On reading Jonathan’s eulogy about his mum, the image of her that came to my mind was of an elegant fountain ceaselessly pouring out pure and refreshing water. But whereas an actual fountain stands in a fixed place, Liz actively brought her fresh waters of love and selflessness to the thirsts of those around her. And no matter how quenched their thirst would be after her attentions, the fountain never ran dry. There was always more – and more. It sounds, too, as though many not only drank from the love she poured forth so willingly, but bathed in it, too.

When someone dies, the truth about who they are, and remain, comes out. Even though I did not personally know Liz, the truth just spoken by Jonathan on behalf of the family, which quite simply loved her so, gives those of us who didn’t know her the delightful opportunity and, yes, the privilege and gift of a profound insight into her person. We feel the spray from the fountain! And since we truly become the person we are only by giving ourselves sincerely in love to others, it is not difficult to conclude that Liz was among the most authentic, the most genuine of people. Jonathan illustrated that in so many ways and, as he himself said, there would be so much more that could be added.

What, then, are we to make of the undeniable reality of the death of such a woman, such a fountain, of love? How can that be? What sense does it make that such a fulfilling life, a life lived to such fullness, should simply cease? While we must accept the reality of death as a fact of life, any attempt to make sense of it eludes our grasp. For the truth is that death is absurd, meaningless. Since it brings a person to nothing, then death’s own meaning is nothing. We know the meaning of something from its purpose, from its why. Death’s purpose is that there be no purpose to life. Death can therefore only be classified as absurd. It wants to annihilate us and bring all our love and selflessness to nothing. While indeed we may keep alive in our hearts our memories of a loved one who has died, a time will come when all of us who have those memories will ourselves succumb to death. As the book of Ecclesiastes puts it: in years to come, tomorrow itself will not be remembered.

All of that said, everything in us screams in protest. We instinctively reject death and its proposal of absurdity. We know that life is meant for living. It is meant to last, to ever-last. Our love, too, is not meant to be a fountain that runs dry, but that keeps on flowing. And so, logic itself demands that death be conquered, and that all the things in life which can cause death, likewise be vanquished. Our grasp of life seeks something, someone who will rescue us from absurdity, from the self-contradiction of a life that will end, of a love that will run dry. And the answer to that can’t be in a pill or a potion because the root of mortality is neither chemical nor biological.

We need a new kind of death which will itself put death to death, which will transform mortality from the inside into immortality, which will put life back into death, love back into the fountain. And since death entered the world through sin, then the new kind of death we need is a death died out of love. And that love has itself to be stronger than death. Such a love has been made known and still exists. A death to destroy death has happened. Love and life have conquered.

What we are talking of is the death of Jesus Christ who died out of love for us, taking our sin, the cause of death, upon Himself and taking to Himself our enemy’s power over death. For us to have a share in that love, in that death, in that liberation from sin, Christ created a mechanism, a means, a way: the sacrament of baptism which immerses us in the eternal fountain of mercy flowing from His pierced side on the Cross. By it, He unites us really and spiritually to His death, to His burial, to His resurrection and to His ascension. In this way, although our body must die because of sin, our spirit returns in glory to the Lord who created and redeemed us until, at the end of time, our body, too, will rise like His in glory to share in the double fountain of eternal life and eternal love.

So, Liz’s life on this earth has not ended in bodily death. It has not evaporated into absurdity. And however beautiful it may be, her life and love are not just memories in the hearts of those who knew and loved her in this life. They are an ongoing reality in the very presence of God who knew and loved her long before she was ever born and who, in His bounty and kindness, gave her as a gift of His love to all of you who now mourn her departure so sorely. Not only is your grief over her the sign of your love for her: your love for her is also the pledge of hope that, when death is finally destroyed, you will see her again, risen in the flesh, and all of the love you knew in this life will blossom in eternal radiance in the halls of heaven. Christians never really say goodbye, but only au revoir.

And here is the challenge for all of us. It is to surrender our sins to the loving mercy of Christ, to surrender our lives to loving as He has loved us, so that, in death, we can surrender our lives and our deaths into His hands. Then we will abide His will until the resurrection of all those who have believed in Him from the dead, never again to die. He turns no-one away who comes to Him, no matter who. He forgives all sins of whoever asks Him, no matter what they are. For He died out of eternal love for each one of us; He has already borne our sins in His body on the Tree. He awaits us, His arms open, His heart ready and longing. He has, we pray, already taken Liz into those arms and into that Heart. If we want to find her, it is there we must go. And we won’t be going somewhere strange or unknown, because the truth is that Liz could never have loved as much as she did in this life if her heart were not already embedded in the Heart of Christ. It was His love which she channelled through the fountain of her heart, which she made her own. From there, she continues to love you all until she can welcome you and greet you in her familiar tones among the blessed of the eternal Kingdom.