[I first published this 51 weeks ago at De Regno Christi. It was originally entitled, “Ralph McInerny, you make me smile.” Over the past year, I would only add--I miss McInerny's wit and analysis of the world. His was a profound voice.]
Ralph McInerny passed away this past weekend.
Death is, of course, as much a part of life as living is. No one escapes it. And, yet, we never get entirely used to or comfortable with it. At least, I don’t. Memories of the loss of a daughter and grandfather still haunt me. And, yet, I love to walk through the cemetery across the road from my house—a stunning 19th century cemetery full of mystery and hope and beauty. Lives lived fully, lives barely lived, complex stories each.
When I saw this past Saturday on Carl Olson’s Ignatius Insight Scoop blog that Ralph McInerny had passed away, I smiled. I ran to the top of the stairs, yelled down to my wife that he had died, and then I smiled again.
