Funeral is no place for liquor, partying – Pastor

A funeral service should not be a place for drinking, partying and selling liquor, according to Bishop Julius Louis, as these things are the devil’s works.

This message was reiterated during his sermon at the funeral service for Aziza Dennie held at Faith Deliverance Church, Redemption Sharpes, on Sunday.

Dennie, 19, of Redemption Sharpes, lost her life on January 29 in a deadly collision in Graeme Hall, Christ Church, Barbados.

On Sunday, throughout his sermon, Bishop Louis repeated Ecclesiastes 7:1-4 to support his point.

He quoted, “A good reputation is more valuable than the most expensive perfume, in the same way, the day you die is better than the day you are born. It is better to spend your time at funeral services than to spend your time at festivals. For you are going to die and you should think about it while you are still alive.

“Sorrow is better than laughter, for sadness has a refining influence on us – A wise person thinks much about death, while the fool think only about having a good time now.”

During the funeral, a number of young persons stood on the outside, some drinking and smoking.

As if paying mind to this, Louis told the congregation that he wishes the laws would change in this regard.

“I wish the Government can find some place and bring something new in our Constitution according to the law of the state of St Vincent and the Grenadines and ensure that no icebox, no side road bars; one should be focusing soberly!”

He then reiterated the text, “It is better to spend your time at a funeral service and hear sadness and hear sorrows than to be feasting.”

The Bishop asserted that the devil is subtle in his ways stating: “Oh my God, there are some people, they just listen for the obituaries, and they just want to know where there is a funeral service and we get all the side road bars.”

“It’s a set-up, It’s a set-up. It’s the devil’s work,” he added.

Louis recalled that when he was a little boy, shops would close when there was a funeral service and there would be days of sorrow and mourning and soberness of hearts and minds.

He prophesied that even on the day of the funeral, while persons mourned Aziza’s death, there would be persons with iceboxes outside of the cemetery waiting.

SEARCHLIGHT arrived at the Kingstown cemetery before the procession and observed a number of persons with their iceboxes waiting to make a sale.

“It must be stopped!” Louis asserted, “The word of God is here to open our eyes, to clear our understanding. God did not say at a funeral service we are to have drinking and partying and selling the liquor.”

He once again quoted Ecclesiastes, stating: “A wise person thinks much about death, while fools think about having a good time.

“So I want somebody to tell me what is going on with these side bars; people want to come to funeral service and have a good time. The Bible condemns that and I wish it would stop the soonest time possible,”

Louis encouraged persons to deter from drinking that evening.

“Save your money and save your kidney, Save your money, save your liver, save your money.” He said he knows someone would oppose his statements, but these alcoholic beverages destroy organs in the body.

Dennie was one of three female students of the St Vincent and the Grenadines Community College (SVGCC) who perished in a vehicle accident in Barbados on January 29, while on an internship at the Crane Residential Resort. The other students were Danee Horne, 17, of Questelles and Carianne Padmore, 18, of Simon (New Prospect), Biabou. (AS)