Last night I went to the hospital with a priest of my acquaintance, who needed a ride. A man he had anointed, whose confession he heard, and to whom he gave communion a few days earlier passed away. The man's family arrived from out-of-state just before he passed. We walked into the room, nobody was there, except Father, myself, and the body of the deceased. I knelt as Father prayed. It was very peaceful. I rose from my knees and looked at the deceased. Just as I was thinking it, Father said, "He looks very peaceful because he is at peace." As we turned to leave the room and meet with the son of our departed brother, with such great serenity and as much quiet confidence as I have ever heard another person speak, with great trust and confidence in the Lord, Father said: "He went home." His son was very visibly relieved to learn that his Dad died after receiving these sacraments. He needed no other comfort, no faltering and inadequate words, just the assurance that Christ came in the person of this priest to take his Dad home.
As we left the hospital I had the distinct sense that I was walking down the hall with the Lord. This is one of the more obvious ways He accompanies us through life to our destiny.
I challenge everyone who reads this to offer their penance and prayers on this Friday for the priest(s) of your parish and for vocations to the priesthood. When it is all said and done, they are Christ's presence among us.
I remember just after my father died, watching as my brothers bathed him (his legs ravaged by gangrene from diabetic ulcers), and thinking "There is Christ"....just re-read Diary of a Country Priest. Yes, when all is said and done, where would we be without them?
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