The Deacon's Bench
“Don’t be angry with God or with Fr. Paul. Don’t be afraid for him. Don’t be scandalized by him. Rather, pray for him, for one-another and learn. God has placed it in our hands to seek and to make present something good from tragedy. For the mystery of Christ’s resurrection is always with us, that mystery that took death and twisted it so far from itself that it became life, new life, eternal life. If you can take anything from this situation to twist into life for the benefit of life, start by praying for Fr. Paul and his grief-stricken family, pray for people like Fr. Paul, for all priests, for those who suffer with illness, sickness, disease of mind or body or heart or soul and those who care for them and about them. Pay a little more attention to each other in the family, among friends, the people who are in your life but are on the outskirts, like coworkers and neighbors and those whom you know have no one or are lonesome. Listen a little more attentively to your children, check in on each-other a bit more frequently, read between the lines. Always tell those whom you love, ‘I love you.'”
— Fr. John Lessard, speaking at funeral mass for Fr. Paul Archambault
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In