Franciscan Friar Father Dan Pattee, TOR offers an answer to this commonly asked question by many throughout the ages.
To begin to understand this question we must begin with the context in which we now live, namely, a fallen world.
Requiescat in Pace
Edward Carroll
Margie Gallant
Jack Basic
Hung Chi Do
John Bunch
David Havlichek
Fernando Hincapie
Dan Ferebee
Joseph Galati
Aaron Duyck (Nephew of Sr. Mary Peter)
Eugene Feltz
Bernard Fillback
Constance Kosuda
Ignacio & Hortensia Melendez (Parents of Sr. Chiara)
Priscilla Miller
Sherry Ozarowic
Gracia Navarra (Sister-in-Law of Sr. Agnes Clare)
Sr. Joyce Barsotti, SSMO
Sr. Mary Immaculate Bunty, SR
Gerald Delaney
John DeZell
Edmund Duyck (Father of Sr. Mary Peter)
Alice Stadelman (Sister of Sr. Mary Peter)
Tom Steiert
Sr. Mary Margaret Tan
Sr. Mary Cecilia Lee
Sr. Rose Marie Holden
Teresa Dibb
Kanya Smith
Beverly Underwood
Deborah Ellis
Virginia Fredericks (Sr. Therese Improgo's Sister)
Ann Henry
Alton Lucas
Alan Markert (Father of Sr. Regina)
Joanne Skidmore
Jean Paul Chauvel, Sr. (father of Sr. Christine Marie)
Dominic Anthony Dulcich
Kenneth Eigner (brother-in-law of Sr. Joanne)
Alice Gustafson
Wendy Skinner
Ann Stein
William Morris
Elizabeth (Betty) Wolf
God our Father,
Your power brings us to birth,
Your providence guides our lives,
and by Your command we return to dust.
Lord, those who die still live in Your presence,
their lives change but do not end.
I pray in hope for my family,
relatives and friends,
and for all the dead known to You alone.
In company with Christ,
Who died and now lives,
may they rejoice in Your kingdom,
where all our tears are wiped away.
Unite us together again in one family,
to sing Your praise forever and ever.
Amen.