(40) Death

"Death had lost its sting. We are free in the face of death because
we have put our stock in the deeper, unending life of the Spirit."
[M. Basil Pennington, O.C.S.O., LIGHT FROM THE CLOISTER,
Paulist Press, 1991, p. 124.]

Comment: Recently I read online the obituary of an old friend of
mine--a tireless priest, who not only served his Church, but also
his country as a military chaplain. But above all he served God.

Born in 1918, he was just shy one month turning 91 years old.
He was an "old fashioned" priest, if you will--somewhat autocratic
in his ways. I never could figure whether it was because he was
a priest or whether it was because he was a "bird" Colonel (USAF,
Retired). Some folk did not love this priest, but incredibly I did.

Thinking back, it was kind of an odd relationship--between this
old priest and me. He was really very ultra-conservative in his
religious outlook, and I was anything but. Still I had to honor this
priest, because he stuck to serving God in the face of a lot of
adversity. I won't go into the problems this good priest faced,
some his fault, most no fault of his own. Through it all, I think
he tried to be gentle with others who were not so gentle with him.

But perhaps I was biased? Regardless, he has now passed on.
When he died, we were a continent apart. Having gone frail,
losing his eye-sight, we stopped corresponding. And at his age,
well the computer and e-mail were not part of his world.

His obituary said that he was lovingly cared for in his last days,
by younger members of his family. And he still enjoyed his
clerical life, enjoying a weekly meal with priests in a nearby
parish.

In an online "remembrance," I made mention that I enjoyed his
sermons/talks on Church History. Though he served as a parish
priest and military chaplain, he was most comfortable as a scholar.
He studied and received degrees from some fancy academic
institutions. This good priest got me started when it came to my
own interest in the history of the Church. (Warning, however,
history oft shows-up the blemishes as well as the bloom.)

Anyway, my priest friend was not a Benedictine, not even a
monastic, though in spite of all his experience in the world, he
was a solitary sort of fellow. I think sometimes this might have
made it tough for him, kind of going against the grain.

Now Fr. Bernie is gone, like so many other of my friends. Over
the years I have collected their obituaries--and the pile is growing
thicker. Of course this situation happens to all of us, sooner or
later. As for "Death," well it becomes more prominent. I cannot
say how I might respond when actually facing it myself. Yet I have
some good examples of these friends, who took their leave with
grace!