for God's presence, love and mercy to be with you and your family as you prepare to say 'au revoir' to your dad.
ReplyDeletePax et bonum
William Greenhalgh