----------------------------------------------------

Homily of Joe MacDonnell, S.J at the funeral of Jack MacDonnell, S.J.
 
Jack MacDonnell, S.J. 8/3/04 at Campion Center
 
I in them, you in me that they may be brought to perfection in one
that the world may know that you sent me.
 
Even though we missed the actual person of Jesus here during his 
sojourn on earth we are reminded of him in certain of his followers – 
people such as Jack MacD…because in Jack we see reflections of Christ's 
intelligence, kindness, peace, loyalty, integrity, gentleness.  In fact 
these were the words used by Jack's friends mourning his death:  he was 
intelligent, kind, peaceful, loyal, gentle and had great integrity.  
Jack used to boast about belonging to 3 families: MacDonnell, Jesuits, 
and the 40 year old Clavius Group of mathematical research.  Jack had a 
fierce loyalty to all three and in the past few years to a fourth 
vocation, that of spiritual direction.  It was said that Jack had a 
'centering' presence in the Clavius Group meetings (which were usually 
very spirited), a calm, quiet, peaceful and spiritual presence:  when 
he spoke at business meetings everyone listened knowing that he had 
thought things out carefully and would not speak with prejudice or 
preconceived ideas.  Jack made the presence of Christ real to all of us 
that knew him.
 
 Jack was the oldest of 7 siblings and led the way for the rest of us.  
He was first to adventure out from our home in Hungry Hill to attend 
school and then return to relate his adventures.  Jack set a rather 
high level of performance which was difficult for the rest of us to 
match.  He threw himself into his work, whether it was as first editor 
of the high school paper, valedictorian, doctoral degree in math, 
teaching at Holy Cross, living among the students in the Holy Cross 
dorms and more recently his work in spiritual direction.  Jack gave 
100% and thus reminded us of Christ's total commitment to his work of 
redemption.
 
 Without reflecting on it Jack gave us an example of his concern for 
the welfare of others and his gentle instinctive desire not to hurt 
anyone.  About 70 years ago when fireworks were legal he was standing 
on our back porch surrounded by his siblings.  He lit a 3" firecracker 
which not only produced light and sound but also a hefty jolt when it 
exploded:  so the idea was to throw it a distance right after lighting 
it.  Well, to Jack's right was Anna, I was at his left, Mart and Vin 
were in front of him.  He was not able to get rid of the explosive 
without harming one of us so it blew up in his hand.  He had some pain 
for a few weeks but we were all grateful that he did not blow any of  
us up!  That was the end of MacDonnell fireworks long before they 
became legal.
 
 Jack and I were the best of friends for 75 years.:  we spent our 
childhood, youth and adulthood as companions through all of life.  Our 
many conversations in person, in letters or on the telephone always 
ended in laughter.   So I consider Jack's final moments a gift from 
God.  Last Thursday I had just finished a week at the hospital because 
of clogged arteries, returned about 3 pm, went to Jack's room to ask 
him to come and have a cup of coffee.  We were enjoying our 
conversation in  the dining room as usual when he suddenly said "I do 
not feel well, call the nurse's station."  I did and in a few moments 
Jack had a massive stroke, then died.  We had not spoken of anything 
significant but that last conversation stood for the thousands that had 
gone before.
 
 Every day we profess our Faith in the Resurrection, not only that of 
Jesus of Nazareth, but of our own—of everyone, from the beginning to 
the end of human history.  Each week we quote the Creed, "We look for 
the resurrection of the dead and the life in the world to come." Today 
these words take on a deep personal meaning for us, because we are 
laying Jack to rest who was loved in this life and admired by all that 
knew him.
 
 At times like this we are reminded of OUR OWN resurrection from the 
dead:  and in fact it is hard for us to imagine THIS LIFE without the 
expectation of the life to come.  Also, today we draw seriously on our 
Faith as we reflect on its meaning.  At times like these the Holy 
Spirit draws especially close to us because we now experience our 
dependence on God.
 
 One of the graces that loved ones like Jack leave with us when they go 
before us on the road to God is the realization of our need of God as 
our comforter.  Our belief in the Resurrection does not relieve us of 
our sorrow, but it helps us to realize our deepest instinct that we 
were made for more than anything in this present life.
 
 Jack's life was a series of adventures, concluding with the greatest 
adventure of all.  And God's own Son took upon himself the adventure of 
death.  But his Father raised Jesus from the dead, and Christians from 
the very  beginning have been assured that what had happened to Jesus 
would happened to each of us.  So, although we mourn the departure of 
Jack we do so in the knowledge that we are also celebrating his 
homecoming and a pledge of our own homecoming.   For Jack and for all 
of us "Death does not extinguish the light, but extinguishes the lamp 
because the dawn has arrived."