God’s Friday Remembrances led to Paschal Joy!

Despite my current Paschal joy, today my thoughts went back to last Good Friday even stronger -- not that they completely left me ever since then. They had a sense of tragic foreboding which enveloped me that day. None of it made much sense to me until I looked upon the Holy Father's bier this week. And then it all came to me...

....That gloomy God's Day was different than others - and much like today. We had just finished the Synaxis (Presanctified Liturgy) and the Stations of the Cross at St. Lucy's ORC Cathedral in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, NYC. Afterwards, the bishops and two other priests rode with me across town to our sister parish of St. Anthony of Padua Traditional Catholic Church. I would have joined the RC procession at Noon across the Brooklyn Bridge to our “Ground Hero” (site of our former World Trade Center towers immolated on 9-11) in Manhattan, but our own devotional schedule precluded that. Besides, I had just participated in a solemn procession in Queens, and this parish had again planned one of their own.

We all kept our cassocks, albs, stoles, zucchettos and birettas on since the procession was almost underway. Enroute we encountered hordes of Old Testament revelers who glared and peered upon us as hostile invaders. So the clergy rolled up their windows. This driver just made like he was in the Pope mobile and greeted our elder brethren accordingly, by blessing them. One of the Italian bishops had a nervous fit and warned me not to do that. But I did it anyway.

In sharp juxtaposition, that 25 March 2005 was the 14th of Adar II, 5765 (NOT Chislev or Kislev, the third month of their civil year) in the Jewish calendar and what an evocative portrait of evolving neighborhoods and changing times that made... The Orthodox Hasidim and Sephardic Jewry who are now infusing these areas in overwhelming majority were also loudly celebrating their feast of Purim. Elements from all parts of their Diaspora are now found here. They were interspersed with eastern European Jews, Syrian Jews, Jews from Israel, and Holocaust survivors. Purim is one of the most joyous and fun holidays on the Jewish calendar which commemorates a time when the Jewish people living in Persia were saved from mass extermination. I think I know how they might have felt because our feelings were respectful, but mutual.

(All Jewish Holidays begin the evening before the date specified. This is because the Jewish day actually begins at sundown on the previous night. Perhaps that's why the patiently suffering orthodox bishop, +Karol Wojtyla of Krakow, appropriately reposed after sundown at the onset of the Feast of Divine Mercy.)

In retrospect, it almost reminded me of a Queens, NYC Good Friday a few short years ago. However, neither of us could relate this to our respective faith groups since ours are rooted in ancient antiquity: My local neighborhood now has the largest concentration of Sikh Indians and Guyanese in America… That year they arbitrarily decided to hold their Phagwah parade on Good Friday. I didn't know this "Holi" festival would hit us until their roucous merriment jolted our neighborhood (which suddenly changed practically over night about 15 years ago) out of our prayers and meditations between 12 Noon and 3 P.M. Our religious and cultural sensitivities were totally disregarded and disrespected. So I immediately went over to our local 102nd Precinct to check if they had a valid parade permit, which they did. This year they attempted to plan their pagan street celebrations for Holy Pascha ("Easter"), but we objected. And our NYPD refused a permit for them then since most of the force is Christian and with their families that Holy Day. Therefore, it will be held this Sunday instead. Happy Phagway to our new neighbors.

....When we finally arrived at the neighboring parish, hundreds of ORC parishioners were already assembled and those clergy -- with an ecumenical and interfaith caucus from the local Church councils -- were set to go. There were floral arrangements in abundance; representatives from various community groups, confraternities ("confradias") of lay people, torchbearers carried lit candles, mourners prayed their rosaries, solidarities intoned hymns, singing children carried flags and banners, parish groups were beginning their sorrowful prayers and lamentations while men were vying for the honor of carrying the "dead" hand-painted marble body of Jesus contained in an elegant bronze and glass sarphogus.

In the middle, a small band usually played marches, going ahead of the large coffin (as big as the Pope’s Cypress one today) followed by the priests. That day we had a sound truck playing dirges instead. However, those young, enthusiastic, Latino DJ’s forgot that they were not cruising the hood with their pulsating ghetto blasters. And those monster speakers were aimed directly at us. A half hour and 20 blocks later I had withstood more than I could endure and we were less than half way finished with our circuitous route. My head was throbbing from the high pitch volume and percussions. (While some ignorant clergy, seemingly oblivious to our purpose there, were straggling off and trying to have a conversation with each other over that raucous din.)

I kept looking behind me at the dozen men (of all sizes, ages and conditions) struggling with their heavy burden and took almost as much pity on them as I did the corpus of our Lord. Then I noticed that only the assigned NYPD cops were following the cortege. "Where are the other mourners?" I wondered. “Jesus shouldn’t be last in line, poor planning…” It just didn't seem right. So, against all protocols, I gladly stepped out of line with my brother priests and fell in with them instead. I could care less what anyone thought. Besides, it gave me a better opportunity to meditate and pray, besides having better mannered company.

As we marched in somber unison, I observed tenement dwellers hanging out of their windows and fire escapes, pedestrians stopped dead in their tracks to watch the drama of these funerary rites… bystanders were crying, drivers signing themselves with The Cross, onlookers rushing the forward marching clergy for their blessing, etc. It was a condensed version of today’s atmosphere in Rome.

Then my eyes became riveted on the face of Jesus within that heavy glass coffin. That's all it took. My mind went back to every sorrowful station I had ever visited and my emotions took over. I envisioned the Pieta. I recalled the picture of the 13th Station of the Cross (“Jesus is Taken Down from The Cross”) which usually tops this blog site outside the Easter Season. I recalled all the horrific post 9-11 traumas at Ground Zero, the griefs I had shared with all my family, friends, clients and parishioners, etc. I stumbled in many potholes along the way (being legs and sight compromised as it is) unable to avert my gaze from the Corpse.

A deep sense of foreboding premonition consumed me. Was I being given a message to prepare myself for more sorrow? Was I being counseled to pray for the strength to handle it? Was I being told that soon I would follow in these same foot steps again?

The Lenten passion of Terri Schiavo had been in my constant prayers, may she rest in peace. And Holy Pascha (“Easter”) would soon soon mark the 21st Anniversary of Transitus of my late soul mate, Vincent Anthony Savastano. Would my current partner of 20 years and best friend of 25 be soon following him into this same new life after his two recent massive coronaries, etc? Would I soon be following his casket this very same way? May God forbid, I prayed. “But not mine, but Thine Will be done.” Suddenly I didn’t want to be there anymore. However, I did persevere as I knew I must, as others better and weaker than I did and were also doing.

…I recalled Vince’s six months long bout with AIDS; his ironic Lenten coma of 40 days on a respirator which his family and doctors unsuccessfully tried to disconnect; my being barred from his bedside (also unsuccessfully thanks to sympathetic Catholic hospital staff who sneaked me in) although we were NEVER apart those ten years together, the legal battles and chancery arguments I waged, etc. Vince’s estranged and suddenly “concerned” family – which despised and disrespected this “crippled homo” (cerebral palsy which he surmounted) -- tried to separate us but to no avail. At least they quit mocking his grand mal epileptic seizures. And just like Teri, they cremated him against our express Catholic wishes only three hours after he reposed. It’s NOT true that “time heals all wounds.” Grief does not always become easier. Rather, it becomes different. There also is our consolation. So I was then also thinking, “Happy 21st Birthday in heaven, Vince.”

Little did I realize that this was INDEED the spiritual revelation being given to me. Little did I realize that I was actually gazing upon the suffering face of the Vicar of Christ. Though Good Friday does not have a Church octave, his passion and death would be imminent on the “Octave” of Good Friday, just eight days later. That coincided with Divine Mercy Sunday, the same feast he instituted. Not until I saw the forspent body of Peter being taken to his stately wake and grave -- then I realized...

Then I also realized why the face of Jesus was not covered in His coffin or His Body shrouded adequately enough. It bothered me that our Orthodox bishops are buried with a veil over their features, but not our Lord. (I'm glad to learn that this long suffering Pope was accorded that simple and fitting dignity.) Yet his body was not anointed that final time with Chrism as other orthodox bishops always are. Might it be because our Lord was also NOT anointed (deferred until that Sunday only because of his Sabbath death & burial) when He was buried? Is this why he specified that his corpse was to go directly into the earth? Was St. John Paul the Great being true to Form all the way?

Now we’re into the Interregnum. It is a period governed by papal law, which permits no changes to Church governance, or to the spiritual or material patrimony of St. Peter, except for the election of his successor. No longer do we commemorate our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, at Holy Mass. This is the ONLY time period in which the fanatical “sede vacantists” (“empty chair”) nut-jobbers might have a valid point. Enjoy it while it lasts, guys. I pray that you won’t be putting his successor through your schismatical torments as well. May the holy examples and intercession of St. John Paul the Great inspire you to Come Back Home.

And also now, TODAY, begins our Novendialis which lasts nine days. (This time honored tradition starts on the day of the Pope’s requiem & burial, NOT his death.) Each of those days will have a Mass for the Holy Father. A Mass is entrusted each day to a different group, taking into account that group's links with the Roman Pontiff. This variety shows the universality of the Church of Rome. Here’s the program for the nine days of official mourning:

Day 1: Funeral Mass. Day 2: For the faithful. Day 3: For the Church of Rome. Day 4: For the chapters of the patriarchal basilicas. Day 5: Cappella Papale. Day 6: For the Roman Curia. Day 7: For the Eastern Churches. Day 8: For members of Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. Day 9: Cappella Papale.

Ethnic traditionalists can also be a superstitious lot. There is an old Polish belief that says whomever dies during the Octave of Holy Pascha goes directly to heaven. The Pope died directly on that day, as though it mattered. I saved two blessed red Pascha eggs to break open in our Holy Father’s memory (another Polish and Russian tradition depicting our Lord's Resurrection from the tomb) and in celebration of his promotion to Glory. But I can’t bring myself to crack them yet. That’s when this transition will finally hit me big time.

"Wesolego Alleluja! Saint John Paul the Great!"
(Polish: "A JOYFUL ALLELUIA TO YOUR HOLINESS!")

"Christos aneste!"
(Greek & Russian: “CHRIST IS RISEN!”)
"Alethos aneste!"
(Greek & Russian: “HE IS TRULY RISEN, INDEED!”)

Prince Charles, too bad you didn’t get “married” today as planned. Most of us could have cared any less. And too bad you didn’t do us Catholics a bigger favor and eloped instead. Quit the pretense of trying to show respect for The Church and Her sacraments (Holy Matrimony being one of them). Why not be a bloke and chip in for the security expenses of the photo-op you attended today with all the dough you saved from not having a big shin dig? You might be buying a used horse, but we still have the spirit and memory of Lady Diana, Princess of Wales. May your long friendship with Camilla continue to blossom. (BTW, have you apologized to her husband yet as the Archbishop of Canterbury directed you to?) Break a leg.

And you, Pres. Bill Clinton, had the nerve to opine in Rome yesterday that our late Holy Father “may have a mixed legacy.” Well, nothing like yours, bro. It was nice to see you paying homage to the Pope with our two esteemed leaders of faith. But your nasty remarks were uncalled for. Even the good deacon, Pres. Jimmy Carter, wouldn’t have said anything as tasteless, out of place and ill timed as that. It’s a shame that he was bumped from Air Force One (for space reasons) instead of you.

+ BLESS US, FATHER.

Many of you noted that the body of Pope John Paul the Great is vested in red. It has nothing to do with his national color of Poland. Rather, this is another call back to ancient tradition (and the correction of Vatican Council II liturgical abuses, "aggiornamento", which his Papacy has also been devoted to) wherein the Papal liturgy, now practically discontinued, that, instead of black, the Pope celebrated funeral liturgies wearing red vestments -- "Papa luget in rubro," (the Pope weeps in red). So although the Pope generally now uses violet vestments for requiems, a vestige of the earlier practice remains in vesting our deceased Holy Father in red, which is the color of the Apostles.

"Be Not Afraid. I'll be with you always."

Nunc Dimittis

Lord, now lettest thou Thy servant depart in peace,
according to Thy Word.
For mine eyes have seen Thy salvation,
Which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people;
To be a light to lighten the Gentiles
and to be the glory of Thy people Israel.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son
and to the Holy Ghost;
As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. AMEN.

In Paradisum

May the angels lead Your Holiness into paradise;
may the martyrs come to welcome you,
and take you to the Holy City,
the new and eternal Jesusalem.

May the choirs of angels welcome you
and lead you to Abraham's Side;
where Lazarus is poor no longer.
May you find eternal rest. AMEN.


May God grant you to share
in the inheritance of His saints in glory;
and the Blessing of God Almighty,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
be upon you, and remain with you for all eternity. AMEN.

Eternal rest grant unto His Holiness, O Lord
and let perpetual light shine upon him.
May he rest in peace.

May his soul
and the souls of all the faithful departed,
through the mercy of Almighty God,
rest in eternal peace. AMEN.

St. John Paul the Great, PRAY for us sinners.

Interfaith multitudes postulate Pope's cause - Global Acclaim for Saint John Paul the Great

With apologies to none, last Sunday at our ORCC St. Lucy's Cathedral in Brooklyn, I again took flak from some of my brother clergy for calling the late Pope John Paul II "SAINT JOHN PAUL THE GREAT". The assembled prelates and priests took umbrage and corrected me with the more familiar moniker of His Holiness.

There are those who would argue that it's a posthumous title formally conferred on a very rare and select few. There are even those modernists who think it's undeserved by him both now and ANYTIME in the future. To all of them, I say: TOUGH - get used to it, both now and later.

First off, I've been calling Saint Pope John Paul II "the Great" ever since the early 1980's after his first trip to Poland as Pope when he bolstered our Polish "Solidarnosc" ("Solidarity") movement. (I was a NJ/NY member since before the fall of Communism and a political anti-Communism crusader and activist since high school in the early 70's.) But that had less to do with my ethnicity than the tangible and immediate results he produced in conjunction with our late President. I personally think that the Pope was mostly responsible, spiritually and morally, for the internal fall of communism. And Pres. Ronald Reagan was both the philosophical and forceful impetus for the external collapse of those regimes.

And you might note that I've also been calling this Roman Pontiff (unlike the Coptic Pope or any other one) "His All Holiness" since before this blog was even incepted. That's what the Orthodox Christians call the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople (Patriarch Bartholomew the 1st) who is acceded as the ranking patriarch by them among the crew of five apostolic patriarchs - Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem. The Roman Patriarch is granted a "primacy of honor" by them, but to me it's just not good enough. I met the Ecumenical Patriarch in 1997 at St. Irene's in Astoria, Queens and respectfully admire him too. However, +John Paul the Great outclassed and outranked them all in every respect. Besides, having been ordained an Orthodox priest and elevated a mitered archpriest, I'm now a "re-vert" from Orthodoxy back to Catholicism. If you're wondering why, your first guess was correct and the last two wrong. In a nutshell, it's about theology.

Then there are those "orthodox" Old Catholic malcontents who often retort, "If you admire and love the Pope so much then you ought to go back under his Roman Obedience." If only I had a buck for every time I was pummeled with that these past three decades. To them I try to explain that I NEVER left the Roman Catholic Church. I simply transferred rites -- from the Roman ultramontane tradition to the Old Roman Catholic ultrajectine tradition -- when I was in my youth almost 30 years ago. (I was in my third year seminary when +John Paul II was elected Pope.) It's not as though I'm an "Old Catholic" - one of those who "ordain" women, reject the indissolubility of marriage, deny Catholic Church doctrines and reject Papal Infallibility, etc.

I might be jumping the gate a bit, perhaps, but I'm NOT being "incorrect" nor "presumptuous". This explanation is NOT a jeremiad, screed or tirade. Fr. Steve is NOT "fulminating" again. (The first time someone pitched that one at me I thought it was something nasty.)

Already the interfaith multitudes are calling him by this well-deserved name. It was reported by many news services that he is now being dubbed "John Paul the Great" by many in the tearful crowd in St Peter's Square. It was earned, not granted. This is the Spirit animated vox populi (popular voice of the people) of The Universal Church! His Holiness has already been seen and heard by vast numbers of people around the world, gathering the largest single assembly of people in human history — over 5 million in the Philippines.

And yesterday even the Vatican's Secretary of State, Angelo Cardinal Sodano, almost "slipped up" by invoking him that way during his Mass homily on the steps of St. Peter's Basilica. His prepared text (most likely by the Holy Spirit) also called the late Pope "John Paul the Great." However, he caught himself in time and did not use the title when he delivered the homily -- for which there was no explanation. But written Vatican texts are considered official texts even if they are not pronounced. And the title itself infers sainthood.

The same honorific as that accorded to three of his distant predecessors (not just "two" as some recent publications ascribe), Pope Leo I, Pope Gregory I and Pope Nicholas I. They are universally celebrated as Pope Leo the Great (440-61 AD) Pope Gregory the Great (12 March 604) and Pope Nicholas the Great (13 November 867) the only popes to be so honored. +Leo in the fifth century, +Gregory in the sixth, and +Nicholas in the ninth. All battled heresies, and all triumphed. +John Paul the Great projected himself in a similar struggle, only updated: secularism rather than paganism, Western relativism rather than savagery.

PS: Another traditionalist clergyman worthy of being called "great" in my estimation is also my most favorite preacher: The Rev. Billy Graham, an extraordinary American titan and our nation's chief chaplain and Presidential spiritual advisor, who will also depart the scene soon. Parkinson's disease has struck him also. He is the "Pope" of Protestant America. Another plain speaking, fast acting, humble, down to earth guy. A contemporary and clergy buddy of our late Catholic Pope (not just the Coptic one), Rev. Billy Franklin Graham singly initiated the resurgence of evangelical Christianity in the post-World War II era. That spiritual attribute and characteristic has long been a hallmark of our TORC praxis. His detractors among fundamentalist Protestants accused the evangelist of fatal compromises with Catholics and liberals and warned that he had become the most "dangerous man" in Christianity. Protestant progressives accuse him of being a simpleton like the American President. So just like the Pope once was detracted that same way, he's in good company. It's a pity that he had to decline his participation at the Holy Father's funeral for health reasons.

And he's not alone there. Other priests are doing the same thing now. According to today's BBC, Bishop Terence Brain, the Bishop of Salford and Bishop Nigel McCulloch, Bishop of Manchester, England, are committing this same crime. As is also Archbishop Harry Flynn, head of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, and Bishop Higi of the Diocese of Lafayette-in-Indiana. So is Cardinal Polycarp Pengo of Dar es Salaam in Africa and Australia's highest ranking Catholic, Sydney Archbishop George Cardinal Pell. You can now also count in 1.7 million members of the Roman Catholic Knights of Columbus when you consider the words of their Supreme Knight Carl A. Anderson.

If I enumerate and explain all (or even most of) the reasons WHY then this would just become another obituary or memorial web site rather than a blog. Such attempts would be inadequate. There are enough good ones out their for your perusal. But I'm not averse to doing so. - So perhaps I'll try to do so in another blog before His All Holiness is committed to the earth.

Meanwhile, get off my back, guys. (Until you do, I'll rededicate this 1978 ditty to you while I can STILL chant it: "Hail Mary, full of grace. The Italians are in second place...") Besides, what pope ever had a US Pres. attend their funeral? This one will have the currently revered one and all of the viable previous ones in attendance. And our Flag is at half mast until he is buried. That's nine days, another record in itself. Besides that, over 200 world leaders will be in attendance -- not just their wives or 2nd in command.

Next, I expect, that many miraculous cures will be attributed to +John Paul's saintly intercession in the next few days and weeks -- which will be proven immediately and beyond any doubt. I would not be surprised if his Petrine successor formally canonizes Saint John Paul the Great without any of the usual protocols, as a consensus of spontaneous acclamation would make that moot and unnecessary.

So please, St. John Paul the Great, intercede for Peter Jennings, the anchorman of ABC News who was diagnosed with lung cancer today and ask Almighty God to grant him a miraculous healing.

Already, one million people have flocked to St. Peter's Square by the end of the first full day of public grieving. 200 world leaders are expected to attend Friday's Solemn Pontifical Requiem Mass. Nothing else in history will compare to this monumental event. It will even exceed the huge celebrations connected with the Catholic Church's Jubilee year in 2000, which attracted two million people. The Polish Foreign Ministry estimated that as many as two million Poles alone would travel to Rome.

At a news conference today, Cardinal Francis George, the RC Archbishop of Chicago, said he had no doubt that efforts for John Paul's Canonization will arise, particularly given how much John Paul had prayed. "If that's sanctity, and that's what it means, he was obviously a holy man," Cardinal George said.

Pope John Paul the Great wore his suffering like a badge of honor. He carried his cross like an evangelical witness for the elderly and sick. The effects afflicted on his wracked body were not hidden by an artist's handiwork. He was not colorized or made up. Even the stubble of his final beard shadow is evident. And the Pope was not embalmed. Rather he was "prepared" via some "secret cosmetic method" - waxed with formalin, most likely. (Therefore there is no need to juice him up periodically with formaldehyde as the embalmers often did to the leaky corpse of Pope John XXIII. My clericals were soaked with that stinking preservative after vesting the body of the late Abp. Francis Ryan in 1988.) However, don't fear the stench of death nor decomposition. This will become another miracle as when the body of this incorrupt saint was recently exhumed. (Read: " The Incorruptibles" by Joan Carroll Cruz, 1977)

Historically, organs were removed to make embalming more durable and body parts sliced and diced for doling out to clerics & churches. Relics of 22 popes - from Sisto V, who died in 1390, to Leo XIII, who died in 1903 - are kept in Rome's St. Anastasio and Vincent Church, near the Trevi fountain. Pope Pius X, who reigned from 1903 to 1914, abolished the custom of removing organs. So the goulash Poles in Krakow will NOT be getting his heart as they requested.

No papal slippers with matching hose nor fancy footwear with red tassels for this working man. He is being waked and buried in his same favorite Size 13 shoes that he wore out in over 122 countries. And no fancy sarcophagus or mausoleum for this humble mensch. Just like a religious, Pope John Paul opted for burial directly in the earth, BENEATH the former burial site of Pope John XXIII (which was recently excavated for his vertical transfer upstairs following his beatification in 2001. When he died June 3, 1963, the technicians of the Institute of Legal Medicine of Rome injected formaldehyde into his body, to allow the body´s exposition for the faithful, before its burial.) It will be topped by a simple cross. I also desire such a "green burial" (directly into the earth) and in similar Trappist fashion.

Today the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Revd. Rowan Williams, has accepted an official invitation to attend the funeral of Pope John Paul II in Rome on Friday. He will be the first serving Archbishop of Canterbury to attend a Pope's funeral and will be wearing a pectoral Cross given to him by Pope John Paul II -- in addition to the ring presented to his predecessor, Archbishop Michael Ramsey, by Pope Paul VI.

Another "novelty" about this particular funeral is actually an adoption of the Orthodox Eastern Rites for the Burial of a Bishop. Just before closing the first coffin (one of three) the Holy Father's face will be covered with a white silk veil just moments before the funeral begins. (However, Sacred Chrism will NOT be liberally poured all over his face and body as is always done for Orthodox metropolitans.) Did young "Lolek" ever even imagine that one day he would be buried this way as he entered the Orthodox style onion domed RC parish church in his hometown of Poland?

In another departure from ancient Catholic ritual, the announcement of a new pope - traditionally signaled by white smoke from the burning of ballots in a Sistine Chapel stove (NO MORE according to Archbishop Piero Marini, the master of papal liturgical ceremonies) - will now be accomplished only by the pealing of church bells instead. Previously, the muzzy colors had caused much confusion.

Aw, shucks, that was the best part... I'll miss that. Watching the suspenseful crowds craning their necks to discern any change in hues was part of the experience. Like watching a kid unwrap his presents, it gave animated closure to our grief of the past weeks. Must they take that away from us too? I hope it's not an omen of things to come.

SAFELY HOME with the Discarded and Marginalized

I am safely home in Heaven, dear ones;
Oh, so happy and so bright!
There is perfect joy and beauty
In this everlasting light.

All the pain and grief is over,
Every restless tossing passed;
I am now at peace forever
Safely home in Heaven at last.

Did you wonder why I so calmly
Trod the valley of the shade?
Oh! But Jesus' love illimined
Every dark and fearful glade.

And He came himself to meet me
In that way so hard to tread;
And with Jesus' arm to lean on,
Could I have one doubt or dread?

Then you must not grieve so sorely,
For I love you dearly still
Try to look beyond earth's shadows
Pray to trust our Father's Will.

There is work still waiting for you
So you must not idly stand
Do it now, while life remaineth --
You shall rest in Jesus' land.

When that work is all completed,
He will call you Home
Oh, the rapture of that meeting
Oh, the joy to see you come!