St. Francis' Prayer

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master,
Grant that I may seek
Not so much to be consoled as to console;
To be understood, as to understand;
To be loved, as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
And it is in dying that we are born
To Eternal Life. AMEN.

DANNY BOY

Oh Danny boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling
From glen to glen, and down the mountain side
The summer's gone, and all the flowers are dying
'Tis you, 'tis you must go and I must bide.
But come ye back when summer's in the meadow
Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow
'Tis I'll be here in sunshine or in shadow
Oh Danny boy, oh Danny boy, I love you so.

And if you come, when all the flowers are dying
And I am dead, as dead I well may be
You'll come and find the place where I am lying
And kneel and say an "Ave" there for me.

And I shall hear, tho' soft you tread above me
And all my dreams will warm and sweeter be
If you'll not fail to tell me that you love me
I'll simply sleep in peace until you come to me.

I'll simply sleep in peace until you come to me.

YESTERDAY

Yesterday seems so far away. So much has happened in our world, in Virginia, what with the murders at Virginia Tech. We can feel with those parents and families and loved ones who lost a young person to the violence perpetrated by a disturbed person, himself lost to his grieving family. The grief of those parents is palpable in our own grief. Sifting through tragedy which touches the deepest parts of ourselves reveals both mystery yet still life and love that will not die and which forever hopes to see the beloved ones again while we hold, til then, their memory in our hearts and minds.

E-mail From My Sister, MaryEllen

April 15, 2007

Ray,

I was viewing Dan's blog. I feel so moved by all I read and see. I keep a picture of him in the angel costume in my office where I see him everyday. It is important to me to be able to see that picture and remember him and know that Jesus has him now, safe from all. Even though we were not close, I have fond memories of the times that I spent with him. I feel so sad that he is gone from us, especially for you and Donna and his sisters and brother. Know that I love you and pray for you in your grief (and in your joy, too). You and your family are never far from my thoughts.

Love, ME

MERCY SUNDAY - SIGNS OF MERCY IN DAN'S LIFE AND PASSING

In the Booklet for Dan's Baptism, December 10, 1977, there is this dedication and prayer which his Mom and I put there with faith and purpose:Dan died early Tuesday, on the Memorial of the HOLY NAME OF MARY September 12, 2006
Thursday of that week, September 14, 2006 was the Feast of the EXALTATION OF THE HOLY CROSS
The funeral memorial for Dan was on Friday, September 15, 2006, the Feast of OUR LADY OF SORROWS
My belief is that these signs were meant to show God's Everlasting Mercy and Mary's Motherly Care for Dan.

A Memory

HAPPY EASTER, EVERYONE

MORE DAN

TUESDAY of HOLY WEEK

When I look at the montages of Dan, I mourn. I don't feel everything that is in me because the grief would be unbearable. How did I not fully know the treasure I was allowed to have in my care? I believe God has had mercy on Daniel because God knows my failure to treasure what He gave me. No one wants to read a litany of regret, of what-ifs. And I don't need to recite that, for it is all past, wrapped in mystery and sorrow and loss, in the Cross, in all that we commemorate this Holy Week. Jesus, all good, all innocent, without spot or wrinkle, fell under the weight of the Cross. Surely He has borne our afflictions, He has carried our sins and we look to Him the Beginning and the End of our very selves and long to be with Him and to have in Him what only He can give, every possible Joy and Daniel, too, free from every stain of this lost world, redeemed and made anew. My son, my son.

DAN (reprise)

DAN

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