My homily at the funeral of Steve Montanaro, September 4, 2024 at Prince of Peace Catholic Church, to whom I had the privilege of bringing Holy Communion in the final weeks of his life. His book of poetry I reference, “An Immigrant’s Poetic Medley,” can be purchased on Amazon.
Readings: Wisdom 4:7-15; Psalm 143; Romans 8:31-35, 37-39; Matthew 5:1-12
Audio Recording
Our first reading from the Book of Wisdom tells us that a just man, a soul who reaches perfection, is pleasing to the Lord and is at rest. Anyone who knew Steve Montanaro knows that he was certainly a just man and a friend of the Lord. He was defined by the good he accomplished in his life, by his spiritual maturity, and by his love for his family and his country. Therefore, we have every reason to believe that Steve is now at rest and well on his way in his journey to his heavenly homeland.
Our responsorial psalm speaks of the psalmist’s trust in God, in his mercy. He asks God to teach Him to do His will and to guide him. Steve certainly understood this, as revealed throughout his book of poetry, and especially at the conclusion of one of his poems entitled Twilight Reflection. Like the psalmist, Steve addresses the Lord as he writes:
“When life’s curtains fall, and walk alone I must, be kind to me I beg, for in you I place my trust…I pray my plea is just.”
Steve had absolute confidence in God’s mercy.
Our second reading today assures us that nothing in the created universe, in any of its domains or dimensions, can separate the faithful from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Saint Paul’s barrage of questions in this reading regarding what some may think is able to separate us from God’s love boils down to one: Does ANYTHING in this world have the power to separate us from the love of Christ?
The answer is ABSOLUTELY NOT! In fact, our suffering brings us to a fuller participation in Christ’s passion and has the effect of forming us into his likeness. A mystery of our faith is that the very things that afflict us are what make us SHARERS in Jesus’ triumph over sin. And, as always, Saint Paul is quick to clarify that this takes place not by our own power but through Him who loved us. Thanks to God’s grace, no circumstance or created power outside ourselves is capable of severing the bond that joins us to the risen Lord. Let us take comfort in this truth today as we continue to grieve the loss of our faithful brother in Christ.
This brings us to today’s Gospel reading from the Sermon on the Mount, The Beatitudes. We can think of the Beatitudes as a master plan for following Jesus. A plan, that if followed closely, brings us happiness, joy and peace in this life, in the midst of the hardships and suffering that life throws at us. Steve followed this plan faithfully in the way he conducted himself and in his priorities. Therefore, we can consider him blessed.
You see, the world’s idea of what brings us happiness is very different from God’s truth. This idea is often referred to as our IMAGINATIVE VISION of life. An imaginative vision is essentially the lenses through which we view and live life. Our culture’s imaginative vision looks through the lenses of wealth, pleasure, power and honor. For our secular culture, these are the end goals of human activity in the pursuit of happiness. The problem is, they don’t actually make us happy.
God’s imaginative vision, on the other hand, the imaginative vision that will truly bring joy and peace, is much different than the one the world proclaims. His imaginative vision tells us that our complete joy can only be found in the life of Jesus; by faithfully following His teachings and serving others, even though our own humanity and the world around us is insisting that joy and fulfillment is found in serving ourselves.
The Beatitudes are essentially Jesus’ syllabus, laying out the master plan of his vision for the Christian life. God’s imaginative vision takes our world’s twisted view of wealth, pleasure, power and honor and rightly orders them so that even the person who has these things can be happy if they are following God’s plan for their life.
In the life of Mary, we see a beautiful and profound witness of this path to happiness, the path described in the Beatitudes. The Blessed Virgin Mary, who more than any other human being lived with God’s imaginative vision always in mind. Mary’s life exemplified each of these beatitudes. Mary was meek and clean of heart, not expecting to be chosen as the mother of God, and in this very act she prepared her soul and her body to humbly receive God incarnate. She embraced her physical and spiritual poverty, accepting whatever she was given with gratitude, even the birth of Jesus in a stable.
While Mary’s life was incredibly difficult in many ways and wrought with many unexpected twists, turns and sufferings, she lived a life of simple gratitude and simple joy. She lived a life of peace and mercy, always desiring God’s will to be done and never afraid of saying “yes” to Him. She was comforted, satisfied and happy. Mary inherited the kingdom of God. Steve was both a student and a faithful son of his Mother Mary.
We are each invited to experience and rest in the same simple joy that Mary experienced. When we shift our lens to see our lives through God’s imaginative vision, instead of the twisted vision of our fallen humanity and secular culture, we, too, can find true happiness.
Steve understood and experienced this. I came to understand and admire his deep faith in the short time I was blessed to be chosen to bring him Holy Communion, visiting with him and his loving family, as well as having read some of the beautiful poetry he left us as part of his legacy.
God’s imaginative vision, communicated through the beatitudes, is the plan for our true fulfillment and lasting happiness. He not only promises to give us what we need now, but He also promises that when we inherit our heavenly home, our suffering will no longer be remembered and we will live in eternal happiness in him, as members of His body. What an amazing vision God has for each of us!
As we strive to live the beatitudes out in our daily life, we get a taste of the promises of Jesus, a taste of the joy that can only come from knowing Jesus as our friend and our redeemer. Steve certainly understood this, as evidenced abundantly in his profound and deeply honest poetry.
Only a life lived in union with Jesus will bring satisfaction, peace and contentment. Steve lived such a life. He was greatly blessed by his beloved wife Anna Maria, by his children Annette, Laura and Steven, and by his five beautiful grandchildren: Nadia, Ava, Kathleen, Isabella and Alexander. In addition to his loving family, he found great joy in his love for his country and especially in his love for Our Lord and His Blessed Mother, who prepared him well to meet them as he now passes from this life here on earth into eternal life.
I’m sure that as we pray for Steve today, he would want us to celebrate his life of faith, knowing that his pain and suffering are now over. How do I know this? I know it from the last stanza of his poem entitled, Cry Not For Me:
“Cry, not for me, my love, for you, I’ll wait up yonder, free from the realm of villainy, and the people who ravage and plunder. Rejoice with me!”
We will truly honor Steve today if we rejoice with him. He has played like a champion and has scored the winning goal. In the midst of our grief and our tears at losing such a wonderful man, we rejoice that Steve is no longer suffering and that he will be waiting for us to join him in our heavenly homeland. This is our hope, this is our faith. This was undoubtedly Steve’s faith.
Let us pray for Steve as we continue with the sacrifice of this Holy Mass offered for him, commending him to God’s merciful care.
God bless you.