By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK
In a welcome example of bringing greater clarity to moral teaching, Pope Francis is urging us to distinguish sacramental marriage from other unions. As reported by Catholic News Service on January 22:
“Pope Francis said there can be no confusion between God’s plan for marriage as an indissoluble bond between one man and woman who are open to life, and other sorts of unions.
“ ‘The Church, in fact, can demonstrate God’s unwavering merciful love toward families, especially those wounded by sin and life’s trials, and at the same time proclaim the essential truth of marriage according to God’s plan,’ the Pope said January 22, in a meeting with members of the Roman Rota.” (See p. 4B for the complete text of the Holy Father’s address.)
This is certainly a needed support on the part of the Pope — at the head of the Church’s struggle to teach the truth about marriage and family life — for those who form the front lines found in each parish where pastors sometimes confront a rejection of natural law as the basis of moral life.
Even many who attend church weekly and receive Communion regularly oppose the Church’s defense of marriage by accepting the world’s legal redefinition to include same-sex unions as their moral and social equal.
As has already been affirmed, those who reject any moral teachings of the Church such as marriage between one man and one woman must abstain from Communion because they are unable to do so in a state of grace.
The great rejection of this teaching reminds me of a pastoral episode in my own neighborhood. A pastor of my acquaintance realized the fact of this rejection in shock when he asked members of his local K of C to assist with a campaign to get signatures for a state Catholic conference petition in defense of natural marriage, and one or more refused their support.
He reached out to me through Facebook in consternation at the time and I did what I could to be of help to him. Of course I referred him to our episcopal chain of command. Some time later the issue died a quiet death, along with God’s holy plan for matrimony, when the state approved using the name “marriage” to describe same-sex unions.
I came to know this priest, Fr. Mark Ervin, through occasional dinners and visits and learned more about his spiritual journey. I think he was a very private person who did not seek the company of others very often. That is why more often than not we had dinner only when I called him and offered to stop by on my route north after an overnight away from my parish. Fr. Ervin would tease me about “inviting myself to dinner.” I am glad I did so, however, because I am able as a result to tell a perhaps unknown part of his story of faith.
Fr. Ervin passed away around mid-January in an untimely manner after an illness of a couple of weeks, and I want to make whatever contribution I can so that others may come to know about his work as a pastor of souls in southern Maryland.
Fr. Ervin was an adult convert to the Catholic faith and thus knew next to nothing about the Church’s roots going back in tradition prior to 1962. In recent years he came to know more about it and to love the Church’s sacred tradition. He sought to be enriched by it.
He consulted me about praying the Breviarium Romanum, the Church’s official prayer of the hours as handed down prior to 1962. I previously began to pray the Church’s traditional prayer in Latin during my Iraq deployment of 2007-2008 and so was able to offer some guidance. He struggled with the structure of the prayers but realized the value of study and enrichment of his spiritual life resulting from this new opportunity blessed by the letter Summorum Pontificum of Pope Benedict XVI.
He was educated at the North American College and was probably a very typical priest among those who shared that formation. He began to wear the cassock occasionally, however, such as when he went over to the church for night prayer and on Sundays.
Fr. Ervin also sought to share the riches of tradition with his people. He published articles about ad orientem worship and occasionally offered opportunities for his people to experience this eastward turning of the priest and people together toward the Lord during the eucharistic prayer, or canon, of the Mass.
Fr. Ervin also was very proud of his successful efforts to reestablish the parish shrine of St. John Vianney, with its beautifully restored statue of the patron of parish priests and its exquisite reliquary and votive candles.
After his shocking discovery of moral dissent within the ranks of his parish he also took seriously his duty to inform the people in no uncertain terms of sin and its consequences. As a result he published articles in his parish bulletin which informed parishioners about mortal sins in very specific terms in a concerted effort to inform their consciences and invite those who needed to repent to do so.
Fr. Ervin will never tease me again about inviting myself to his rectory for dinner and, to my chagrin, put too much salt on the mashed potatoes, or share a meal with me again at my rectory. As with all who rest in the Lord we must now look to find them again at the eternal heavenly wedding banquet of the Lamb which is foreshadowed in every Mass that Father and every priest offers on Earth.
May Fr. Mark Wayne Ervin, priest of Jesus Christ, rest in the peace of the Lord whom He served faithfully in his too short life in this vale of tears.
Thank you for reading. Praised be Jesus Christ, now and forever.
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(Visit Reverendo Padre-Kevin Michael Cusick on Facebook and @MCITLFrAphorism on Twitter.)
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