The Funeral Service

#2023-0508

The funeral service for Rev. Jason Ke was held at Chiayi City Funeral Home today.

Missing Rev. Jason so much, we -- especially the four of us who took the same car from and back to Taichung -- have today chatted a lot about him, our honorable priest. We would even think of him as our own father. (In fact,  in our church Rev. Jason is sometimes referred to as Fr. Jason!)

Attending Rev. Jason's funeral, I couldn't help thinking of my own parents: My father passed away in February 2015 and his funeral was on March 12th (which happened to be our Arbor Day!). A few years later my mother passed away in December 2020 and her funeral was on January 6, 2021 (which happened to be Epiphany!). I do remember those specific times, and I've missed my parents a lot ever since.

And now, at the funeral service, I felt that I should focus on what the Bible reveals about a human being who, with the love and help of the Lord, "returns" to heaven to enjoy eternal life. Yes, the glory of our Heavenly Father has conquered darkness; the love of our Lord Jesus Christ has overcome evil and death. Although no one can avoid leaving this world someday, we Christians with faith, hope, and love in our hearts will definitely have more courage (and wisdom!) to face or cope with various difficult challenges in life.

Thanks be to God! Rev. Jason already set a great example for us to focus on Jesus Christ. Rev. Jason told us over and over again that the center of the Christian life should be nothing but our Lord, Jesus Christ; he even pointed out that a sermon without the Lord's teaching placed on the top (or core) position could not at all be a good sermon, no matter how much information it included or how skillfully it was presented.

Even in his final years on earth, Rev. Jason was eager to teach the truth, the Christian faith and other spiritual things like that. In the meantime, he wanted to share with us the bread he made at home. Rev. Jason was wise and brave, indeed. When some of us visited him in February, he said it might be the last chance for us to see him in person... Having suffered from leukemia for so long, he didn't shy away from talking about life and death.

And today, in addition to Rev. Jason's family and relatives, so many of his good friends came to his funeral to show their love and respect to him. And from St. James' English-speaking congregation the seven of us -- Daphne, D. J, Wang, Elaine, Joy, Tina, Jean and I -- came and attended the funeral service, which was mainly arranged by our rector Rev. Lily Chang and the bereaved family. Emily Cheng, who is a diocesan seminarian currently having a practical training placement at St. James', also came and joined us. And Justin Lin and his wife Spring (who haven't been to St. James for a long time) showed up in a distance; but before I could say Hello to them, they quietly left the funeral home soon after the Cremation Prayer. Too bad I didn't get a chance to greet them!

May the Lord bless the departed Rev. Jason and also everyone who attended the funeral today!

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相關文章 (See also)： We Miss You, Fr. Jason Ke (懷念柯牧師)     (2023)