The one thing that doesn’t end in death is love, said Bishop Foys at annual Mass for Loss of a Child

Maura Baker

Staff Writer

Over 100 people attended this year’s Memorial Mass for the Loss of Child, April 7, at Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish, Burlington. The annual Mass, hosted by the diocesan Pro-Life Office, invites parents, grandparents and others grieving the death of a child to gather to memorialize their child and to surrender to God’s loving embrace. Bishop Emeritus Roger Foys was the celebrant and homilist at the solemn event.

“A child is a child to their parents for as long as they live,” said Bishop Foys. “… one of our hopes, that all of us, please God, being faithful to the Lord, to his word and to his Church, will one day enter the Kingdom of Heaven. We firmly believe that we will join those who have gone before us. So, mothers and fathers can hope to embrace those children who have gone on before them, just as they embraced them in this life. The one thing, St. Paul said, that does not end in death is love. Love remains, that bond of love between parent and child. That is where our comfort comes and hopefully lessens our grieving.”