Homily
"You did it to me" (Mt. 25:40)
These five words, my dear sisters and brothers in Christ, sum up the teaching of Jesus Christ given in the Gospel passage just proclaimed. As the recently beatified Blessed Teresa of Calcutta would have said: Keep these five words on the tips of the five fingers of your hand and live by them and you shall not be caught unawares by the Lord who calls "at the hour you least expect". "You did it to me" (Mt. 25:40).
Jesus identifies himself intimately with all those who have need of our care and the Christian imperative of love calls for service without discrimination. It calls for a giving until it really costs, a sharing until it becomes second nature, a loving to the very end. "In so far as you did it to one of the least of mine, you did it to me" (Mt. 25:40). The very criterion of judgement as to whether a person is fit to stand in the presence of the Eternal God, the rule by which each one of us shall be judged is the fulfilment of the commandment of love: "Love one another, as I have loved you" (Jn. 15:12). Those five words of Jesus, that rule of judgement "You did it to me" applies to all whether we have given a service or a disservice to our sisters and brothers in this world. At the moment of death each one of us shall present to the Lord the draft of the judgement He shall pronounce and if we have denied Him in the persons of our sisters and brothers in need He will deny us in the presence of His Father in heaven. In this month of November it is good for us to call to mind this reality and to immerse ourselves in the mercy of the living God so that through His mercy and forgiveness we may become worthy to be counted among "the virtuous who go to eternal life" (cf. Mt. 25:46).
Today, we gather around the mortal remains of a sister of ours, of one who throughout her long life endeavoured to extend to all the hospitality of the living and eternal God, one who made hospitality the hallmark of her life. Sister Benignus Hennessy dedicated herself in faithfully living out her commitment in the Religious life as a Mercy Sister for 51 years in a spirit of humble service. Whatever she did was done to perfection because it was done as a service to others. She loved her own family and each member of it will testify to that love. She loved her Religious family and specifically her Community of Cobh. In her ministry of catering for the Community she was the epitome of efficiency and excellence and she was recognised as a first-class homemaker and administrator. Her ministry was at the centre of all the other ministries carried on by the Community and without it there would have been a grave lacuna in the life of the Mercy Sisters in Cobh. She was a practical person who, as she would say, got on with the task at hand and gave it always her best. She was enabled to do so because of her total fidelity to her prayer life and her dedication to the dual devotion, Eucharistic and Marian. She was a Religious who totally integrated her Religious commitment and apostolic service into being, what Christ would call, a faithful and wise steward.
As we pray today that Jesus, whom she loved and served in all whom she met and cared for, may welcome her home and may confide her to His Mother Mary, the Mother of Mercy who inspired her to be such a loving, giving and generous soul, we offer to her family, her brother, sisters, sisters and brothers-in-law, her nieces and nephews and her wide family circle our deepest sympathy. We thank them for having shared with us and especially with the Sisters of Mercy the beauty of such a dedicated soul. To the Congregation of the Sisters of Mercy and especially to the Community of Cobh go our sincere condolences and the assurance of our prayers. To the people of Cobh, whom Sister Benignus loved and served in so many ways, go our heart felt sorrow at her passing and to the Sisters and staff at the hospital our deepest gratitude for the loving care given to this gentle and loving child of God.
Sister Benignus, thank you for making yourself available to Jesus so that through your life many might experience the love and care the Lord has reserved for all, for indeed you have lived out his admonition: "You did it to me" (Mt. 25:40). Rest in peace. Amen.