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Goodbye Until We Meet Again: Reflections on the Funeral of Fr. Mark Shuey

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  My pastor, mentor, and friend, Fr. Mark Shuey, entered eternal life a few weeks ago. His funeral and burial took place last week. It was a very emotional and moving few days. Led by our bishop, who made the journey down from Parma, we all prayed together as one family in Christ for the repose of the soul of our beloved brother. The Funeral Liturgy and rites are very beautiful and offer the great hope that comes from being faithful disciples of Jesus. Through the prayers of the Church, God comes to those who mourn and offers comfort. Despair is canceled out by the power of the Resurrection and the newness of life that awaits us. Much of modern culture has become uncomfortable with death. We often try to soften it, sanitize it, or put it out of sight. Even our language has changed. We speak of “celebrations of life” rather than funerals, and often the body of the deceased is absent or hidden away. The Eastern Catholic Church, of which I am a member, does something very different. I...
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Fr. Mark Shuey: A Father in the Faith

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  We often do not realize the value or importance of a relationship or a person in our lives until that person is gone.  Early on Sunday morning, August 9, I received the sad and heartbreaking news that Fr. Mark Shuey had entered eternal life. This was certainly not the way I expected to begin my Sunday morning. As the full weight of the news began to sink in, I thought about the many monumental events in my life that Fr. Mark had been a part of. He married Joanne and me in 2008. From there, he inspired and shepherded my vocation toward the diaconate. He baptized all nine of our children. He was present at my ordination, just as I had been present at and served at both of his ordinations, first as a deacon and later as a priest. Then the full weight of the value and worth of his relationship with me and my family became evident in my heart. With tears and pain, I began to reflect on the immense loss that I would now have to bear, but also on the true joy and blessing it was to...
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What Are We Really Seeking?

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Reflections on Mark 1:1–8 When I read the opening verses of Mark's Gospel, one question keeps coming back to me: What were the people seeking? Why were they leaving the comfort of their homes and walking into the wilderness? What was so compelling that "all the country of Judea and all the people of Jerusalem" went out to hear a man dressed in camel's hair, living on locusts and wild honey, preaching beside the Jordan River? That question reaches far beyond the pages of Scripture. It is really a question about every human heart. What makes people climb mountains? What drives explorers to cross oceans or descend into the depths of the sea? Why do people leave behind comfort and familiarity to seek out remote places, ancient ruins, or silent monasteries? Certainly there is beauty to be found in God's creation. But I suspect there is something even deeper at work. Perhaps we are all searching. As Augustine famously wrote: "Our hearts are restless until they rest...
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Hearing Isn't Enough

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One of the best things about living in Eastern North Carolina is the drive through the countryside. I drive a lot for work and have come to love the rural roads that wind through our part of the state. These drives are especially enjoyable in the early spring. You can roll the windows down and let the cool breeze fill the truck. You catch the rich smell of freshly plowed fields as farmers prepare for another planting season. Then, as you pass through a stand of trees, you might notice the faint fragrance of honeysuckle climbing the vines. It is a beautiful reminder of God's creation. Jesus often used these kinds of images in His preaching. Why? Because they were familiar. They weren't abstract theological ideas; they were scenes people encountered every day. A farmer sowing seed, a vineyard, a shepherd with his sheep, a mustard seed—these were things His listeners could see with their own eyes and understand from their own experience. The Parable of the Sower is no different. F...
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Learning to Dance at the Altar - The Man Who Taught Me to Preach

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  Over my life there have been only a handful of sermons that I remember almost word for word. One of them was preached at a funeral. Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church in Rocky Mount was overflowing. Every pew was filled. People lined the outer walls, and many stood quietly in the back of the church. We had gathered to mourn the death of a young man named Kevin. There was every reason to be overcome with grief. Morning light poured through the stained-glass windows, filling the church with color. The only sounds were the muffled sobs of grieving family members and friends. Then Fr. Javan Saxon stepped into the pulpit. Something remarkable happened. He reminded us that death does not have the final word. The hope of every Christian rests in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ and His victory over death. That day, that message of hope came through a powerful preacher standing before us. Fr. Saxon was a large man with a commanding voice, yet as he preached, tears streamed down h...
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Changing Trains - What Jesus Meant by "Repent"

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  Walking Through the Gospel of Mark • Part 4 As you walk into the train station in my hometown of Rocky Mount, North Carolina, you see two sets of railroad tracks. One carries trains north. The other carries trains south. If you arrive on a southbound train, step off, and then board a northbound train, you have done more than simply change trains—you have completely changed your direction. That simple picture captures the very heart of what Jesus means when He calls us to  repent . Repentance is more than feeling sorry for our sins. It is a change of direction. It is a change of heart and mind that leads us away from ourselves and toward God. We leave one way of living behind in order to begin another. Jesus makes this even clearer in His call to His first disciples: "Follow me and I will make you become fishers of men." (Mark 1:17) Notice that Jesus does not simply invite them to believe certain truths about Him. He calls them to follow Him. To leave their boats. To leave t...
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Power: Two Presidents, Two Kings, and One Cross

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This weekend our nation celebrates Independence Day. It is an appropriate time to reflect on a subject that has shaped not only the history of our country but the history of humanity itself— power . In the Gospel for the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost (Matthew 9:1–8), Jesus heals a paralytic. At first glance, the miracle appears to be the center of the story. Yet Matthew concludes with an observation that deserves our attention: "Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men." (Matthew 9:8) Power. Authority. Influence. These are words that have fascinated mankind from the very beginning. Power is often defined as the ability to act, to produce an effect, or to exercise authority over others. It can be used to build, to protect, to heal—or to dominate and destroy. History is filled with examples of both. The first temptation in Scripture was, in many ways, a temptation of power. In the Garden of Eden, the serpent promised Adam a...
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