"Oh that my words were written!
Oh that they were inscribed in a book!
Oh that with an iron pen and lead
they were graven in the rock for ever!
For I know that my Redeemer lives,
and at last he will stand upon the earth;
and after my skin has been thus destroyed,
then from my flesh I shall see God,
whom I shall see on my side,
and my eyes shall behold, and not another.
My heart faints within me!
Job 19:23–27 (RSV)
I have kept a personal vigil three times. As Dad was dying in 2008, as my brother Doug was moving toward his final hours in 1989, and as Grandma Hatcher's illness was bringing her life to an end.
They all have memories attached to them, some bitter, some blessed. A moment with Grandma remains in my heart as a blessing.
I had been at hospital for several days. I had to get home. It was December. Our son, Matthew, was only five weeks old. I wanted to be there to help. There were Christmas plans to make for the parish. Reports of bad weather moving in all forced a choice I needed to make.
I went in to say 'good-bye' to Grandma for what I knew would be the last time. As we visited, my Aunt Cecilia came into Grandma's room for a moment. Grandma Hatcher went to the Methodist Church in Anamosa. Cecilia was a member of St. Patrick's Catholic.
I asked Grandma if she wanted to pray the Lord's Prayer before I left. She did, so we joined hands and prayed the "Our Father", the Methodist Grandma, her Catholic daughter-in-law, and her Lutheran grandson. It is the blessed memory of Grandma, who fell asleep in the Lord a few days later.
We keep our vigils as we wait for the last hour to come. I thank God that He sheltered my final moments with Grandma in prayer. Our common faith in the resurrection bound us together.
As we keep the Easter Vigil, let us hold fast to the confidence we have in our Risen Lord.