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Readings:
Maguire
Isaiah 52:7-10 (Christmas Day)
2 Timothy 4:6-8 (30OrdC)
Luke 24:13 -35 (3EasterA)
disciples had invited him in, not realizing he was more than an
intriguing stranger they had met on the road -- until they
recognized him in the breaking of the bread, and then he
disappeared from their sight. They had been drained, they had
been weary, they had been morose but his presence revivified
them, enlivened them. Their weariness they threw off and they
rushed, rushed back as fast as their feet would carry them over
the miles they had just come, rushed back up the mountain road
to Jerusalem, to bring the Good News.
I think of Bishop Maguire when I think of those two disciples,
rushing back How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of
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him who brings glad tidings. The joy, the eagerness, the energy
they expended to proclaim glad tidings are mirrored in the life and
ministry of Bishop Joseph Maguire.
He was constantly someone who proclaimed Good News,
Glad Tidings, Gospel joy! He was certainly always on the go. In
his youngest days, when his feet carried him swiftly, gliding
across the ice as part of the hockey team at Boston College or, in
those same years, as he swiftly rounded the bases, sliding many a
time into them, on BCs baseball team, he was consistently and
constantly a man on the go!
And when his feet landed him at the door of St. Johns
Seminary in Brighton, little did he dream where they would take
him; even if they did give out on him when a few weeks before
ordination, sliding into home base, he broke a leg -- but got the
run! Did you know that he was one of the few priests in history
ordained with his leg in a cast? Joe Maguire wouldnt let a little
thing like a broken leg slow him down.
The day after his ordination, cast and all, his feet mounted
the sanctuary steps to celebrate his First Mass, and he continued
celebrating Mass day in and day out until the last months of his
life when illness made it impossible. A few weeks after ordination,
in his first priestly assignment, those feet carried him around the
streets of St. Josephs Parish in Lynn, beginning thirty-one years of
service in the parishes, institutions and ministries of the
Archdiocese of Boston: curate in Readville, Jamaica Plain, Milton,
chaplain in the Army Reserve and the Massachusetts National
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deprecating humor, hed rather tell the tales of those times when
his feet did not carry him very well.
If Ive
applied the verse how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet
of him who brings glad tidings, to his time as the Ordinary of the
Springfield Diocese, it might be said of him in the vernacular, that
he walked the walk and talked the talk.
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He accompanied
He
When it came
to light that young people had been abused by priests under his
jurisdiction, he anguished over the pain those young people had
suffered, pain they carried into adulthood, pain many carry still.
His apologies were profound, moving and from the heart. He
asked for their forgiveness, regretting that he was not more aware
at the time of all that was happening, and prayed intensely each
day for God to ease their pain. He continued those prayers and
those regrets to the end of his life.
When, in the early 90s, his health began to give out and he
realized that he would no longer be able to accomplish all that he
had been doing, he thought first of the people of the diocese,
asking the Holy Father to send a new shepherd, one who would
have strength of limb for the people he loved.
He was to mentor in retirement four successors, four other
Ordinaries who depended on his wise counsel, gentle mentoring
and pastoral heart.
there with and for people in time of need. Bishop Maguire, in the
twenty three years of his retirement, was there in visiting
patients in hospitals, in reaching out to people in homes for the
elderly, in praying at wakes and funerals, in conversations and
visits and phone calls, and particularly in celebrating Mass and
the sacraments.
that his prayers and his heart were with people in joy and in
sorrow, helped mitigate so many sad situations and enhance so
many joyous ones.
The
speedy pace of the skater and the base-runner gave way as the
years passed, to the slow shuffle of the cane and the walker; and,
in recent days, those steady legs gave out just about completely
so that he could hardly take a step without help. But the spirit
remained strong, the prayer life remained deep and the concern
for others remained constant. He who was, for more than ninetyfive years, the one who ministered to others, now found himself
on the receiving end of compassion and care, and it was lovingly
given and accepted with love. A very special word of thanks goes
to Helen Avis and her dedicated staff who took care of him: Julie,
Larry, Lee, Liz, Rose and Sonia.
namesake. One day St. Francis of Assisi went out with a young
novice saying, Come, were going to preach the Gospel.
And
they walked through Assisi, up the hills and down; through the
streets and squares, but Francis never said a word. When they
got back home, the young novice asked him, Francis, I thought
we were going to preach the Gospel?
smiled and said We just did, you dont always have to use
words.
preached by the care and the compassion, the love, the concern
manifested even without words by the presence of someone
who cares. That was Bishop Joseph Maguire.
Let me illustrate what I mean from Bishop Maguires own
words at the funeral of his beloved sister, Grace Waystack:
What comforts us also is the knowledge that so many who
are here have been touched and inspired by the life and example
of Grace.
problems and cares, but maybe we will all leave this church
renewed in faith all because of the witness of one good woman
whose goal in life was to reflect Gods love simply by word and
example.
As everyone here can attest, the words apply just as fittingly
to Graces brother, Joseph, whose word and example we cherish.
What comforts us also is the knowledge that so many who
are here have been touched and inspired by the life and example
of Bishop Maguire.
their own problems and cares, but maybe we will all leave this
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