A Life of Love: Funeral Sermon for Thomas C. Maresco, Jr.

The Chapel of the Incarnation, Gainesville FL
September 25, 2010

Memorial Service for Thomas Carmine Maresco, Jr.
John 10: 11-16

A Life of Love


That famous passage of Scripture I just read comes from the Gospel of John. Most scholars think the fourth gospel was written sometime around the end of the First Century – some sixty years after Jesus’ death and resurrection.

At first, no one had written down their memories of Jesus, probably because few could write and most expected that the Second Coming was going to happen any day now.

As the years went by, the early followers of Jesus , inspired by God, began to assemble their memories of Jesus – who he was, what he had done, what he had taught, what he had meant – and what he still meant - to them.

The gospels don’t contain every single detail or fact about Jesus. In fact, at the end of the Gospel of John the evangelist writes, “But there are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.”

The gospels don’t contain every single fact or detail about Jesus, because, as John claims, there just isn’t enough room. Also, we have to admit, by the time the gospels were written, many early disciples had died and the memories of those still living must have faded.

The gospels don’t contain every single fact or detail about Jesus, but they capture his essence – who he was and who he is – the meaning of his life, death and resurrection.

And we hear the essence of Jesus in today’s reading from the Gospel of John. Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

That’s the essence of Jesus. Jesus is the good shepherd who loves each of us. Jesus is the good shepherd who poured out his life in loving service and sacrifice.

Jesus is the good shepherd who shows us what God is really like. Jesus is the good shepherd who shows us what we are really like. Jesus is the good shepherd who gives up his life for us, his sheep.

That’s the essence of Jesus that’s remembered in the gospels and that’s the essence of Jesus that has been remembered by the Church for these many centuries and passed down to us here today.

Just as Jesus poured out his live in love for each of us, so we are invited and expected to pour out our lives in love for God and for one another.

When Jesus was asked to name the greatest commandment, he replied, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with al your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

That’s the kind of life that Jesus lived. And it’s that kind of life of love that God invites us and expects us to live.

And, that’s the kind of life of love that Tom Maresco lived. I’m very sorry I never had the chance to know Tom, but everything I’ve heard from his friends points to the fact that Tom lived a life of love – a life of love for God and for his brothers and sisters, both here in America and in Lesotho.

Tom poured out his life in love for others, interrupting his promising career path in order to serve some of the poorest of us all. And on his last day, Tom poured out his life in love and care for others.

And our faith, our trust, teaches us that in the next instant Tom’s essence was in the full presence of the God who has loved him since before the beginning of time; the God who imagined Tom into existence. Tom’s essence is in the arms of the Good Shepherd and is at peace.

But, what about the rest of us?
For those of you who knew and loved Tom best, your loss and anguish are indescribable and unknowable to all of us who have managed to avoid such pain. Life will go on, but this tragedy is not something you get over or put behind you. Instead, the only hope is asking God’s help in accepting that Tom’s death is a wound - an absence - that you will feel for the rest of your life.

For the rest of us – those who weren’t that close to Tom or didn’t know him at all, the facts and details of his life will fade from our memories.

And eventually the day will come when we’ll all be gone – those who were closest to Tom and those who never met him. The day will come when no one will be alive who knew Tom or even knew about him.

Tom’s essence will live on forever in heaven. But Tom’s essence will also live right here on earth through us. Tom’s essence will live on right here and now if we follow his example and live lives of love, if we pour out our lives in love for God and in love for our neighbors both near and far.

And, just like Tom, if we live lives of love, then not only will we be in the arms of the Good Shepherd for all eternity, but our essence will live on through countless generations and centuries.

Tom Maresco lived a life of love. God is inviting and expecting us to be like Tom – to also pour out our lives in love of God and love of neighbor.

Amen.