Devotion to St. Ann, the mother of Mary, is still strong today among Catholics, but what about St. Joachim, the father of Mary and the grandfather of Jesus? I ask this because I had the funeral of a good father and grandfather yesterday in Sea Girt, NJ: Jeremiah Murray, a lifelong friend.

His daughter, Rose, told me that before his death Jerry was in hospice. not expected to live and not responsive, when the priest who anointed him the evening before said: “If you wait till tomorrow you will meet the Lord on the Feast of St. Joachim, a good father and grandfather.” Jerry died a few minutes after midnight, July 26th, the Feast of Saints Joachim and Ann.

His four daughters and many grandchildren sang Jerry’s praises as a father, grandfather, mentor and friend to them. Did Mary and her Son remember Joachim and Ann like they did?

I preached the homily yesterday at his Mass in the church of St.Mark, filled with his family and friends.

“Death always stirs up memories. My memories of Jerry Murray go back 80 years, to Bayonne, New Jersey. We grew up together. We went to St. Mary’s Grammar School, played together, had the same friends and knew each other’s families. Our back yards faced one other, his house on 10th street, mine on the Boulevard. In summers as kids we played basketball for hours and hours, with a peach basket nailed to Devlin’s garage, in the winter we played football together. No little league, no uniforms, no adults telling you what to do.

I may be mistaken, but I think we learned more about each other that way, as kids together, growing up.

Childhood memories are memories of the best kind, so small we hesitate mentioning them, but they make us who we are. We shouldn’t forget those who help us become who we are. Jerry was part of my life growing up.

Isabel, you and your daughters and others have known Jerry many years and your memories are much deeper and more personal than mine. You’ll be sharing them these days, remembering him. We need to remember each other, especially the significant people in our lives.

This church is also a place of memory, where God remembers us. Let’s not miss what God says here. Like us, God speaks in small ways. Let’s not miss what we see or hear here because of the simplicity or maybe the formality of it all.

We brought Jerry’s body here to this church. 86 years ago Jerry was brought to St. Mary’s church in Bayonne, NJ, for baptism. A priest made the sign of the Cross over him and baptized him with water, in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. God made him his own then, for life and forever, and promised him eternal life. God promised to be with him through whatever joys and trials would be his.

As we brought Jerry’s body into the church today, we remembered his baptism, blessing him again with water and placing a beautiful white cloth over him, recalling his dignity as a child of God. God remembers him; God’s welcome never fails.

We brought his body close to the altar, where God speaks through Jesus Christ. “I go to prepare a place for you,” Jesus said. “I am the way.” Here are signs of bread and wine, the Lord’s promise to be food for our way and strength for the journey.

The church on earth meets here in this church, but this church points to a church beyond, in heaven, to a communion of saints. There’s life everlasting, we believe. A communion of saints, not just canonized saints, but ordinary saints we knew here even now, our brothers and sisters, our fathers and mothers, our friends and also some we may never expected to see at all. A family awaits us. They are here with us now. Another home welcomes us here.

A few weeks ago I got a call from Jerry. I asked him where he was. “On the beach,” he said, “waiting for Isabel to bring me a Pina Colada. Let’s get together.” I told him I’d see him soon, not thinking this would be that time.

But is this time the only time we’re together? There’s another time promised us, God’s time, that comes through mercy, when generations meet generations and strangers become friends and loved ones see each other again. There’s another time for us to be together. God promises it. We’ll get together.