HAMMOND – Bright sunshine greeted mourners who arrived at St. John-St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery on the morning of May 26 for the Memorial Day hosted by the Diocese of Gary.
“We remember those loved ones buried here in this cemetery, but also those who gave their lives for this country; they are experiencing that which awaits all of us,” said Bishop Robert J. McClory in his homily. “It is a beautiful sign of God’s love to mourn those we have lost, but also know of their inheritance.
“We are meant to be co-heirs to eternal life and to praise You and your Son,” he prayed to God. “Give us life everlasting. That is our inheritance.
“We have a better inheritance than any worldly inheritance we might receive,” he explained. “That’s passing, but we are heirs to an everlasting inheritance, a joy-filled life, a heavenly eternity – the glorious inheritance of our eternal Father in heaven.”
“It’s great that we honor our fallen veterans today and pray for those (loved ones) who’ve passed away just this year,” said Michael P. Welsh, chief operations officer for the Gary Diocesan Cemeteries. “The cooperation of Bishop McClory and his concelebrants is great to enable us to hold this Mass.”
Clementine Kerr, a Crown Point resident, said her “whole family is buried” at the Hammond cemetery, including her “parents, sister and brother-in-law, cousins and my mother’s family. When I was younger, we would spend the whole day here, and they used to have concessions. We could buy hot dogs and ice cream.”
Kerr said she believes it is important to observe Memorial Day at the cemetery “as we remember our loved ones and all the veterans.”
Master Sgt. Paul Dziepak, a Hammond resident and parishioner at St. John Bosco, has served in the U.S. Army Reserve, First Army of Rock Island, Ill., for 35 years, so Memorial Day is special to him. “My grandfather and father served in the Army, and my father-in-law served in the Navy, so we are a military family,” he said. “This is a day to remember those who gave their life for our country.”
“This particular celebration is really tailored to a two-fold remembrance,” said Father Jeffrey Burton, pastor at St. John Bosco and administrator at St. Joseph, as well as head of the diocese’s North Lake Deanery. “We remember on Memorial Day those who have given their lives to our country and, at this Mass, we remember all those beloved disciples who have gone before us and are buried here.”
Personally, added Father Burton, “I have a number of parishioners here today, some of whose parents I’ve buried here over the years. It’s a profound experience for them to have a belief in the eternal banquet presented to them in a special way.”
In addition to the Memorial Day Mass, a special blessing was offered on the holiday for a columbarium – an above-ground memorial containing urns preserving human cremains – topped by two special statues depicting the Blessed Mother and St. Bernadette, who the Virgin Mary appeared to in 1858 near the teenager’s home in Lourdes, France.
“We remember the Carmelite Sisters, whose statues these were, standing on the grounds of their beloved home for children,” said Bishop McClory of the former St. Joseph Carmelite Home in East Chicago as he sprinkled holy water and offered prayers at the columbarium after Mass. “We wanted a worthy place (for the statues) so the sisters are always remembered … a place of rest and hope (for those whose cremains are interred) and a place of comfort for the living.”
The blessing included a Scripture reading about the women who came to Christ’s tomb early Sunday morning to find it empty due to the resurrection of the Lord (Luke 24:1-25) by Deacon Paul Progar, and the recitation of the “Our Father” by those gathered at the site near the cemetery office.
“I promised (Mother Superior) Sister Giuseppe that I would take care of these statues, and we also installed the plaque that identifies them,” explained Welsh. “I think this is a beautiful tribute.”
Caption: Bishop Robert J. McClory (left) and Father Jeffrey Burton distribute Holy Communion to congregants at the Memorial Day Mass hosted by the Diocese of Gary at St. John-St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery in Hammond on May 26. A sunny but cool day greeted those remembering loved ones and fallen soldiers at the liturgy. (Marlene A. Zloza photo)
