Isaiah 61:1-3 Psalm 121 Revelation 21:2-7 John 14:1-6

There is a plaque on my back porch that says “Home is where Mom is.”  We could go on and on with images and emotions that well up in us as we reflect on the whole concept of “Mom” and “Home.”  “Home” is very much defined by “Mom.”  We only have one mom in this life, and her passing out of this earthly life leaves a great void.  We never quite forget our earliest memories of being held in her arms and rocked to sleep in her favorite chair; whatever our age, we never get beyond the need for this tender nurturance.

On a visit some years ago to Our Little Rose Home for Girls in Honduras, in my very broken Spanish, I was sharing family photos with two little sisters, ages 4 and 5.  Naming my children and other family members, when I pointed to myself and said the word “Mama” the eyes of the four-year-old grew large.  “Mama,” she repeated as she stood and began to search the room for her mama.  Even though the tiny child’s presence at Our Little Roses meant she had been rescued from an extremely neglectful or maybe even dangerous home situation, still, this little one longed for the mama who couldn’t or wouldn’t care for her.  With a pierced heart, I realized at that moment how much we all need to be loved and nurtured by “Mama,” regardless of her capacity to love and nurture us.

The earliest Christians confirmed our human need for this nurturing aspect of God.  Jesus was tender and compassionate, particularly so, to the downtrodden and the outcast.  To all us sinners, the more we recognize our dependence on God’s grace, the more we are nurtured and healed and embraced by the love of Jesus Christ.

Even so, for all these centuries since the birth of Jesus Christ, we have had the need to expand that embrace to include his mother, the Blessed Virgin.  Somehow, it is forever our human nature to cling to the comfort that only our image of “Mama” can provide.  [This does not in any way discount fathers and their essential provisions, but that is another sermon].  At the 4^th Station of the 14 Stations of Cross that surround our worship space, we view Jesus’ encounter with his mother as he journeys under the weight of the cross.  It is a poignant depiction of Jesus and his mother locking eyes.  The scripture appointed for that station is the passage from Luke’s Gospel that includes of the words of the prophet Simeon who foretells the revolutionizing impact of Jesus’ birth and warns Mary that her soul, too, will be pierced.  Typically, more than at any other of the stations, here, we pause and reflect with greater intention and poignancy as we relate to this heartfelt mother/child relationship.

Today, we gather to grieve the loss and celebrate the life of Tutu – faithful self-giving wife, mother, sister, aunt, neighbor, servant and child of God.  Tutu at her sewing machine; Tutu crafting her various projects; Tutu preparing and presiding over Christmas dinner.  Tutu binding up your broken heart and wiping your tears.  If you wanted to make Tutu smile, you asked her about her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.  For all these decades, home has been defined by Tutu’s presence.  Her home is now with our Lord, as our Lord has promised; and now, Tutu’s home will forever be in your hearts.

The setting of our Gospel lesson from John 14 is the most intimate of settings for Jesus and his disciples.  On this evening before the crucifixion, Jesus shared the last supper with his closest followers.  Jesus is aware of the horrors to come in the next few hours; he is aware that Judas, sitting so near at the table, will betray him.  Yet, in boundless unconditional love, having removed his outer robe, our Lord knelt before these disciples and tenderly bathed their feet.  Further, seeking to prepare these closest to him for his earthly death; and, in turn, to comfort us in generations to come as we face earthly death, Jesus speaks these words, “In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places… I go to prepare a place for you…  If it were not so, would I have told you?”

Tutu is there, in her heavenly dwelling, as our Lord has promised.  You might hear the sewing machine happily clickety clacking away; you will, without doubt, feel her smile, especially at the arrival of yet another great-grandchild.  Above all, you can be assured that she has received the oil of gladness and the mantle of praise as we are assured by the prophet Isaiah.  Each of you will one day join her to share this oil of gladness and mantle of praise.

Home is where Tutu is – in the arms of God’s mercy, the blessed rest of everlasting peace, the glorious company of the saints in light.  Thanks be to God.

Burial of Mary Catherine Hamilton Harrison