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From Archbishop Donoghue
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Memorial for Archbishop Eugene A.
Marino |
God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform; He plants his footsteps in the sea And rides upon the storm. (1) Dear Friends in Christ, These famous words have always suggested to me, in a way very like Scripture, the deep involvement that exists between God and mankind, between Divine Providence, and the needs of men and women here on earth. For truly, the depth of our emotions, during a lifetime of encounter and experience, can only be compared to something as deep as the sea - and our complex and sometimes turbulent nature is very much as a storm, a storm from which we seek haven and safe-harbor, in the outstretched hands of God, the outstretched love He has sent us in His Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Archbishop Marino was a sincere and devoted servant of this love and this Lord - a faithful and obedient child of God, and we should not wonder that his life had its share of storms, and that the path of his life crossed from the heights of heady success to the sea-like depths of public and personal downfall. But the mystery of God, and the mysterious way in which the love of God always persisted in Archbishop Marino, is the lesson - is the blessing we are left with today - today, as the furor recedes further, into the dimming past, and as we who yet live, hold on to the filtered memories of his life - filtered by our own desire to forget the forgettable, filtered more perfectly still, by the love of Christ in us, who welcomes the repentant sinner, who heals the wounded soul. The life of Eugene Marino, the life we recall at this Mass, perhaps stumbled on its own, yet from its fall, sought to rise upon the hand of God's forgiving mercy - sought repair and healing, by reaching out to the minds and hearts of those he knew as friends, as associates - sought peace, by continuing to minister, as God had sent him to do - to shepherd, to comfort, to raise up by the strength of his own hard-gained wisdom, others who had and have known the same fall. In some mysterious way, then, God has especially blessed each of us, for letting us know Archbishop Marino, and has moved, by this instrument of His will, to perform His wonders in our souls - staying firmly present with us, fastly-anchored, in the deep sea and the surging storm, of our lives on earth. With gratitude, therefore, let us offer our prayers, for the repose of the soul of this blessed friend - the friend of God and the friend of man, as he stands now, before the throne of Heavenly justice, and before the heart of God's forgiving mercy, the heart which is Jesus Christ our Lord. (1) William Cowper, Light Shining out of Darkness. + |