Dorothy Keyes

Dorothy Ronnebaum Keyes March 16, 1930 – October 17, 2026 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,* for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.a 4* Blessed are they who mourn,b for they will be comforted. 5* Blessed are the meek,c for they will inherit the land. 6Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,* for they will be satisfied. 7Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.d 8* Blessed are the clean of heart,e for they will see God. 9Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 10Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,* for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.f 11Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of evil against you [falsely] because of me.g Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.h Thus they persecuted the prophets who were before you. The gospel that Aunt Dorothy’s family choose for her mass this morning is called the Beatitudes. Beatitude is a fancy name for blessing. It is one of the key sermons of Jesus where he outlines his hopes and beliefs for the Kingdom of God. Anyone who knows Dorothy Keyes knows that she was blest. Her life spanned nearly a century and for most of those nearly 100 years she was blest with good health. She fell in love while she was still a teenager and spent over 60 years with the love of her life. Her love with Uncle Bob was blest with 9 children, 18 grandchildren and 17 great grandchildren a number that will only continue to grow. Uncle Bob was a good businessman, so they were blest with a good life. A beautiful home, the opportunity to travel and see their children across the United States. Yes, Aunt Dorothy was blest in many ways as the saying goes, too many blessings to count. But the beatitudes don’t list blessings that we can count, rather blessings are things that we want. Things that we don’t have. Jesus doesn’t list the rich and famous as those who are blest, rather he lists: the poor, the meek, the humble, the hungry and thirsty the merciful and the peacemakers. What could possibly be a blessing in those things? It is important to remember that the beatitudes are written in two parts. First where Jesus names those who are blest and in the second is the promise of what they will be given. The poor will receive the kingdom of God; mourners will be comforted; those who hunger and thirst will be satisfied and the meek will inherit the land. The problem is, if we just count on our blessings with the things that we have our death is the end. We lose our good health; our children grow up and move away and as Dorothy would tell us the sadness of losing her one and only and living as a widow for 14 years. But you see, Dorothy was a woman of faith as we heard in the first reading that her son Tom read for us. So, Dorothy knew that she was blest not just with what she had but also what she hoped for. Dorothy mourned, the loss of her parents and all her siblings, the loss of her husband, her son Jeff, two sons in law, her grandson in law and countless others. But Dorothy was comforted. Dorothy was comforted by all of you. As much as Aunt Dorothy knew loss, she also was comforted by all of you. But again, the comfort that we can offer one another is only temporary, the comfort that Jesus’ offered Dorothy is eternal. Dorothy knew that she would see Uncle Bob again, and Jeff and all those others that she loved because that is the promise that Jesus made to her over 96 years ago when grandma and grandpa Ronnebaum had her baptized. That is why she had all of you baptized as well. Because she wanted you to know the same comfort that she had. All of you comforted Aunt Dorothy in her many losses. The sadness of living a long life is seeing many people you love die and going to their funerals. And now it is your turn to be comforted. You might think what is good about mourning? Mourning hurts it is painful what could possibly be good about knowing that your mum, your grandma, great grandma, Aunt and friend will no longer be around in the same way? To know that you will never be able to feel her hug or call and ask her for advice? It is because you can comfort one another. To share that love that you received from your mom and dad and now give it to your children and grandchildren. But ultimately, like Aunt Dorothy you will be comforted by God. Today’s second reading that Nick read reminds all of us that our citizenship is in heaven and that God will transform our lowly bodies into glorified bodies. Dorothy’s long life on this earth has ended but it is not over. Her legacy lives on in all of you. Her legacy lives on in her faith in Jesus Christ the one who has called her to himself.