Paul Andrew Sutherland RIP
“May He support us all the day long till the shadows lengthen, and evening comes, and the busy world is hushed and the fever of life is over and our work is done. Then, in His mercy, may He give us a safe lodging and a holy rest and peace at the last”. Words of another convert from Anglicanism, Saint John Henry Newman.
Paul Sutherland was a true son of the Church. He loved the Faith - it drew together the strands of his character and it gave coherence to his whole personality. It was from the Church’s sacraments that he drew his strength, and, above all, he drew that strength from Christ’s Presence here in the Eucharist. And of course he loved the Order of Malta to which he had committed himself as a Knight of Justice in Solemn Vows – vows that he solemnly professed only a yard or two from where his body now lies.
Paul was a serious Christian without being over-serious about it. He knew his need of grace, and in ensuring that this Mass be offered he wanted each of us to invoke the mercy of God on his soul – the soul of a sinner, like us all, but one who was confident in the knowledge of being a redeemed sinner. Saint John of the Cross accepted that “in the evening of life we shall be judged on our love”. On that basis we have no hesitation in commending Paul, in all his charity, in all the gentleness and kindness of his character, in his complete integrity, to the mercy of God.
But as Paul would want us to remember, and as he has emphasised in his choice of the particular passage from Saint John’s Gospel (5: 24-29) we have just heard, each of us must face a moment of truth in our dying. When we come into the Father’s presence, when we see ourselves as we truly are, as we might have been as we should have been, it will be a devastating experience. No excuse. Everything transparent at last. But the judgement we face will be utterly merciful. How can it be other when the One who will be standing by our side says of himself: “the hour will come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and all who hear it will live?”
The Gospel passage has Jesus also say to his disciples: “the Father, who is the source of life, has made the Son the source of life”. That Paschal Mystery which we are celebrating in these weeks, that transition from death to life, from Good Friday to Easter Day, stands at the heart of Christianity. It enabled Therese of Lisieux to exclaim: “I am not dying; I am entering life”. It is why we can be together here this morning praying in absolute confidence, knowing that the Baptismal covenant made with Paul many years ago, and faithfully lived out by him, most especially in these last consecrated years, is now being honoured by his Saviour, and that he will hear the words of Jesus, face to face, heart to heart, “well done, good and faithful servant enter into the joy of your Lord”.
In his book “The Problem of Pain”, C S Lewis wrote: “Your place in heaven will seem to be made for you and you alone, because you were made for it – made for it stitch by stitch as a glove is made for a hand”. In offering this Mass, we pray that Paul will soon be perfectly attuned to that place in heaven which has been reserved for him from all eternity and for all eternity.
“Now we see as in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part: then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood”.
Requiescat in pace.
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