A Celebration of Life
ANTHONY 'TONY' R. MIELE
May 16, 1927 - May 6, 2020
ANTHONY 'TONY' R. MIELE
May 16, 1927 - May 6, 2020
Prelude
Words of Welcome and Comfort
Those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.
- Isaiah 40:31
And the psalmists continue: There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved; God will help it when the morning dawns.
- Psalm 46.4-5, 7
When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled: “Death has been swallowed up in victory… Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”
- 1 Corinthians 15:54-55
Opening Prayer
Song
Words of Remembrance
Words of Promise & Hope (and Scripture)
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside still waters;
he restores my soul.
He leads me in right paths
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
I fear no evil;
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff--
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
my whole life long.
- Psalm 23:1-6
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.
- John 14:1-3
Song
Prayer of Commendation
O God, our strength and our redeemer, giver of life, and conqueror of death, we open our hearts to you just as they are. We celebrate your gift of life freely given, but are grieved by a sense of loss in the face of death. The love which binds us to one another leaves us aching as ties are broken. Accept our tears as symbols of love and devotion and transform them into the waters of life to nourish us in the days ahead, bringing us again to joy.
We trust you. We love you. We know in Christ that your love is everlasting; that nothing can separate any of us from your abiding care. Thus, with the full confidence of faith we now commend Anthony “Tony” R. Miele to your boundless love and overflowing compassion. Through the power that raised Christ from the dead to live eternally with you, lift up this, your child, Tony, to life fulfilled beyond our wildest imagining. Accept him as he is with all his frailties as well as his strengths. Enfold him in your everlasting arms. Embrace him as your friend. We pray in the name of this Christ who taught us to pray, saying:
Our Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever, Amen.
Blessing & Benediction
Taps and Flag Presentation
Postlude
Words of Welcome and Comfort
Those who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.
- Isaiah 40:31
And the psalmists continue: There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of the city; it shall not be moved; God will help it when the morning dawns.
- Psalm 46.4-5, 7
When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled: “Death has been swallowed up in victory… Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”
- 1 Corinthians 15:54-55
Opening Prayer
Song
Words of Remembrance
Words of Promise & Hope (and Scripture)
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
he leads me beside still waters;
he restores my soul.
He leads me in right paths
for his name’s sake.
Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
I fear no evil;
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff--
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
my whole life long.
- Psalm 23:1-6
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.
- John 14:1-3
Song
Prayer of Commendation
O God, our strength and our redeemer, giver of life, and conqueror of death, we open our hearts to you just as they are. We celebrate your gift of life freely given, but are grieved by a sense of loss in the face of death. The love which binds us to one another leaves us aching as ties are broken. Accept our tears as symbols of love and devotion and transform them into the waters of life to nourish us in the days ahead, bringing us again to joy.
We trust you. We love you. We know in Christ that your love is everlasting; that nothing can separate any of us from your abiding care. Thus, with the full confidence of faith we now commend Anthony “Tony” R. Miele to your boundless love and overflowing compassion. Through the power that raised Christ from the dead to live eternally with you, lift up this, your child, Tony, to life fulfilled beyond our wildest imagining. Accept him as he is with all his frailties as well as his strengths. Enfold him in your everlasting arms. Embrace him as your friend. We pray in the name of this Christ who taught us to pray, saying:
Our Lord’s Prayer
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever, Amen.
Blessing & Benediction
Taps and Flag Presentation
Postlude