Bury the dead

In my time here at Andre House (less than four weeks), I have been very privileged to have been able to perform several of the Corporal Works of Mercy. The Corporal Works are:
1. Feed the hungry 2. Give drink to the thirsty 3. Clothe the naked 4. Shelter the homeless 5. Visit the imprisoned 6. Visit the sick 7. Bury the dead

The first four we do every day, it is at the very center of our ministry. We serve dinner every night. We hand out cold water frequently. We offer clothing to the guests. We operate two transitional houses for homeless people looking to get back onto their feet. Today I got the opportunity to perform the last Work, burying the dead.

Another staff member and I went to a cemetery west of the city to help with burials. The persons being buried were mostly homeless people that had died and have no family or church to perform a burial service for them. So we went out, along with a nun, and a few chain gangs of prisoners, and put six people into the ground. We read several prayers and a reading from the Bible for each of them. It was sad that these people had no one close to celebrate their lives.
There was one homeless man that we buried, Frank, who had two friends come to the service. While I was reading the prayers, four F-16 fighters from Luke Air Force Base flew over. I thought it was an annoyance because they were too loud for me to be heard. Afterwards, the one friend of the deceased mentioned to us that Frank was a pilot. Surely this was a sign from God, and a neat one at that.