Beginning With An Ending

 

Today we felt the loss of Mark McGraw in the people of Damongo. We went to meet with Aidan to be formally introduced and get a plan in place. He explained how he was comforting the housekeeper at the Secretariat because she was close to Mark and very distraught with his passing. 

We went to the requiem mass held in Mark’s honor and truly heard firsthand the impact he had on the people. They loved his urgency, comparing him to St. Mark the evangelist, because in Mark’s gospel he is always saying they immediately went out. They loved his eagerness to do the Lord’s work in any way that they would allow him. They gave speeches (what they call tributes) telling how deeply his living out the faith touched so many of their lives. 

I am very sad that I was never able to meet him in person, but I know that I will see him, if I am lucky, in our eternal life in heaven. May God grant him eternal rest, free from suffering, and the hardships of worldly life. May God wrap him in His warm and loving embrace. And may Mark hear “Well done my good and faithful servant” from the lips of our savior at the gates of heaven.