Grace Ellen Zimmerman

By Father John Geaney, CSP

Cathedral of Saint Andrew

Can death ever be beautiful? I think it can. Death can be beautiful when it is the fulfillment of a life well lived. Death can be beautiful when the person who dies is surrounded by the people she loves most. Death can be beautiful when the person dying knows that they really are citizens of heaven. St. Paul tells us in today’s second reading: “Our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior – the Lord Jesus Christ.” That’s why I think Grace Murphy Zimmerman’s death was beautiful. She lived her life well, in death she was surrounded by those she loved, and because of her faithful life in our midst, she is now a citizen of heaven.

Burned in my mind as I arrived at the hospital in the middle of the night on the day Grace died is the image of John carefully, thoughtfully, caringly stroking her hair, his hand holding her hand, and Anne carefully and lovingly supporting John with her presence as he did so. And then shortly after Grace died, I went to the hospital again to see her children standing at her bedside as we said the prayers for those who have just passed on to Glory. As my mother, whose own mother was a Murphy, would say, “You’d need to have a heart of stone, not to be touched by that.”

It’s odd that people would say death is a terrible thing: In the Book of Wisdom we read: “In the eyes of the foolish, they seem to have died, and their departure was thought to be a disaster, and their going from us to be utter destruction.” But you see we are not foolish. We are people of faith and so we hear the author of the Book of Wisdom say to us - - “the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God.” Is Grace Murphy among the righteous? Of course she is. Look around and look at her legacy. Remember how she lived her life. Was she perfect? Of course not. But she worked and prayed and raised her children. She suffered the hurt that no parent ever expects to see – the death of one of her children. But she went on. I have only known Grace for a few years. But she was always grateful when I visited her in her sickness; quite willing to share with me our passion for photography; easily a woman of faith. So, it is good to know as the Book of Wisdom goes on to tell us – she is at peace. The pain is gone, the struggle to breathe is gone, the wondering about how much salt to eat or not to eat is gone. The phone calls of distress are gone. She is at peace. And because she is – so should we be.

And I chuckled a bit when we chose the gospel of Martha and Mary dealing with the death of their brother for today. Martha was Grace’s kind of woman; or maybe vice versa – Grace was Martha’s kind of woman. Grace never struck me as a wallflower; I saw her as a strong woman. And that’s what Martha was. “Lord if you had been here my brother would not have died.” In other words – where have you been? You are two days late. Lazarus my brother is already in the tomb. Where have you been – FRIEND!

And Jesus probably a little taken aback – although it was his plan all along to be late, in order to prove a point about death – says to Martha – “Your brother will rise again.” And Martha says – somewhat petulantly – I know he will rise again, I can read the scriptures too. He will rise again in the Resurrection on the last day.” And then Jesus says, “I am the Resurrection and the life, do you believe this?”

And Martha says Yes, Lord I believe that you are the Messiah. The key there for us are those golden words, “Yes Lord I believe.” I believe because I am a person of faith. I believe because by her life Grace proved that a person can be a person of faith and come closer to God. Grace proved by her death that she is a believer in the Lord because Jesus is her Messiah. Jesus is her Lord, Jesus is her Savior. She is with the Lord in Glory. She has gone home. She is at peace. Amen and Alleluia.