Dear Holy Trinity family,

One of the most comforting aspects of our faith for me comes from preface 1 for the dead in the Funeral Mass. As we are about to enter into one of the greatest mysteries of our faith in the Eucharist we first remind ourselves how fragile our lives are. In the first preface for the dead we pray “indeed for your faithful Lord, life is changed, not ended.” Such a powerful and beautiful reminder for us. We were not created just for our time here on earth. We were created for heaven, we have been created to be saints (not angels). Death is such a great mystery, one that we won’t fully understand until it is our time to experience it. We are all saddened by the news of the death of our beloved Deacon Ray, and now we must embrace this life without him. That’s going to be tough. We may be feeling great sadness, great peace, or we may not even know how we are feeling as we cope with our mourning. But that’s the beauty of the mourning process, it’s unique for each of us because we encounter our God in unique ways, just as we all encountered God through Deacon Ray in unique ways. We trust this mourning process to our God, who through the resurrection of His Son, Jesus, destroyed death and promised us eternal life. May we console one another during this time of mourning in our parish. May we cherish all of the beautiful ways Deacon Ray impacted our parish life. May we trust that life has changed beautifully for Deacon Ray and all of the faithful departed. Finally may we trust our God who has been so faithful to us even when we are not always faithful to Him.

Eternal rest grant unto your servant, Deacon Ray Emnace, O Lord. And may perpetual light shine upon him. May the soul of your Deacon, Ray Emnace, and the souls of all of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God rest in peace. Amen.

- Fr. Jonathan