Foot-washer

St. Agnes Catholic Church  October 25/26, 2025 30th Sunday of Ordinary Time https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/102625.cfm The “Merchant of Death is Dead.”  That was the newspaper headline in 1888 announcing the passing of the Swedish chemist and industrialist who invented dynamite and made a fortune in selling military arms.  There was only one problem, the man, Alfred Nobel from Stockholm, was not actually dead.  As you might imagine, Nobel was quite surprised to read his own obituary in the newspaper and he was absolutely appalled to be described as a “merchant of death.”  That was not how he wanted to be remembered after he died.    This mistake provided a jolt to him, and he responded by founding and funding the now world-famous Nobel Prizes that recognize contributions in science, literature, and especially peace.  When we think about Nobel, it is worth asking ourselves, “if I died to today, what would my obituary say?”  Would it say...

Reflection for Nanny’s funeral  Monday, January 14, 2013 Thank you all for coming today.  My name is Ned Berghausen, and Barbara Cassidy was my grandmother.  I am the oldest of her ten grandchildren.  I am sure she would have been overjoyed to see you all here today.  She always loved and thrived on social occasions, and the more people together, the better.  I know she would have especially loved to have seen all her family together.  The last time we were all in one place was for her and my grandfather’s 50 th anniversary.  Their marriage and relationship was such a strong bond, that we all have all looked to them as an example of married life.  As someone who is recently married, I have really come to appreciate their example and witness of a faith-filled marriage.  For their 50 th anniversary in 2005, the whole family went on a cruise together.  At the time, I was serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Bangladesh, and the...