The king was deeply moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept; and as he went, he said, “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!”
2 Samuel 18:33
First Reading
The Eternal Father, out of his tender care,
has willed to share with us, along with the grace to bear it,
a portion of the Divine Love with which he looked down
on his broken Son at Calvary.
The grief of Eve, of Jacob, of David, and of our Blessed Mother,
has become our grief, and our grace,
surrounding us with the solidarity of those parents who lost their children,
who hold us in their understanding and sympathy.
We gave Hilary all the love he needed here on Earth.
Yet we had more - much more - to give.
The pain in our hearts is that enormous love
that our son suddenly outgrew,
as he went on into his Heavenly Father’s arms,
where all his needs are met,
and the love he receives is infinite.
Now that we have successfully led him to Heaven,
the Father wills for us
to pour out our love for Hilary
into the world, toward the tiny and helpless ones,
loving with the same trust and surrender that Hilary lived.
To help us in this, we have a Heavenly Father,
and now we have a heavenly son,
who does not receive our care, but,
through his prayers before the throne of God,
cares for us,
to strengthen our family in the Communion of Saints.
We open our hands, we raise them to Heaven,
and we release our pride and our control.
The life we would have willed for Hilary,
the life we would have bound our hearts and souls to,
is not so holy and perfect as the life God gave him nor, in Eternity, so long.
In the glory of the Resurrection
we will feel Hilary wrap his arms around us,
in fulfilment of this present moment’s embrace, his love
which we cannot see or touch, but will go with us from here
until our tiny saint welcomes us into our Big Life.
Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord
And let your light shine upon him.
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