Neyers, Lenora Margareta (Sister Anna Mary) 1905-2000

NEYERS, ARENS

Posted By: Bob Arens (email)
Date: 7/29/2005 at 09:10:09

NEYERS, LENORA MARGARETA (SISTER ANNA MARY) 1905-2000
HOMILY - SR. ANNA MARY FUNERAL - NOVEMBER 3, 2000

THERE IS NOT A PERSON WHO HAS KNOWN SR. ANNA MARY WHO WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN THRILLED TO DO FOR HER WHAT JESUS DID FOR BARTIMAEUS ... THAT IS, TO HAVE RESTORED HER PHYSICAL SIGHT IN THIS LIFE. THERE IS NOT A PERSON WHO HAS KNOWN SR, ANNA MARY WHO WOULD WISH HER ANY MORE DAYS OF DARKNESS ON THIS EARTH, WE CAN ONLY REJOICE WITH HER, AS THE FIRST READING SAID, THAT "THE WINTER IS PAST" IN HER LIFE, AND THAT SHE HAS FINALLY HEARD CHRIST HER GROOM SAY..."ARISE, MY BELOVED, MY BEAUTIFUL ONE, AND
COME [HOME]." AS WE LAY HER EARTHLY REMAINS TO REST, WE CANNOT HELP BUT REJOICE THAT SHE NOW LIVES IN THE LIGHT OF GOD'S PRESENCE FOREVER.

THE SAYING, "SEEING IS BELIEVING,' WAS NOT TRUE IN SISTER'S LIFE IN A PHYSICAL WAY FOR MORE YEARS THAN I HAVE LIVED ...BUT "SEEING IS BELIEVING" WAS TRUE IN A DEEPLY SPIRITUAL WAY DURING ALL THE YEARS OF HER RELIGIOUS VOCATION WITH THE SISTERS 0F THE VISITATION.
SR. ANNA MARY SAW AS MUCH WITH HER FAITH, LOVE, HEART, SOUL, MIND AND STRENGTH AS ANY OF US WILL EVER SEE WITH OUR PHYSICAL SIGHT. SHE SAW WITH HER MEMORY, HER FINGERS, ALL HER OTHER SENSES AND WITH HER HEART, LITTLE CHILDREN, A BIT CAUTIOUS, YET FASCINATED BY HER BLINDNESS AND CURIOUS ABOUT IT, WOULD SOMETIMES BE STUNNED OR SURPRISED TO HEAR HER SAY ABOUT SOME MATERIAL THING ...... "BRING IT HERE AND LET ME SEE IT." OTHER ADULTS WOULD ENCOURAGE THE CHILDREN, "GO HEAD, SHOW IT TO SISTER."

IT SEEMS APPROPRIATE THAT THIS CELEBRATION OF HER LIFE IS SANDWICHED IN BETWEEN TWO SUNDAY'S GOSPELS THAT SUMMARIZED THE TWO THINGS WE WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER ABOUT HER .....FIRST, THAT SHE WAS BLIND, AND SECONDLY, THAT SHE LIVED A LIFE OF FAITH-FILLED LOVE. THE UPCOMING SUNDAY'S GOSPEL IS ABOUT JESUS' TWO GREATEST COMMANDMENTS OF LOVE..."YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, SOUL, MIND AND STRENGTH AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF." ALSO SANDWICHED BETWEEN THOSE TWO GOSPELS WAS ALL SAINTS DAY WITH THE GOSPEL OF THE BEATITUDES WHICH SISTER ALSO MODELED AND LIVED SO PROFOUNDLY, AND ALSO ALL SOULS DAY REMINDING US THAT SHE HAS NOW JOINED ALL OF THOSE WHO HAVE GONE BEFORE HER AND US.

SPEAKING FOR THE RELATIVES, SISTER ANNA MARY WAS ALWAYS OUR "ACE IN THE HOLE" - PRAYING FOR US - SOMEONE WHO WAS ALWAYS IN OUR CORNER THE "MOTHER THERESA", IF YOU WILL, OF OUR MOTLEY RELATION, UPON DEATH, IF SR. ANNA MARY DID NOT HAVE A PRETTY STRAIGHT SHOT INTO THE LOVING PRESENCE OF GOD, THEN THE REST OF THIS RELATION IS IN BIG TROUBLE WITH "HELL TO PAY."

BELIEVE ME, SISTERS OF THE VISITATION, YOU HAVE KNOWN THE BEST OF OUR FAMILY BY HAVING KNOWN AND LOVED SISTER ANNA MARY. NONE OF THE REST OF US WOULD EVER PRETEND THAT SHE WAS ONE JUST LIKE US, BUT RATHER, SHE WAS SO MUCH MORE, SHE WAS ONE WHO WOULD HUMBLE ANY OF US, NOT BECAUSE SHE EVER THOUGHT OF HERSELF AS BETTER IN ANY WAY .... NOT BECAUSE SHE EVER PUT ANY OF US DOWN, BUT MUCH MORE BECAUSE, IN HER MAGNIFICENT HUMBLE WAY, SHE ALWAYS LIFTED US UP TO BE A LITTLE BETTER THAN WE ACTUALLY WERE OR ARE. SHE BROUGHT THE BEST OUT OF ALL OF US.

IT WAS ALWAYS A LESSON IN HUMILITY TO BE IN HER PRESENCE, TO WITNESS HER DEEP FAITH, HER GENTLENESS, PATIENCE AND KINDNESS...AS WELL AS HER TRUST AND DEPENDENCE ON EVERYONE FOR HER CARE. HER SIMPLE NEEDS FOR ENTERTAINMENT, HER THRILL IN BEING VISITED AND SEEING WHAT SHE WAS SATISFIED WITH IN TERMS OF MATERIAL GOODS ... ... COULD HUMBLE ANY OF US AS WE LOOK AT ALL THE TOYS AND MATERIAL GOODS WE THINK WE NEED TO BE HAPPY. AROUND HER, FOR SOME OF US, OUR LANGUAGE WAS BETTER, CLEANED-UP A LITTLE TO FALL ON HER SACRED EARS .... OR AN APOLOGY WAS QUICK IN COMING IF SOMETHING DID SLIP OUT... SHE'D BE GRACIOUS ENOUGH TO CHUCKLE ABOUT IT. YOU KNOW WELL, SISTERS, WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT-.-.-.-RELATIVES THINK ALL OF US RELIGIOUS TYPES NEVER THINK A NASTY WORD, MUCH LESS SPEAK ONE.

SR. ANNA MARY'S LOSS OF SIGHT FORCED HER TO DEVELOP GOD'S GIFT OF MIND AND MEMORY BEYOND ANYTHING MOST OF US CAN EVER HOPE FOR. MOST OF US ARE HAPPY TO REMEMBER THE NAMES OF THE RELATIVES, MUCH LESS EVERYONE'S BIRTHDAY AND ANNIVERSARY. I AM SURE THAT SISTER'S PRAYERS FOR EACH ONE OF US IN THIS ROOM, HER MANY ROSARIES FOR US ... HER OFFERED-UP SUFFERINGS FOR US ... GOT EACH ONE OF US THROUGH A LOT OF THINGS WE WON'T EVEN KNOW ABOUT UNTIL WE MEET HER AGAIN. "HAVING TOO MANY PEOPLE TO PRAY FOR YET" GAVE HER AN INCENTIVE TO LIVE ON FOR MANY YEARS.

SISTER NEVER LAID EYES ON ME, BUT I REMEMBER HER BABYSITTING ME, SHE WOULD READ A STORY FROM HER BOOKS OF BRAILLE AND THEN I WOULD TAKE MY TURN AND READ TO HER WHILE SITTING ON HER LAP. I WOULD CLOSE MY EYES, RUN MY FINGERS OVER THE BUMPS ON THE PAPER AND SHE WOULD GENTLY CHUCKLE AND LAUGH AT MY GREAT STORY. I THOUGHT I HAD HER FOOLED.

DURING HER YEARS AT THE VILLA DE CHANTAL IN ROCK ISLAND, WE WOULD AWAIT HER CHERISHED TYPED LETTERS, THE DAYS OF THE CLOISTER WERE PROBABLY THE HARDEST, BUT HER MOVE TO MENDOTA HEIGHTS WAS LIKE "COMING HOME" AND HELPED HER RECONNECT WITH MANY OF US, OTHER LOUD RELATIVES AND I HAVE CERTAINLY DONE OUR SHARE TO "DISTURB THE PEACE" OF THE INFIRMARY, AS SISTER'S HEARING FAILED AND LOW VOICES LIKE MINE WERE HARD FOR HER TO HEAR. FOR A COUPLE YEARS NOW I FELT LIKE I WAS YELLING AT THIS GOOD SOUL.

ON BEHALF OF ALL HER FAMILY, I THANK YOU, SISTERS OF THE VISITATION, FOR YOUR WONDERFUL CARE AND LOVE FOR SISTER ANNA MARY THESE Past 49 YEARS. YOUR COMMUNITY'S WELCOME WAS THE ONLY ONE AVAILABLE TO HER BECAUSE OF HER BLINDNESS, YOU TOOK A CHANCE, YOU RISKED LOVING HER UNCONDITIONALLY ... YOU MET HER DAY-IN AND DAY-OUT NEEDS WITH GENEROSITY, SISTER ALWAYS SEEMED TO LIKE HER HOME VISITS, BUT THERE WAS NEVER ANY DOUBT THAT HER HEART AND VOCATION WERE WITH YOU, SHE MISSED HER COMMUNITY AND HER FAMILIAR SURROUNDINGS WHEN SHE WAS WITH US.

TODAY, WE REALLY WALK ON "HOLY GROUND' AS WE WALK WHERE SISTER ANNA MARY HAS WALKED AMONG YOU, IT'S OBVIOUS, WE AS RELATIVES HAVE ALREADY CANONIZED HER ... WE ONLY HAVE OUR HOLY MEMORIES OF HER ... DURING THE LIMITED TIME WE SPENT WITH HER SHE WAS ALWAYS ON HER GOOD BEHAVIOR AND WASN'T LOOKING FOR TROUBLE. WHEN WE BROUGHT HER BACK TO YOU, FOR ALL WE KNOW, SHE MIGHT HAVE "BIT OFF HEADS" ... AND GAVE ORDERS, MADE DEMANDS, JUST TO LET YOU KNOW SHE WAS BACK ... JUST LIKE WE GET SOMETIMES WITH OUR FAMILIES. WE LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING YOUR SIDE OF SISTER'S LIFE STORY AFTER COMMUNION. UNTIL THEN, WE WILL CONTINUE CELEBRATE HER LIFE (AND THANKING GOD FOR HER LIFE AMONG US) BY BRINGING OUR SPECIAL PRAYERS BEFORE OUR LOVING GOD.