Doing What We Are Called to Do... Remembering Fr. Larry Penzes. My latest column at Patheos

The lives we lead have ripple effects for good or for ill.

Here's my remembrance of Fr. Larry Penzes, a priest whose quiet zeal had a lasting impact on me and others. Tragedy struck him and those who knew him on March 12, 2002, as he was gunned down as he was saying a morning Mass in his parish. It's the subject of my column, this week, at Patheos. Here's an excerpt:

I was eighteen when I met Fr. Larry Penzes, a newly ordained diocesan priest assigned to St. Pius X Church in Plainview, New York. Fr. Larry was buoyant yet quietly hardworking. Generous and friendly, he was always finding ways to bring people together for a Mass, for a special project to help others, or for fellowship. 

I have Fr. Larry to thank for instilling in me a desire to serve the local church. I remember how he talked me into running for a seat on the parish council. Then he encouraged our pastor to hire me as a youth minister. 

The young people I knew trusted Fr. Larry. He made himself available to hear their halting confessions, or to give talks or pray the Mass in their homegrown chapel on youth retreats. He never shied away from the tougher problems teenagers faced. He taught that the only way to get out of being stuck on oneself is by taking time to serve people in need. 

Fr. Larry’s witness was a clear and honest living of the faith, not over-intellectualizing it, or underselling it. His life as a priest was not just a job, nor was his military career as an Air Force chaplain just a duty. Life was faith and faith was life and they all blended together seamlessly without being broken into compartments. He was a man with a ready smile, a ready handshake, and ready service. His priesthood was engaging because he engaged people and delighted in life. 

Fr Larry was simply one of the folks. He loved the New York Jets, and he was always ready for a celebration. I’ll never forget his dressing up in a tuxedo, zipping around the dance floor at a formal event that brought church personnel and parishioners together. Or, the day he playfully donned clown make-up and became a mime in a youth workshop. 

Fr. Larry was my first priest-friend, but not the last. 

Read the rest.

This makes me think... RIP Dr Bernard Nathanson

I know every facet of abortion. I was one of its accoucheurs: I helped nurture the creature in its infancy by feeding it great draughts of blood and money; I guided it through its adolescence as it grew fecklessly out of control….

I am one of those who helped usher in this barbaric age. I worked hard to make abortion legal, affordable, and available on demand.  In 1968, I was one of the three founders of the National Abortion Rights Action League. I ran the largest abortion clinic in the United States, and as its director I oversaw tens of thousands of abortions. I have performed thousands myself….

Abortion is now a monster so unimaginably gargantuan that even to think of stuffing it back into its cage is ludicrous beyond words. Yet that is our charge - a herculean endeavor.

---Dr. Bernard Nathanson, The Hand of God: A Journey from Death to Life

Dr. Nathanson would later undergo an enormous change of heart and change of direction in his life, and become one of the foremost American pro-life spokeperson. A synopsis of his pro-life advocacy is here.

Dr. Nathanson also became a Catholic in 1996. He is being laid to rest today at a funeral Mass at St Patrick’s Cathedral in New York. Archbishop Timothy Dolan will preside, and he posts his thoughts about it here.

UPDATE: The Archdiocese of New York has posted a pdf file of the homily for Dr. Nathanson, given by Fr Gerald Murray, here. 

Dying With the Confidence of a Saint

What the Church and the saints teach us about Christian death. My latest article on the Catechism, over at Today's Catholic Woman.

May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.