At St. Thomas the Apostle, we have a book in which the names of loved ones who have died can be recorded. These people are prayed for every year on or near the anniversary of their death.
This evening at the Vigil Mass, two names were called out from those I have loved: my father, Leslie Earle (George) Leatherwood, my father, and Noah Baird, the son of our dear friends in Texas.
I am always a little shocked when a familiar name is called. Most days the names are of people I do not know, or bear the last names of other parishioners who I do know. I can usually figure out if this was the mother, father or perhaps sister or brother of one of my fellow members of St. Thomas.
And tonight when I heard my father’s name read, I wasn’t surprised. I am very aware that my dad died on February 4, 1972. I had seen him the weekend before he went into a coma on Tuesday night and he and I had said our good-byes to one another.
Noah’s name usually does surprise me, but I am pleased that it is always right after my father’s name. I don’t know how that happened, but this is not the first year I have heard the two coupled. It makes me hope that my father and Noah have found each other in the afterlife and are looking down together on this night.
Despite anyone’s religious preference or non-preference, there is something very comforting and right about formally remembering those we love who have died on a yearly basis. I am happy to have that opportunity at St. Thomas.
So, to my beloved father and to sweet Noah, peace be with you. May light perpetual shine upon you.
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