The reality of facing death

     I began some reflections on death and new life with the last post as we entered into the month of November.  These recent days have had me/us facing the reality of death with different aspects of the eyes of Faith.
     As everyone knows, a week ago last Saturday six people were wounded (four of them first responders) and eleven souls lost their lives in a senseless attack at the Tree of Life Synagogue in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh. Unlike Sandy Hook or Las Vegas or the small church in Texas a few years ago and too many other assaults on life, these good people were older, people of Faith gathered for worship.  They were remembered as having touched the lives of countless people in their families, in their professions, and in their close knit community.  Their tragic deaths on that Saturday morning is bringing about a sense of unity and peace as they are remembered with great affection by thousands.  God grant them rest!
     This past Saturday we celebrated the funeral liturgy for one of our International Priests serving the parishes of our Diocese. 

Father Arnel Aldave Estrella came to the Diocese of Greensburg from his home in the Philippines in March of 2015.  He was 52 years of age and has served as a priest for twenty-five years.  He died after a short illness, and is mourned by his Mom, Delia Estrella of Camaligan in the Philippines, his family and those who he has served both at home and in his new home here with us.  The funeral was held at Christ the King Church in Leechburg, Pennsylvania, celebrated by Bishop Edward Malesic and many priests and faithful.  His body is being returned home to the Philippines.  May the Lord bless this servant of God and bring comfort to those that he loves.  His death is seen in the light of his life of ministry and service to the Lord of Life. 
     Saturday also saw the funeral Mass for Margaret Fitzmaurice, the 95 year old mother of my ordination mate and fellow priest of the Diocese, Monsignor V. Paul Fitzmaurice.  Margaret was an outgoing and outspoken individual who raised her family and shared her Faith wonderfully throughout her lifetime.  Sad as her death is to her family and friends, it is seen as a loving embrace by the God that she loved and trusted.  Paul and his siblings and their families know that they have our prayers.
     Add to that the notice that I received over this weekend of the deaths of two men that I attended seminary with at Saint Francis in Loretto who were from the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese: Father Dan O'Neill and Msgr. Harold Biller.  I think Dan was buried on Saturday and Harold just yesterday.  Good men and servants of the Lord.

    My point is that death is all around is - in nature, in society, in family and in ourselves.  But death is not the end … it is, as the Scriptures tell us, a moment of transition, a movement into the true life given to us in baptism and through faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  Whether that death is tragic, or unexpected, or reached after illness and old age, or anticipated as the years add up - death is our brother, as Saint Francis tells us, and he brings us to our true home.  That is why we pray that the faithful departed …

REST IN PEACE!