Lord of life, of all that lives upon the earth and lives again in the new heavens with you,
We come to you with tears and with broken hearts and with sadness too much to bear.
Our loss is great. The one whom you called to shepherd us, your lost sheep,
and to guide us here below on the path that leads to you above,
and to carry our broken and beat-down spirits upon his shoulders
when we wandered aimlessly in this world and far from you,
has been taken from us and from all who loved him
by an accident both cruel and senseless.
We pray that your arms reached out to him in those last moments
to hold him close to your heart as you brought him back home to be with you
where you make all things new and heal all wounds left by this world.
He served you faithfully, Lord, through the years, always generous in spirit,
with kindness in his heart, a smile on his face, gentleness in his voice.
We came to know your love through his love and your Word entered our hearts
as he spoke to us of a Father whose love is everlasting,
a Father who welcomes all his children home,
wayward and weary and worn-out by the world as we prodigals so often are.
Comfort us who now must carry this pain in our hearts, we pray,
and who now must fill the emptiness where he stood once
with memories of a time when we were together, not apart,
another time that we pray will be given to us again when all your children
are called home in the evening of life, where eye has not seen,
but where faith has promised life and love to all who believe in you.
May his family, and especially his mother who buries a beloved son ,
find comfort in the care of friends and solace in the certainty
that their brother and son served you faithfully, generously, and humbly
the many years he stood at your altar and fed us with your word and with your manna from heaven.
We give thanks to you for the gift of this priest, your servant, Father Tony.
We found signs of your kindness in his presence
and now we ask for signs of your comfort in his absence.
Give rest to him in your house with many rooms, he who toiled in your vineyard
and may he find a full day’s wage for his labors
as you receive him, good and faithful servant, into blessed repose upon your bosom.
Our prayers, our pleas, we make in the name of your Son, who called for just such fishers of men.
Amen.
Sunday Brunch 