This homily was preached at the Burial Service for Margaret ‘Peggy’ Eloise Molloy (March 19, 1951 – October 25, 2022) on November 26, 2022 by Fr. Daniel London at Christ Episcopal Church in Eureka CA
We gather to remember Peggy Molloy today, the Saturday after Thanksgiving, which is appropriate because that is one of the main invitations of this time together: to give thanks for the gift of Margaret “Peggy” Eloise Molloy. Peggy was a gift to me and to this faith community. Before COVID, Peggy would often worship with us at our 8 AM contemplative Eucharist services and then join us for our coffee hour and forum conversations. During my first year here, she encouraged me in my ministry and in my call to this parish with meaningful words of affirmation. And as I was first trying to remember people’s names, Peggy taught me a helpful way to remember her name and how to differentiate from the other Peggys in the church. She invited me to call her “Leggy Peggy” because she was a ballet dancer with long ballerina legs, as you can see in the picture of her on the back of the bulletin. She was also a gift to the community by donating bags full of cute stuffed animals (like the one here by the altar) for us to give to children in the foster care community during our Foster Friday events.
During COVID, Peggy reached out to me with creative ideas about how we could continue worshipping together safely. Peggy also excelled in a spiritual practice that most Episcopalians tend to fear, and that is evangelism. Peggy was not afraid to evangelize, especially through electronic means. She was a faithful viewer of our live-stream worship services, which she would then “like” and share and post on her Facebook and Twitter accounts and then encourage others to do so as well. She often left encouraging comments on our YouTube channel that expressed her own gratitude for the church, admiring the gorgeous flowers, the piano music, the friendly faces, the sermon, and the concerts we offered. She was especially appreciative of the version of the Christmas Carol we performed last year, which she described as “a wonderful gift to the community.” Peggy’s consistent and enthusiastic gratitude was a special gift to me and so today I offer my thanks and gratitude to God for her presence in my life and I invite you all to do the same. Wherever you might be with God and even if you don’t believe in God at all, I encourage you to simply say “Thank you” in your heart today for the gift of Peggy Molloy. (Theologian Meister Eckhart said if the only prayer you ever pray is “Thank you” that would be enough.)
Today we also grieve for Peggy. As our prayer book says, “The very love we have for each other brings deep sorrow when we are parted by death. Jesus himself wept at the grave of his friend, Lazarus. So, while we rejoice that one we love has entered into the nearer presence of our Lord, we still sorrow and we sorrow in sympathy with those who mourn.” Grief is appropriate and we grieve for as much and for as long as we need. Grief is an expression of love. Someone said grief is “all the love you want to give but cannot. All of that unspent love gathers up in the corners of your eyes, the lump in your throat, and in that hollow part of your chest. Grief is just love with no place to go.” There is no right way to grieve. The way you grieve is the right way. Jesus himself grieved by weeping for Lazarus even when he knew that resurrection was only moments away. We grieve, but we do not grieve as those without hope because we believe, as the Book of Wisdom promises, “the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God and no torment will ever touch them.” And we believe, as Paul says in Romans, that nothing, including death itself, can separate us from the love of God.
I’m so glad I had a chance to visit and pray with Peggy the day before she passed away. During that final visit, she spoke of forgiveness, “absolute forgiveness”; and I can’t imagine a better concept and practice for one to reflect on during one’s final hours.
Peggy passed away on October 25th, which according to the Episcopal Church’s Calendar of Saints (as well as the Catholic and Orthodox calendar) is the feast day of St. Tabitha, who is described in the ninth chapter of the Book of Acts. Like Peggy, Tabitha was devoted to good works and acts of charity; and also like Peggy, Tabitha apparently designed and made her own clothes (9:39). Tabitha, who is the matron saint of tailors and seamstresses, would have likely appreciated tremendously that book titled “Peg’s Legs Hand-Knit Dancewear, Book of Knitting Patterns.” Yet also like Peggy, Tabitha tragically became ill and died fairly suddenly. Her friends were distressed, so they reached out to the Apostle Peter who was nearby and who knelt beside her and prayed and then boldly said, “Tabita, get up.” Tabitha then opened her eyes and seeing Peter, sat up. Peter then gave Tabitha his hands and helped her up and the two of them, still holding hands, proceeded to dance together as they called for her friends and celebrated her miraculous resurrection. This beautiful story of Tabitha reminds us that today, and in the days to come, not only do we give thanks for Peggy and also grieve in losing her, we are also invited to discover hope and joy in the promise of the resurrection; in the promise that we will see her again; in the promise that Peggy, who passed away on the feast day of St. Tabitha, has had her hands touched and held by the Good Shepherd who whispers to her, “Peggy, get up. Now is the time to dance like you’ve never danced before, to join in the grand circle dance of the Holy Trinity, to perform the perfect perichoretic pirouette.” And as Leggy Peggy dances proudly with her friends and all the glorious saints in light, I can’t help but imagine Jesus Christ the Lord of the Dance looking at her with a smile on his face and a gleam in his eyes and asking her, “Are we having fun yet?”
So, as we grieve and give thanks for Peggy, may we also rest assured in the promise of the resurrection, in the promise that she is now singing God’s praises and dancing most joyously, full of grace, within the house of her beloved Good Shepherd. Amen.
DANIEL DeFOREST LONDON 