Celebrating the Life of Grace Haronian - A Homily by The Rev. Donald Hamer
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Celebrating the Life and Ministry of
Grace Haronian
August 1, 2013
On the morning when we gather together to remember and honor the life of a much loved 54-year old mother of 6, perhaps it is good that we take a moment to think about unicorns. Unicorns are a legendary creature from Greek mythology, which are actually referred to a number of times in the Hebrew Bible. In the late middle ages and the Renaissance they became a symbol of purity and grace, symbolic of a chaste love and a faithful marriage. Today they are thought of more as gentle, magical, fanciful creatures that are a part of what dreams are made of. And so it is no mystery why this poem that Mark read was a favorite that Joe and Grace have shared throughout their marriage.
It is perhaps good to indulge a bit of fantasy on a morning when the human urge is to scream at God, “Why?” Why a relatively young woman who is the mother of six children? Why someone who gave so much? Why Grace? Why couldn’t the doctors cure the cancer? Why didn’t God cure her? Like the horn of the unicorn that protected it from all danger, why couldn’t, or wouldn’t, God protect Grace from the disease that afflicted her so mercilessly and for so long?
Our Hebrew forebears had a simple solution to these questions: Sin. Sin was the reason that people got sick – it was God’s judgment on the sinful human being, inflicting the sinful person with disease or some other misfortune. But that is not our Christian understanding. In Chapter 9 of the Gospel according to John, Jesus puts such beliefs to rest. In response to the question form the Pharisees, “Who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind?,” Jesus responds that sin has nothing to do with it. Rather, Jesus says, through the grace of God, even human illness can be turned to God’s glory.
And the truth of the matter is, we don’t know the answers to these questions. No one does. Like the Psalmist in Psalm 39, we want to know the end and the number of our days so we can get our life in order. All we know is that in this earthly life, death is the result we all come to. Why it happens, when it does, and the way in which it happens, continues to be a mystery to us all.
The passage from Ezekiel of the Dry Bones was a favorite of Grace’s, especially when read by Gloria Cheyney. It is kind of a magical story in its own right, a story of breathing life into death. And note how the bones come to life. God could simply will them to come to life, but that’s not what the Lord does. God tells the human agent to prophesy to the bones; it is the human agent, acting in faith on the instruction of God, that prophesies the bones into mortal bodies.
But they have no breath. Once again, God could have willed the breath to give them life, but does not do so. Once again, the human agent is commanded to prophesy to the breath – and lo and behold, the now-formed bodies take on breath, and form the whole multitude of the nation of Israel.
And then a third time the Lord instructs the mortal to prophesy to the multitude, prophesying that the nation that thought it was dead will be restored to new life. And behold, it comes to new life.
Grace Haronian spent a lifetime making things come to life. It started at home, where she and Joe decided early in their marriage to make a home for children, for making dreams come true – first with Angelo and Connie, and in time Jacob and Victor would come along, and in recent years Kali and Destini. This service to children and young people was reflected in Grace’s service here at Trinity – in church school, with youth group, and as the director of the Trinity Asylum Hill Arts Program – an after school program in the arts for children from our neighboring community. Some of those young people whose lives Grace touched have continued to be in contact with her over the years, to thank her for the special memories she helped to provide for them. Like the summer that maybe never was, the memories can be even better than the reality when seen through the lens of time.
And right up to the end of her life Grace’s commitment to children continued in her role as an aide and tutor at East Hartford Middle School, where she was an important link between struggling students and the success that would help them move forward in developing their lives. Yes - Unicorns are still possible.
Grace’s life can be beautifully symbolized in the imagery of our Gospel passage – a vine and the branches. From the vine of Grace’s remarkable and self-giving life, branches have spread out and will continue to spread out across the world in the form of the lives she touched. The fruit of her labors is in those lives and the giving work that they continue to do in the world. And the fruit of her labors remains with those of us who were inspired by her life, by her energy, by her commitment to serve all of God’s children.
As we celebrate Grace’s life today, we have many unanswered questions. But we do know in our Christian faith is that just as God used his human servant to breathe new life into dry bones, God used his human servant Grace Haronian to breathe new life into people, relationships, and any group with which she served. And we know that now, in the nearer presence of
God, her years of pain and suffering are behind her, and she is experiencing the joys of that summer that maybe never was, and maybe, just maybe, spotting that stray unicorn.
Let us pray: Gracious and loving God, we thank you for the gift of your servant, Grace, and for the grace, faith and love with which she served her family, her church and her community. Help us to hold on to her faith and love as w continue to try to make sense out of her departure, and inspirte in us the same faith and love which you showed to us through her life. May we continue Grace’s loving work in the world, and look forward to glad reunion with her in your promised Land. We pray all these things in the name of the Lord of love, Jesus Christ. AMEN.j