By Fr. Victor Feltes
Barb grew up across the street from here in the building now known as Baier’s Bar. Forty-seven years ago, she married her husband Larry in this St. Peter’s Church. Today, we are gathered here to mourn, and pray for her eternal blessed rest. Barb’s family speaks about her love as the rock-center of their home. They also tell of her strong-willed determination, her focused level-headedness, and her persistent hard work. Amidst the responsibilities of motherhood, she would work around the house and work around the yard. She volunteered at her St. Paul’s Catholic Parish, where she worshipped our God every Sunday, and maintained employment in the wider workforce. Educated in accounting, working at Chippewa Valley companies, she then transitioned into an information technology career and commuted for more than twenty years between Bloomer and the Twin Cities. When that ended with her retirement in 2019, she still kept busy; faithfully attending the activities of her five granddaughters and staying connected with family and friends from her high school and business days, from Tilden, Bloomer, and beyond. Her family tells me Barb “couldn’t sit still,” that she was always working on something. What are we to make of the reality of human work, to which we devote so much of our lives?
Did you know that human work existed even before the Fall? In the beginning, the Lord God took the man and settled him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and care for it. Then God gave man a helpmate, to fruitfully love and work alongside. A finite universe, even if sinless, can be endlessly improved with new beauties and delights forever. But with sin came the introduction of human toil and death. God said, “In toil you shall eat [the ground’s] yield all the days of your life. …By the sweat of your brow you shall eat bread, until you return to the ground from which you were taken, for you are dust and to dust you shall return.” This is why our labor is so often satisfying; we enjoy being co-creators with God and take pleasure in the fruits of creation. And this is why our labors are so often a burden; this world has been broken by sin and our lives are plagued by fatigue, pain, and death. If this life were all there is, one could reasonably ask with the Old Testament author of Ecclesiastes: “What profit have we from all the toil which we toil at under the sun? One generation departs and another generation comes… What profit comes to mortals from all the toil and anxiety of heart with which they toil under the sun?” But there is more to our story.
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, enters into our world proclaiming: “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” Jesus declares, “I am the Good Shepherd,” He is the Lord about whom the psalmist said: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. In verdant pastures he gives me repose. Beside restful waters he leads me; he refreshes my soul. He guides me in right paths for his name sake.” Though the Twenty-Third Psalm is most commonly heard at funerals, as Jesus does offer eternal rest in the life to come, he also invites us to share in his peace now. Jesus says to us on earth: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.” Because of the hope we have in him, because nothing good will be lost forever, we can be secure in the peace of Christ that our works of love and goodness are not done in vain.
We rightly pray for Barb’s soul today, that she may enter into perfect and unending rest. Yet this does not mean her labors will then be finished. St. Therese of Lisieux, seeing her own death approaching, wrote: “How unhappy I shall be in heaven if I cannot do little favors for those whom I love… I want to spend my heaven in doing good on earth. I’m happy to die… because I shall be much more useful than I am now to the souls who are dear to me…” And since her passing in 1897, St. Therese has proven to be a wondrous intercessor. So pray for Barb, and ask for her prayers. I doubt she will be will sitting still. And look forward to our reunion, our resurrection into the New Creation, where free of toil we will partake in joyful work with God forever.
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