Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

(Funeral Mass for Cliff Harris)

Cliff said: “I want to thank everyone for coming to my wake and my funeral Mass, especially the Third Order Carmelites, of whom I was a member. I also want to thank Greg and his family, along with all those who took care of me and this funeral. Thank you also for all of my good friends for coming as well. You are seeing me in heaven with my wife, Mary, as we are joined again with Jesus and Mary. Her vision and her cute laugh was a sign to you that I was granted the grace by Jesus to come directly to heaven. My last days of suffering were my purgatory on earth for my sins. We will be praying for my family and friends, so call on us in your needs for our intercession. We are awaiting the day to greet all of you in this reward of Our Lord for our faithfulness.”

Jesus said: “My people, your mission should be how to grow the number of people coming to Sunday Mass, and inspire them with My love so the ones coming do not fall away. When you look at the make up of those coming to Mass, the majority appear to be older people. You are losing some people to deaths from old age, but you need to draw more young people in to replace their numbers. There should be more effort given to the young people in your families of your parish so that they would stay in your area. Jobs have caused a mobility to other areas, but parents need to encourage their children to keep strong in their faith so they can spread the numbers of Catholics. When the parents are strong in their faith, it will be a good example to encourage the children to stay in their faith. But if the parents are weak in their faith, or only one parent is faithful, then it is harder for those children to remain in their faith. The worldly distractions and decreasing numbers of priests are making it harder to find a Mass, and keep your children coming to Sunday Mass. Pray for an increase in new members and to keep your children coming to Sunday Mass.”