New York Cardinal Compares Slain Teacher Anne Marie Murphy To Jesus
Source: Hartford Courant
Comparing a slain teacher to Jesus, Cardinal Timothy Dolan told mourners Thursday that Anne Marie Murphy's death in the Connecticut elementary school shootings helped unify a nation moved by what she had done.
In a suburban New York church crowded to overflowing, the cardinal said Murphy "has brought together a community, a nation, a world, now awed by her own life and death" as her relatives expressed sympathy for the dozens of other families in mourning after the massacre in Newtown, Conn, on Dec. 14.
Murphy, 52, was among 26 teachers and students killed when 20-year-old gunman Adam Lanza opened fire on Sandy Hook Elementary School classrooms in one of the nation's deadliest mass shootings. Lanza, who had shot his mother dead at their home, ultimately killed himself at the school.
Authorities told Murphy's father she died trying to protect her young pupils, according to the father, Hugh McGowan. Her body was found covering a group of children's bodies as if to shield them, McGowan said.
"Like Jesus, Annie laid down her life for her friends," he said. "Like Jesus, Annie's life and death brings light, truth, goodness and love to a world often shrouded in darkness, evil, selfishness and death."
Read more: http://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-ny-cardinal-sandy-hook-newtown-shooting-1221-20121220,0,2965709.story
dlwickham
(3,316 posts)but it's Cardinal Dolan so it makes sense
msongs
(67,405 posts)happyslug
(14,779 posts)Michael, Kelly Anne, Colleen, Thomas, and Paige;
Hugh and Alice;
Hugh and Valerie;
Mary Pat and Jim;
Tom and Clare;
Peter and Toni;
Alice and Eddie;
Catherine and Thom;
dear family and close friends of Annie:
we love you very much!
With you we cry, and do not really know what to say . . .
With you, and for you, we pray hard:
thanking God for Annies life;
asking His mercy in bringing her to her true and eternal home of heaven, as Jesus just promised us in the gospel;
and seeking Gods strength for you, the strength mentioned by St. Paul this morning, as you continue to persevere through this tragic loss.
These sentiments of love, prayer, sympathy, and solidarity, come from all of us - Father Connors, Father Paul, Father Dominic and the parishioners of St. Marys Parish, Annies spiritual home; from my brother priests; from so many friends and neighbors, indeed, from all over our country and our world - as we come to Annies funeral.
In the wisdom of Holy Mother Church, a funeral Mass is not so much about the life and death of the person we come to bury, but primarily about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus . . .
Jesus, the divine Teacher, the greatest teacher ever;
Jesus, our divine friend, who had a favored place in His Sacred Heart for children and for people with special needs;
Jesus, who told us that, Greater love than this no one has, than to lay down his life for his friends;
Jesus, who brought all creation together by His own death on the cross, as He died so we could live forever;
Jesus, who, by rising from the dead, dramatically showed us that the violence, darkness, evil, and death of that Friday does not have the last word, because, when God His Father gives life, that life is forever, and cannot be destroyed.
Annie would indeed want us to make all of this about Jesus, because she was a woman of faith.
I never had the honor of meeting Annie, so Im at a disadvantage.
Then, again, I never had the honor of physically meeting Jesus, yet my union with Him is the most important thing in my life.
And, because I know Jesus, I feel as if I know Ann Marie McGowan Murphy quite well!
Like Jesus, Annie was an excellent teacher;
Like Him, she had a favored place in her big, tender heart for children, especially those with struggles;
Like Jesus, Annie laid down her life for her friends;
Like Him, she has brought together a community, a nation, a world, now awed by her own life and death;
Like Jesus, Annies life and death brings light, truth, goodness, and love, to a world often shrouded in darkness, evil, selfishness, and death.
So, while this is first about Jesus, its also about Annie, because, simply put, she lived and died in, with, and through Him. She reminds us of Jesus.
You realize today, December 21, is the darkest day of the year, with the sun - S U N - at its lowest point;
You realize, too, that tomorrow the sun - S U N - begins its ascent again, as the days gradually get brighter;
You realize that we will soon celebrate the birth of the son - S O N - who came long ago at Bethlehem with the Christmas gift of eternal life for those who believe.
You realize that, as we trust in Gods mercy, Annie now has opened this supreme Christmas present.
http://blog.archny.org/
dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)Helps put it in perspective.
DesertRat
(27,995 posts)I'm sure it brought some comfort to the family and friends. RIP, Annie.
tk2kewl
(18,133 posts)nt
heaven05
(18,124 posts)homily. Great point in homily. Spiritually speaking.
Jeff In Milwaukee
(13,992 posts)obamanut2012
(26,076 posts)pegasis
(35 posts)This was a day to grieve for Anne's life lost and console her family as best as one could. The comparison is true for a great number of people but the mass was to commemorate the end of this one teacher's life on earth. We all get to step up and live those examples - whether we're "believers" or not.
HockeyMom
(14,337 posts)A Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, or Atheist, would not have done the same? ONLY Christians would? Sorry, I don't believe that and I say that as someone who held my special needs child close to me during a school Lock down.
It has nothing to do with RELIGION. It is the RIGHT THING TO DO as a human adult concerning a CHILD.
KittyWampus
(55,894 posts)is the embodiment of the Soul of Humanity.
And that is exactly what someone who sacrifices themselves becomes a channel for.
In all groups of spiritual people there's the concept of the greater Self and those who channel that.
In Buddhism, the Bodhisattva.
obamanut2012
(26,076 posts)I am an Atheist and a Buddhist, and find the homily just lovely. Even an SOB like the Cardinal can get one right on occasion.
Burma Jones
(11,760 posts)See, when you are the preacher at a funeral giving the message, you tailor what you say to the dead person and the dead person was a Christian, the people mourning this person were also most likely Christians. Do you understand? I tried to use the simplest words I could. The funeral was not for your benefit, do you understand?
obamanut2012
(26,076 posts)But I think what he said was lovely. I read his entire homily.
But all accounts, Anne Marie Murphy died trying to protect her children. She lived "suffer the little children." The story of Jesus is one of love.
jsr
(7,712 posts)He was just praising her for following Jesus' actions.
Danmel
(4,915 posts)He wasn't saying only Christians are noble. He merely said her actions were Christlike. "Like Jesus, Annie laid down her life for her friends," he said. "Like Jesus, Annie's life and death brings light, truth, goodness and love to a world often shrouded in darkness, evil, selfishness and death." I think it was a nice homily and one that probably brought her family some measure of comfort, which is what it is meant to do.
Justice
(7,188 posts)TexasProgresive
(12,157 posts)Some posting are doing a knee-jerk reaction.
Iris
(15,653 posts)happens too often these days
It was a lovely homily.
fightthegoodfightnow
(7,042 posts)Jesus was conceived by a virgin, born out of wedlock, hung around 12 single men, and never married. I suspect that means he has as much in common with me as Annie.
Most of Christianity recognizes that Christ chose to die for man's sins. Annie did no such thing.
She wants her life back.
Dolan ... Sell your theology some place else.
meow2u3
(24,764 posts)She's a saint AFAIC. Cardinal Dolan needs to learn a bit of humility from her example and memory.