When a loved one passes away, the common practice in Singapore is that the body is cremated (of course, there is still the practice of burial).
And the usual practice is that after cremation, the ashes are collected and put in an urn.
After which the urn is interned into a niche in the columbarium as its final resting place.
One of the questions that sometimes arises is whether the ashes (in the urn) can be kept at home.
Well, if we check at the NEA (National Environment Agency) website under the FAQ column, “Can I keep the cremated ashes of the deceased at home?” There is just a one word answer: Yes.
So would we want to keep the ashes of our loved ones at home? If yes, then why would we do so?
Certainly, the reason cannot be that the niche in the columbarium is too expensive so better and cheaper to put at home.
If people were to think like that then the columbarium can close down already.
But by and large, people would place the ashes of their deceased loved ones in the niches of the columbarium.
Certainly, the columbarium is a more proper and respectable place for the ashes.
Also, people may feel a bit uncomfortable to keep ashes at home, even though it is their deceased loved ones.
Maybe there is no proper place at home to keep it, or maybe they might wonder if the deceased will make their presence felt!(Oops!)
But if the deceased had experienced the warmth and love at home during their lifetime, then there is certainly nothing to be afraid of.
But of course, please don’t take out the urns of your loved ones from our columbarium; I will be in trouble!
But having said that, the Catholic Church has this practice of the veneration of the relics of saints.
The word “relic” comes from the Latin word “relinquo”, literally meaning “I leave behind”.
A relic is a piece of the body of the saint, or an item owned or used by the saint, or an object that has been touched to the tomb of the saint.
The veneration of sacred relics has a long history in the Church.
And it is a well-known fact that altars in the churches, when they were consecrated, were inserted with a relic of a saint which is called the altar-stone.
Although the word “relics” does not appear in Scripture, there were many instances when the remains of holy persons were venerated and held in high esteem.
For example, in the book of Exodus (13:19) when the Israelites left Egypt, they took the bones of Joseph along with them.
And then in 2 Kings 13:21, when a dead man was thrown into the tomb of the prophet Elisha and came into contact with the bones of the prophet, the dead man came back to life.
There is no doubt that the veneration of the relics of saints have brought about answers to prayers, cures sicknesses and other signs and miracles.
But of course a warped thinking would also lead to abuse and superstition, and even in the sale of relics.
Putting that aside, the relics of saints and their veneration help us to appreciate more deeply the holy men and women and even children, who followed and served Jesus their Master and all their heart.
Their relics also serve as a visible sign of their communion with us in our own journey of faith towards holiness.
And here in this parish of St. Therese of the Child Jesus, we are very privileged to have a great saint who is watching over us.
And along with this great privilege, we are also blessed to have her relics with us. We have three of her relics.
One is a tiny bit of her flesh; another is a fragment of her bone; and the other is the ashes from her grave.
All these three relics are encased in reliquaries, which are vessels to contain the relics.
And in the celebration of her feast-day, we have displayed her relics for public veneration and we are in the process of making this a permanent feature in this parish.
The relics are not just holy objects. They are visible and concrete signs of her presence among us.
In her famous book “The Story of a Soul”, she said that she will spend heaven doing good on earth.
We see this goodness in her relics, which point to her presence, as well as to the power of her intercession for us.
But her relics are not just for our curiosity. We come before her relics to offer her our needs and our petitions, and she in turn will offer it to Jesus on our behalf.
And we have needs. We need peace of heart and forgiveness. We need strength to face the stress and anxieties of life. We need to believe and to strengthen our faith in God.
In other words, we need to be loved by God, so that like St. Therese, we will also do little things with great love.
And as we venerate her relics, let us also take up the Novena Rose Prayer to St Therese that is printed in the cards.
With that prayer, let us offer our needs and petitions to St Therese, and as she promised, she will let fall from heaven a shower of roses.
St Therese is spending her heaven doing good for us. May we in turn spend our lives on earth doing good for others.