Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio celebrated Mass Nov. 2 on the feast of All Souls at St. John’s Cemetery, Middle Village.
The Mass was one of six field Masses sponsored by Catholic Cemeteries in the Diocese of Brooklyn. The other venues and celebrants included Holy Cross Cemetery, Flatbush (retired Auxiliary Bishop Guy Sansaricq); Most Holy Trinity, Bushwick (Msgr. James Spengler); Mt. St. Mary Cemetery, Flushing (Auxiliary Bishop Paul Sanchez); St. Mary Star of the Sea Cemetery, Lawrence, L.I. (Auxiliary Bishop Octavio Cisneros); and St. Charles/Resurrection Cemetery, Farmingdale, L.I. (Auxiliary Bishop Raymond Chappetto).
Bishop DiMarzio said that the All Souls’ Day Mass served the purpose of giving the faithful an opportunity to pray for their beloved deceased right in the place that they are buried.
“Today we give consolation to those who are alive, and we pray for the dead,” Bishop DiMarzio said. “It’s the communion of saints that we celebrate this day. Yesterday was the feast of All Saints (Nov. 1), and today we pray for those who are not yet with God, and pray that they may be with God. We pray for those that are still waiting for that full union with God. Our prayers and the sacrifice of the Mass help them achieve that union.”
In his homily, Bishop DiMarzio spoke about hope. Death is inevitable, he said, but it must be faced with hope, since Jesus promises eternal life.
“The readings today speak to us about one thing – in the face of death, we have hope,” he said. “The experience of death is one in which we find the hope of eternal life.”
Bishop DiMarzio said that mourning the loss of a loved one is a necessary process, but one can find peace in the belief of eternal life.
“In the end, all of us will go to Him,” said Antonette Nuñez, a parishioner at Immaculate Conception Monastery, Jamaica. “That is our goal … to go to the Kingdom of our God.”
Joe Cutrone, a parishioner at Christ the King parish, Commack, L.I., said his family attends the field Mass every year, and he was moved spiritually by Bishop DiMarzio’s homily.
“It was uplifting,” Cutrone said. “He (Bishop DiMarzio) was talking about hope and eternity. That’s part of why we’re here. We believe that we are going to have eternal happiness and the love from God.”
Bishop DiMarzio also spoke in his homily about the great poet Francis Thompson, who wrote the poem, “The Hound of Heaven,” in which God incessantly pursues the faithful because He wants them to be saved.
Bishop DiMarzio quoted Thompson: “The feast of All Souls is the day of hope given by the Church to sustain us.”
Msgr. Michael Reid, spiritual moderator of Catholic Cemeteries, spoke after Mass and said he is encouraged every All Souls’ Day and Memorial Day with the turnout of the field Masses.
“You love your families, and you show that by being here with us today as we celebrate the Eucharist in memory of them,” he said. “You care for them, and our promise to you is that we will care.”
Msgr. Reid also discussed the significance of celebrating All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day on consecutive days.
“We’re reminded that Jesus is the maker of all saints, and He is the lover of all souls,” he said. “Because of Jesus, we have the communion of saints, which is made up of the Church here on Earth and the Church in Heaven.
“People come here especially on this day to be reminded of the communion of saints and of the union that we share in the Church.”
“Death is not the end,” Bishop DiMarzio said. “It is in the hope of the Resurrection that we live.”