Sustained in Life and Death

On Wednesday morning, I sat for a while with Sr. Dorothy Heideman, who was approaching the end of her earthly life. I was touched by the number of sisters who came to her side and stood in reverent silence to pray her home. When Sr. Elaine Gregory brought Sr. Dorothy communion and she could not be roused, Sr. Elaine pressed the pyx containing the Eucharist firmly against her forehead and lips so she could be sustained by the essence of her Savior. This image stayed with me as we sang the following refrain from the song Behold the Lamb at mass the next day:

Behold, behold the Lamb of God,

All who eat, all who drink shall live;

and all, all who dwell in God,

shall come to know God’s glory!

Fr. Richard Rohr has observed that “In Paul’s letter to the Romans he says quite clearly ‘the life and death of each of us has its influence on others’ (14:7).” Sr. Dorothy’s life certainly had an impact on us as we watched her serve quietly and faithfully as a teacher, principal, and librarian and then suffer for years with restlessness and confusion as a result of Alzheimer’s disease. I believe the community (including the Dooley Center nurses and CNAs) learned the depths of God’s own patience and commitment as we cared for her during those final difficult years, and she learned to surrender to God’s love through the care she received. Surely her death during Evening Prayer on Thursday was a blessed event, for as she took her last breaths, we were praying the following canticle from 1 Peter 1:

Bless God, the father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

through whose great mercy we are born again

into living hope through Jesus’ resurrection,

into an inheritance ever fresh and pure and bright,

kept in heaven for you.

May the memory of Sr. Dorothy be a blessing for us as we await our own rebirth into living hope and the inheritance of those who dwell in God.