DARIEN—Bishop Frank J. Caggiano reminded parishioners of St. Thomas More Church that death is not the end, but the beginning of a greater, eternal life, as he consecrated the sacred burial ground in the parish’s St. Francis Garden for urns that hold the cremains of their loved ones.
“My friends, this place is being blessed because you will come here to pray, to reflect and to visit those who will be buried here,” Bishop Caggiano said. “No matter what difficulties we have, we have the blessed assurance that in this horizon, our God will never let us down, and like little children, we can run into his arms and know he will love us, not just to the end, but forever.”
Father Paul G. Murphy, pastor of St. Thomas More, said that for several years the parish had been planning the sacred space, which will be completed in January.
“The new St. Thomas More columbarium is located in our beautifully serene St. Francis Garden, near to the parish office, enclosed by a hedge of arborvitae,” he said. “While maintaining the prayerful and natural setting, we have added a low blue fieldstone wall parallel to the perimeter of the garden. Urns will be buried in the ground in front of the wall, and the names of the deceased will be inscribed on granite foot markers, with the option of a brass name plate on the wall.”
The sacred space for cremains was financed by a benefactor of the St. Thomas More Endowment Fund, he said. It is a collaboration with Catholic Cemeteries of the Diocese of Bridgeport, which will manage it, and represents the first on-parish burial site in the diocese, he said. Other parishes are interested in pursuing similar projects.
“We were excited to collaborate with St. Thomas More Church and Father Murphy on their new cremation garden,” said Dean Gestal, Executive Director of Catholic Cemeteries. “This is a unique opportunity for both the parish and the Cemetery Ministry to bring parishioners closer to their deceased loved ones, and we plan to develop more of these gardens in the future.”
In his homily at Mass, which preceded the consecration on December 17, Bishop Caggiano said that even though we have the right of the pursuit of happiness, promised by our country’s founders, “God, who is loving and merciful never promised us that the pursuit would be easy. If fact, many times it’s fleeting.”
However, God had something else in mind for us, “Which is far richer and more eternal than any happiness this world can give,” he said.
Photos by Photos by Mary Johanna Dyer
Happiness seems to disappear when the transitory successes of life, such as good health and worldly pleasures, are gone. Invoking the words of St. Paul in the second reading, Bishop Caggiano said: “St. Paul, among the earliest apostles, was no stranger to challenges and suffering, and he reveals the gift God wants. He says to rejoice always, not sometimes, not every other day. Not only when you think or I think things are going well, but always rejoice.”
Bishop Caggiano said that we must seek “a larger horizon and not seek contentment for the immediate, but to dare to seek contentment in the eternal horizon that awaits us.”
“Joy is that sense of contentment that is rooted in the fact that you and I believe God maintains his promises even when the immediate moment is difficult,” he said. “It’s the assurance that dwells deep within us that on the day of our baptism, the Father put us into the palm of his hands and promised he would never let go. It is that abiding satisfaction, contentment, assurance of mind and heart, that whatever we need to be with the Lord in glory, whatever we need to know, his mercy and forgiveness is always there for us.”
He urged the parishioners not to go to the columbarium and be depressed and not to be deterred by the prospect of death, but to celebrate the birthplace of our joy and our hope.
“My friends, we are those who believe death is not the end, it is the beginning of a greater life,” he said. “So let us pursue happiness as best we can, but let us also not leave behind the gift of joy, for joy will see us through to the greatest gift God can give us, which is everlasting life.”
Father Murphy in his letter announcing the new ministry, said: “Pertaining to our hope for everlasting life, each year the Church’s November liturgies remind us of our mortality, our faith in the resurrection and to pray for the peaceful repose of the souls of our deceased family members and loved ones. Those prayers and proper Christian burial rites are among the enumerated ‘spiritual and corporal acts of mercy.’
