November 14-15, 2009

Readings: Dan. 12.1-3; Ps. 16; Heb. 10.11-18; Mk. 13. 24-32

The 33rd and 34th Sundays of the Church's liturgical year focus on the "end times." Today's gospel observes that "no one knows the day or the hour" when the end times will occur, or when his/her life will end. These words of Jesus this weekend speak dramatically to members of St. Joseph Parish.

On Wednesday of this past week, Fr. Paul Murphy was feeling "under the weather." He had flu symptoms. He did not want to eat or drink anything. He went to bed to rest.

On Thursday morning, Fr. Paul did not come downstairs for morning prayers; he is very faithful to morning prayers but the priests thought he was just taking extra rest.

When he did not come downstairs after the normal times of morning Mass and breakfast, Fr. Devasia went upstairs to check on Fr. Paul. Fr. Devasia with the help of Fr. Kennedy and Denny Ebaugh discovered Fr. Paul on the floor of his bathroom. He had suffered a fatal heart attack. The women in the rectory tried CPR on Fr. Paul. The EMT personnel arrived in record time, and worked to restore Fr. Paul's heart. He had no pulse. It seems that he had died between 8 and 10am. He was pronounced dead at Gettysburg Hospital. "No one knows the day or the hour when their life will be required from them."

We all very much will miss Fr. Paul. He is remembered for his gentleness, kindness love of singing, his great singing voice, and carrying and playing his guitar wherever he went. Paul Murphy walked all over town: out to Jubilee and McDonald's for his morning coffee, back into town for his visits to friends and afternoon coffee. And he joined Pat Long in walking her dogs up Irishtown Road. He loved to be with people.

He kindly and generously spent time with the sick in the hospital every Tuesday morning, and in the homes of the sick and the homebound. What I remember him most for is the hours which he spent daily praying in our chapel: at morning prayer, his hour in Eucharistic Adoration before the 8:30am Mass, praying the rosary with the congregation after the Mass, and his spending another hour or two in our community chapel in the afternoon. Paul Murphy was a gentle, humble, kind, soft-speaking, good-listening, prayerful parish priest who went out of his way to say hello to everybody, especially to the little people.

We do not know the day or the hour when God might call you from this life to eternal life. What lessons might we learn from Fr. Paul Murphy's life? What lesson do you learn? … What I observe is that his music brought him closer to God? And through his music, he brought other people closer to God here in church, and in the homes of the sick and homebound. Through his music he brought the love of God to many people and through his music he many people closer to God. What are the ways with which God has gifted you to come closer to Him, and through your gifts to bring other people closer to God? … How do people see the image of God in you? Name it, and let this gift shine through you, so that like Fr. Paul, you will use your gifts to praise God and to bring other people closer to God. Don't wait for tomorrow to let shine the image of God within you. Let God's goodness shine through you today and everyday … because we know not the day or the hour when God will call us to himself.