he ain't much but he's all we've got

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Sep 10, 2010

Father Bob Maguire, an “outspoken” Australian priest (and you can guess what that means), is unhappy with his archbishop’s instruction that a funeral should be "not a celebration of life but a Mass for the repose of the soul." The “outspoken” priest brought his concern to an ABC television audience:

ALISON CALDWELL: So the celebration of life thing should not be forgotten? ??

BOB MAGUIRE: No! It's all we've got for God's sake.

It’s. All. We’ve. Got.

These are the words of a Catholic priest, who presumably celebrates the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass on a regular basis. Yet he can’t recognize for himself that the Eucharistic liturgy offers something incalculably more valuable than a social gathering.

The faithful come to church looking for solace, for hope, for a glimpse of eternity, for an experience of the transcendent, for forgiveness of sins, for salvation. And Father Bob can’t give them—or rather he thinks he can’t give them—anything more than the comfort they might derive from a family reunion.

Pity the poor Catholics in Father Bob’s parish. He’s all they’ve got.