Msgr. Roger J. Landry
St. Michael’s Parish, Lowell, Massachusetts
Funeral Mass of Valerie Tellier
May 15, 2026
Eccl 3:1-8, Ps 27, Rom 8:14-23, Jn 11:17-45
To listen to the homily, please click below:
The following points were attempted in the homily:
- Believing in Jesus as the Resurrection and the Life. Believing in what St. Paul teaches about our divine filiation through baptism and how all of creation is groaning in labor pains for birth into the new heavens and new earth. Believing in what Ecclesiastes says that there is a time for everything, a time to live and to die, and that God has placed the eternal in our hearts.
- The connection to Blessed Miriam Teresa Demjanovich on May 8 — a 26 year old girl now with God, who died 99 years to the day before 26-year-old Valerie. Her great teaching was that the road to sanctity was simple: to do the will of God, but to do it with all one’s heart. To say “thy will be done!” in everything. She’s doubtless interceding.
- It’s so hard for parents to bury a child. Sometimes people can be tempted to wonder if they did anything wrong. But there are so many saints who have had to entrust their children back to the Lord before the Lord had come for the parents. The parents of St. Therese, SS. Louis and Zelie Martin, had to do it for four of their nine children. St. Elizabeth Seton needed to do it for her oldest and youngest of her five. Blessed Frederick Ozanam, the founder of the St. Vincent de Paul Society, likewise needed to do it. This is a situation that many married saints have encountered. Dealing with this loss is something that helped make them saints.
- Valerie’s name comes from the Latin word “Valere,” which means “Be strong.” It was used by the ancient Romans to say good bye. As they were parting, they’d wish each other, “Vale!” or “Be strong.” When the Christians came, they started to wish each other “Adios” or “Adieu,” “Adeus,” and “Addio,” literally “to God.” In Old English it was translated as “good bye,” or “God be with ye.” For Christians, when we part, we entrusted each other to God, we wish that God be with them, God who is our strength. That’s what we say to Valerie today as we entrust her back to God and that’s what she says to us, that God be with us and that in him we will be strong.
- One of the great days of her life was when she made her first Holy Communion. Jesus promised that if we eat his flesh and drink his blood worthily, he will raise us up on the last day. This is the means by which we have a chance to affirm our faith in him as the resurrection and the life as he enters us in Holy Communion and accompanies us to the eternal banquet where we pray Valerie has now taken her seat, and awaits us, in that place where Jesus has gone to prepare.
The readings for the Mass were:
A Reading from the Book of Ecclesiastes
There is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every affair under the heavens. A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to uproot the plant. A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to tear down, and a time to build. A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones, and a time to gather them; a time to embrace, and a time to be far from embraces. A time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away. A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to be silent, and a time to speak. A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
I will walk in the presence of the Lord
The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom do I fear? The LORD is my life’s refuge; of whom am I afraid? When evildoers come at me to devour my flesh, These my enemies and foes themselves stumble and fall. Though an army encamp against me, my heart does not fear; Though war be waged against me, even then do I trust. One thing I ask of the LORD; this I seek: To dwell in the LORD’s house all the days of my life, To gaze on the LORD’s beauty, to visit his temple. For God will hide me in his shelter in time of trouble, Will conceal me in the cover of his tent; and set me high upon a rock. Even now my head is held high above my enemies on every side! I will offer in his tent sacrifices with shouts of joy; I will sing and chant praise to the LORD. Hear my voice, LORD, when I call; have mercy on me and answer me. “Come,” says my heart, “seek God’s face”; your face, LORD, do I seek! Do not hide your face from me; do not repel your servant in anger. You are my help; do not cast me off; do not forsake me, God my savior! Even if my father and mother forsake me, the LORD will take me in. LORD, show me your way; lead me on a level path because of my enemies. Do not abandon me to the will of my foes; malicious and lying witnesses have risen against me. But I believe I shall enjoy the LORD’s goodness in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD, take courage; be stouthearted, wait for the LORD!
A Reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans
For those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption, through which we cry, “ Abba, Father!” The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. I consider that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us. For creation awaits with eager expectation the revelation of the children of God; for creation was made subject to futility, not of its own accord but because of the one who subjected it, in hope that creation itself would be set free from slavery to corruption and share in the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that all creation is groaning in labor pains even until now; and not only that, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, we also groan within ourselves as we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.
A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to John
When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, only about two miles away. And many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him; but Mary sat at home. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. [But] even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise.” Martha said to him, “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.” When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary secretly, saying, “The teacher is here and is asking for you.” As soon as she heard this, she rose quickly and went to him. For Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still where Martha had met him. So when the Jews who were with her in the house comforting her saw Mary get up quickly and go out, they followed her, presuming that she was going to the tomb to weep there. When Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her weeping, he became perturbed and deeply troubled, and said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Sir, come and see.” And Jesus wept. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him.” But some of them said, “Could not the one who opened the eyes of the blind man have done something so that this man would not have died?” So Jesus, perturbed again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay across it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the dead man’s sister, said to him, “Lord, by now there will be a stench; he has been dead for four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus raised his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you for hearing me. I know that you always hear me; but because of the crowd here I have said this, that they may believe that you sent me.” And when he had said this, he cried out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, tied hand and foot with burial bands, and his face was wrapped in a cloth. So Jesus said to them, “Untie him and let him go.” Now many of the Jews who had come to Mary and seen what he had done began to believe in him.
Valerie Tellier’s obituary was:
Valerie M. Tellier
January 22, 2000 — May 8, 2026
Dracut
Valerie M. Tellier, beloved daughter of Mark and Angie (Roberge) Tellier, passed away unexpectedly following a brief illness at Lowell General Hospital on Friday, May 8, 2026. She was 26 years old. Born in Lowell on January 22, 2000, Valerie was a lifelong resident of Dracut. She attended Dracut schools and graduated from Dracut High School with the Class of 2018. Valerie enjoyed music, going for rides in the car, and spending time with her friends at Encompass in Chelmsford. She especially loved her dogs, Bianca, Peanut, and Fluff. In addition to her parents, Mark and Angie, Valerie is survived by her paternal grandparents, Gerald and Mary Tellier, and her maternal grandparents, Roland and Patricia Roberge, all of Dracut, as well as several aunts, uncles, and cousins.
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