Understandably, though we have many Masses of Resurrection here at Sacred Heart of Jesus Church, we don't always have many people participating in these liturgies for our deceased members.  When someone dies who has been active in our faith community, I rightly assume we will have many people present at the Mass for the person, and most of them will be familiar to me. There are other instances however, in which a parishioner of Sacred Heart has been faithful in coming to Mass, but not active in ministries and activities here.  In some cases, these people have been active in the commuity, and that often means people I don't know join us out of love and respect for the person who has died.  Such was the case this last Tuesday with the Mass of Resurrection for Bob Grinnell.  He and his wife Barbara were married for 34 years and had no children.  His life, however, showed that he had a love of God's children and a desire to help them. Bob was VERY active in Kiwanis for over 50 years, both here in the Village and elsewhere.  He had a passion for Kiwanis because of its efforts to help children in a number of ways, including college scholarships for high school seniors of which I was a grateful recipient many years ago.  He also belonged to an organization called "Trees for Tomorrow" which sponsors a nature camp for children and young people.  He started and contributed to an endowment so children could come to this camp and learn about God's creation, and used his time and skills to build a bath facility that connected two dorms at the camp.

With all the recent news about the terrible abuse of children at the hands of clergy and others, it is refreshing to tell you about a kind, gentle, and generous man who sought in the ways I mentioned, and I'm sure others, to enhance the life of children and young people - most, if not all, of whom he never met.  I can't help but hope that these children (many of whom are now adults) have, at some point, given thanks to God for people like Bob Grinnell and organizations like Kiwanis and "Trees for Tomorrow" that care about and for them; and, that work to enhance their lives in some very meaningful ways.

Eternal rest grant unto Bob, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him!