{"id":2631,"date":"2008-11-01T19:15:00","date_gmt":"2008-11-01T19:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/deaconsbench\/2008\/11\/homily-for-november-2-2008-all-souls.html"},"modified":"2008-11-01T19:15:00","modified_gmt":"2008-11-01T19:15:00","slug":"homily-for-november-2-2008-all-souls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/11\/homily-for-november-2-2008-all-souls.html","title":{"rendered":"Homily for November 2, 2008: All Souls"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>His name was John Robert McGraham. <\/p>\n

Most of his life was unremarkable. He grew up the second youngest of six children in Cypress Park, in Los Angeles. As a little boy, he loved comic books and he\u2019d sometimes run through the house with a towel tied around his neck pretending to be Superman. <\/p>\n

When he was in his early 20s, he got a job working at the Biltmore Hotel in LA, and then later was hired as a bellhop at the Ambassador Hotel. But McGraham ended up in a romance that didn\u2019t work out. After he broke up with his girlfriend, he became depressed, and began missing work. His depression grew worse, and John Robert McGraham began disappearing for days at a time, often spending nights on the street. <\/p>\n

For a while he lived with his mother, but then returned to the streets, this time for good. <\/p>\n

His family tried to help him. His sister Susanne said recently, \u201cHe just seemed beyond our reach.\u201d <\/p>\n

Last month, on a warm early autumn evening, John was minding his small corner of Third and Berendo Streets in LA when someone came along, doused him with gasoline, and lit a match. His ragged clothes went up in seconds. And John Robert McGraham became another tragic statistic. He was 55 years old. <\/p>\n

A couple nights later, thousands gathered not far from where he died for an impromptu service to remember him, to grieve for him, to pray for him and let the world know that John Robert McGraham mattered. Many never knew his name. Most didn\u2019t know his story. But he was a familiar fixture in the neighborhood. They could not let his passing go unnoticed. This man mattered. <\/p>\n

John Robert McGraham may have been homeless. But he wasn\u2019t without a home. You are never without a home when you have people praying for you. Those prayers become your roof, your floor, your walls, your shelter. <\/p>\n

And that is in essence what we are doing on this feast, the feast of All Souls, as we pray for the souls in purgatory. This feast reminds us that every soul, like John Robert McGraham’s, matters. And it is a reminder that we have another dwelling place \u2013 a heavenly home. <\/p>\n

The beautiful words of the gospel tell us how precious we are in the eyes of God. \u201cThis is the will of the one who sent me,\u201d Jesus says, \u201cthat I should not lose anything of what he gave me.\u201d He cherishes and seeks out every soul. Christ wants to bring all of us home. <\/p>\n

Home. <\/p>\n

This time of year, our thoughts turn more and more to the place we call home. Holidays are coming up. There are gatherings around the family table. Home is our destination again and again. We\u2019re drawn to the bright light that offers us comfort and warmth, especially during this cold part of the year. <\/p>\n

But home, as I indicated, is not just brick and mortar. It is also people. It is the arms that hold you. The shoulders you lean on. The people who share your joys and your tears — the ones who pray with you and for you, even after you are gone. <\/p>\n

We are all a part of that \u2013 a community, a communion. Yesterday, we celebrated the communion of saints. Today, we honor a communion of souls. <\/p>\n

Many are closer than we realize. Just think about it. They are in the stories we tell, and the jokes we share. They are in the recipes we\u2019ve saved, advice we\u2019ve remembered, shortcuts we\u2019ve taken, ornaments we\u2019ve wrapped in tissue and saved to hang on the tree. <\/p>\n

The people we pray for today are in a thousand small details that together make up the world we know. They are memory. They are life.<\/p>\n

They are my mother and father. They are our neighbors and friends. They are parishioners we all knew and loved. <\/p>\n

They are men like Deacon Jim Hynes, who was ordained with me and died earlier this year, much too soon and much too young. <\/p>\n

They are women like Sister Emmanuelle, known as France\u2019s Mother Teresa, who helped countless people who were poor and suffering, and who died last month at the age of 99. <\/p>\n

They are people like Chiara Lubich, founder of the Focolare movement, who died last spring. She once said, \u201cWe should live in such a way that in our last hours we will not regret having loved too little.\u201d <\/p>\n

They are people like John Robert McGraham. <\/p>\n

These are among the souls we remember and pray for this day \u2013 our communion of souls. They are worth remembering, and cherishing, and celebrating. <\/p>\n

The Church refers to them as \u201cthe departed,\u201d as if they were on a train that has left the station. Maybe that says it best. They have finished their earthly journey, and reached another destination. <\/p>\n

We hope that they made it safely. <\/p>\n

And we pray that one day we will join them, in that place of warmth and light, that place we all call home. <\/p>\n

Photo: memorial service for John Robert McGraham. <\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

His name was John Robert McGraham. Most of his life was unremarkable. He grew up the second youngest of six children in Cypress Park, in Los Angeles. As a little boy, he loved comic books and he\u2019d sometimes run through the house with a towel tied around his neck pretending to be Superman. 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Prior to that, Deacon Greg worked for 26 years as a writer and producer for CBS News, where he contributed to \"The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric,\" \"60 Minutes II,\" \"48 Hours,\" (Emmy Award, Writers Guild of America Award) and \"Sunday Morning.\" He was co-writer for the acclaimed documentary \"9\/11,\" hosted by Robert DeNiro. (Emmy Award, Christopher Award, Peabody Award, Writers Guild of America Award.) His radio essays were featured in the bestselling book \"Deadlines and Datelines\" by Dan Rather. He's also a two-time winner of the Catholic Press Association Award. Other places you may find him: AMERICA, U.S. CATHOLIC, CATHOLIC DIGEST, REALITY (Redemptorist Communications) and THE BROOKLYN TABLET. He also contributes homiletic reflections to the parish resource CONNECT!, published by Liturgical Publications. In November 2009, he began serving a three-year term as a consultant to the Communications Committee of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). Deacon Greg grew up in Maryland (Go Terps!) but he and his wife today live in the beautiful borough of Queens, New York. You can contact Deacon Greg at dcngreg@gmail.com.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/author\/gkandra"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/204"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2631"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2631\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}