One Priest Dead, One Critically Injured

[Nihil Obstat]

It seems that a man has been arrested and charged with this crime. What I read indicates that it was a homeless man with a very extensive criminal record. 

[fides' Jack]

Prayers for all concerned.

 

Requiescat in pace.

 

I believe I have met the injured priest.  My family knows him better than I do, which isn't much.

[Luigi]

In a ... I-don't-even-know-what-to-call-it twist - 

 

It seems that the priest was shot with the pastor's pistol. According to the most recent reports:

1. Fr. Terra hears noises in the courtyard and goes to investigate

2. Career criminal Gary Moran hits him with a metal pipe

3. Fr. Terra goes into the rectory to get his gun and goes back into the courtyard

4. Fr. Walker comes out to help Fr. Terra

5. Moran wrestle's the gun away from Fr. Terra and kills Fr. Walker. 

 

I don't even know what to call it. 

[brandelynmarie]

:sad: :pray: :amen:

Edited June 17, 2014 by brandelynmarie

[Nihil Obstat]

Thought this might be an appropriate update. A couple pictures and a transcript of Fr. Berg's sermon have been posted on NLM and on the Fraternity's website. I have not read it yet, but on the day I remember hearing that the sermon was incredibly powerful, and that he himself was holding back tears.

http://fssp.org/en/kwalker.htm
 



Your Excellencies, dear Rev. Monsignor, my dear confreres, dear family of Fr. Walker, fellow priests, religious and dear faithful,

Just as a father is stunned by sorrow when he must mourn the death of a son who has gone before him, so too, as a superior of such a young community, one never expects to have to carry out such a terrible duty, and yet today we are gathered to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and carry out the absolution and burial of Fr. Kenneth John Walker, a young man of 28. Just two years ago he was ordained a priest at the hands of Bishop Bruskewitz. Two years ago I stood at his side as he joyfully offered his first Mass as a priest, but today we have the sad and untimely duty to commend his soul to God.

This last week we have seen and heard and perhaps even shared the full range of emotions in reaction to his death: outrage; questioning; and heavy, heavy sorrow. Seen with purely human eyes we have before us a wholly senseless tragedy. Death seems to sting more than ever amidst the circumstances in which we find ourselves today.

And yet the Requiem Mass for a priest contains the cry of St. Paul: “O death where is thy victory? O death where is Thy sting”, as if to stir us from our sorrow and remind us that death is but one half of the Christian paradox: for because of the victory of the cross, death has been transformed into the very gateway to life. This same cross is understood by so few that St. Paul says it is “unto the Jews a stumbling block and unto the Gentiles foolishness.” (1Cor 1:23)

The Gentiles whom St. Paul was working to convert understood that man had a natural desire within himself to live forever. But without the true faith, they thought this could only be achieved through great deeds which would live on in the minds of generations of men forever in works such as those of Homer and late Plutarch.

The Church rightfully forbids eulogizing at a funeral as it would be an abuse to the liturgy which has the glorification of God as its end. And Fr. Walker himself never lived his life as such a man who would need to have his own chapter written about him in Church history or even that of the Fraternity of St. Peter. He was probably not infrequently the most knowledgable man in the room, but he would be the last one to put himself forward or into the spotlight.

And yet despite his quiet and unassuming nature, now his name, his life and his virtues have been published in a multitude of news outlets both nationally and internationally. A news media which in our day and age can’t seem to bring up the Catholic Church – and especially its priesthood – without trying to attach it somehow to scandal and abuse, has been resoundingly respectful in recognizing the life of a steadfast priest who served his flock. It is remarkable that this man, who did not call attention to himself or accomplish feats which would be considered as great by the world should by his example now goad so many to a greater awareness of God and perhaps even cause them to the return to the Church. There may be some here today who are among them.

If this is the case then, “O death, where is thy sting?” When Father Walker prostrated himself before the altar on the day of his priestly ordination, and there sounded over him the voice of the cantors invoking God, Our Lady, and the great saints of the Church (and many who are here today responded as with one voice "ora pro nobis") we hardly expected to need to reaffirm those words once again in such a context as that which calls us together today. On that day two years ago Father Walker offered himself wholly to God and therefore, as we know that death is not an end but a beginning, we beg God to accept his offering even as we grieve the necessity to do so.

The events of the last ten days have shown the inspiring unity of brother priests in Father's community and highlighted for the world the unity of Catholics in Phoenix who have come together to pray for the soul of a priest whom they consider one of their own even if he hailed from Kansas and the Fraternity of St. Peter. We are proud to be able to work in such a Diocese.

From our limited all too human vantage point this tragedy is abhorrent. In the plans of God, Fr. Walker’s life and death have spoken with a louder and more sustained voice, and have reached a larger number of souls than many in 50 years of priesthood.

When we see these fruits we can only echo rhetorically with St. Paul: “O death where is thy victory? O death where is thy sting?”

Though perhaps not that of a martyr (who strictly dies in defense of the faith), the death of Fr. Walker will undoubtedly be a seed, a grace for souls, and a particular grace for the Fraternity of St. Peter.

In his application to Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary, then Kenny Walker already had very clear motivations for becoming a priest: “Along with the Church, then, I am deeply grieved by these errors concerning the nature of and dignity of man accepted by so many people in the world, which deviate them from their supernatural end. In full view of the situation in the world, then, the only vocation that I could be satisfied with would be one that would be dedicated to bringing people to salvation and this work is best carried out in the priesthood.”

We are all aware of how badly man’s vision of his rightful end is obscured in this modern world and how it seems to worsen every day. Every day in and outside of the confessional, the priest sees how badly the world is in need of the example of those who will imitate the Good Shepherd. But I ask my fellow priests, especially those in the Fraternity: how will we rightfully honor the memory of our confrere? Will we occasionally take out of our breviaries the holy card we received today commemorating his burial and recall that we ought not to take anything for granted in the service of the Lord; that we are instruments to serve in the place and in the time in which He chooses; that we are simply called each day to do so more faithfully than the day before? Will we recall the simple, honest, quiet, and consistent strength that we saw in our confrere, which is the mark of the Good Shepherd, who is always keeping watch over his flock, and be reminded that as long as each action of our priesthood is seen as an opportunity to work as an instrument of Christ there will never be any question of drudgery in attaining the arduous good? In turn then we will not be swept up into judging the work and it fruits with worldly eyes, but only in light of Christ’s Priesthood and the Sacrifice which is its defining act.

Will each one of you, the faithful, do the same; look at the holy card, recall his life and pose the question of St. Ignatius regularly posed to himself: “From where am I coming, and where am I now going?”

If this be the result of the tragic death of Fr. Walker, then indeed we may cry out, “O death where is thy sting!” for it will be clear us that regardless of this terrible crime “where sin did abound, grace will more abound”.

But the fact that death has lost its sting, and that we live not as those who have no hope, but as those who believe that when the soul departs from the body life has changed but not come to an end, it does not mean that there is no place for sorrow today. Our Lord showed us at the tomb of His dear friend that tears can be concomitant with great confidence in God and the resurrection. Today the liturgy has the church and its ministers draped in black to share in the mourning of one who has been lost to his family his friends and his community. The Church as a good mother is compassionate upon our sorrow. She acknowledges the wrenching truth about death but she does not fail to impart hope - even in the very context of that truth.

On behalf of all of my confreres I would express our deep sympathy to all the members of the Walker family. You gave your son to us years ago and entrusted him to our care. I pray to God that we cared for him well, as a family should, in every aspect, especially spiritually, since the day he entered the doors at Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary. Two years is such a short time as a priest, but knowing Fr. Walker, I believe he would not have traded in 50 more years in this valley of tears for even one as a priest, as another Christ. Every day of his priesthood he had the consolation of celebrating the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. To do so even once is a gift from God of incalculable grace and lies at the heart of the Fraternity's vocation. If we need consolation it should come from recalling that Father had the gift of standing before the altar each day and renewing the sacrifice "ad Deum qui laetificat iuventutem meam". For Father Walker those words are literally true now and for all eternity.

Our primary purpose today, however, is not to seek our own consolation or commemorate the deceased, but to offer prayer and sacrifice for the repose of Fr. Walker that he may rest eternally in the Beatific Vision, one with the Divinity Whom on earth he was privileged to hold in his consecrated hands. This is our primary and solemn duty as those who knew him; those who loved him; those who were absolved by him; those who received Our Lord in Holy Communion from him; and those who were blessed by him.

The rite of this Requiem Mass expresses this urgency again and again in her prayers: Lux perpetua luceat ei: Requiem aeternam dona ei Domine. But this urgency is also seen in the very gestures of the priest. In this Mass there is no blessing of objects; the priest does not concede a blessing to the deacon and subdeacon at the Epistle and Gospel; not even the final blessing of the congregation is allowed. There is no exchange of peace between the ministers and the clergy. It is as if the Church reserves all for the deceased; as if every last grace of this Mass and absolution is jealously guarded for the repose of his soul.

This urgency was also beautifully seen on Monday when hundreds of priests offered Mass for the repose of Fr. Walker's soul. The first of the day was offered by a confrere at 7 am in Sydney, Australia; eight hours before the break of dawn in Europe, and the last was offered in California by another confrere as the next day was already breaking in Europe. We were mindful of the words of God through the Prophet Malachi:

“For from the rising of the sun even to the going down, my name is great among the Gentiles, and in every place there is sacrifice, and there is offered up to my name a clean oblation.” (Mal. 1:11)

This urgency is the second reason to keep in our missals the holy card commemorating his funeral; so that we might frequently and fervently pray, offer masses and sacrifices for the repose of the soul of Fr. Walker not just tomorrow or throughout the week, but continually. This is the great consolation of the doctrine of the communion of saints!

And as theologians remind us, there is always some self interest in praying for the holy souls, because someday they will in turn intercede for us before the throne of God. I know how much our Fraternity needs such an intercessor, and given how Fr. Walker has never been one to waste words, I think Our Lord will be keen to hear him when he does pipe up and ask for an intention!

In a few short moments Christ’s infinite sacrifice will be offered to the Father once again for the remission of sins and in particular for the soul of the faithfully departed. Then the absolution will be carried out with its blessings. Finally, as a last word, the liturgy of the Church will provide us with the hymn, In paradisum, as the coffin departs. This last liturgical text is also a very fitting bidding of goodbye, and again, on behalf of all priests of our Fraternity, I would like to make it our own and offer it directly to our confrere:

Dear Father,
May the angels take you into paradise: may the martyrs come to welcome you on your way, and lead you into the holy city, Jerusalem.
May the choir of angels welcome you, and with Lazarus who once was poor may you have everlasting rest.

Amen.

[Guest]

Sad sad sad. Prayers.

[Credo in Deum]

Thought this might be an appropriate update. A couple pictures and a transcript of Fr. Berg's sermon have been posted on NLM and on the Fraternity's website. I have not read it yet, but on the day I remember hearing that the sermon was incredibly powerful, and that he himself was holding back tears.

http://fssp.org/en/kwalker.htm
 



Your Excellencies, dear Rev. Monsignor, my dear confreres, dear family of Fr. Walker, fellow priests, religious and dear faithful,

Just as a father is stunned by sorrow when he must mourn the death of a son who has gone before him, so too, as a superior of such a young community, one never expects to have to carry out such a terrible duty, and yet today we are gathered to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and carry out the absolution and burial of Fr. Kenneth John Walker, a young man of 28. Just two years ago he was ordained a priest at the hands of Bishop Bruskewitz. Two years ago I stood at his side as he joyfully offered his first Mass as a priest, but today we have the sad and untimely duty to commend his soul to God.

This last week we have seen and heard and perhaps even shared the full range of emotions in reaction to his death: outrage; questioning; and heavy, heavy sorrow. Seen with purely human eyes we have before us a wholly senseless tragedy. Death seems to sting more than ever amidst the circumstances in which we find ourselves today.

And yet the Requiem Mass for a priest contains the cry of St. Paul: “O death where is thy victory? O death where is Thy sting”, as if to stir us from our sorrow and remind us that death is but one half of the Christian paradox: for because of the victory of the cross, death has been transformed into the very gateway to life. This same cross is understood by so few that St. Paul says it is “unto the Jews a stumbling block and unto the Gentiles foolishness.” (1Cor 1:23)

The Gentiles whom St. Paul was working to convert understood that man had a natural desire within himself to live forever. But without the true faith, they thought this could only be achieved through great deeds which would live on in the minds of generations of men forever in works such as those of Homer and late Plutarch.

The Church rightfully forbids eulogizing at a funeral as it would be an abuse to the liturgy which has the glorification of God as its end. And Fr. Walker himself never lived his life as such a man who would need to have his own chapter written about him in Church history or even that of the Fraternity of St. Peter. He was probably not infrequently the most knowledgable man in the room, but he would be the last one to put himself forward or into the spotlight.

And yet despite his quiet and unassuming nature, now his name, his life and his virtues have been published in a multitude of news outlets both nationally and internationally. A news media which in our day and age can’t seem to bring up the Catholic Church – and especially its priesthood – without trying to attach it somehow to scandal and abuse, has been resoundingly respectful in recognizing the life of a steadfast priest who served his flock. It is remarkable that this man, who did not call attention to himself or accomplish feats which would be considered as great by the world should by his example now goad so many to a greater awareness of God and perhaps even cause them to the return to the Church. There may be some here today who are among them.

If this is the case then, “O death, where is thy sting?” When Father Walker prostrated himself before the altar on the day of his priestly ordination, and there sounded over him the voice of the cantors invoking God, Our Lady, and the great saints of the Church (and many who are here today responded as with one voice "ora pro nobis") we hardly expected to need to reaffirm those words once again in such a context as that which calls us together today. On that day two years ago Father Walker offered himself wholly to God and therefore, as we know that death is not an end but a beginning, we beg God to accept his offering even as we grieve the necessity to do so.

The events of the last ten days have shown the inspiring unity of brother priests in Father's community and highlighted for the world the unity of Catholics in Phoenix who have come together to pray for the soul of a priest whom they consider one of their own even if he hailed from Kansas and the Fraternity of St. Peter. We are proud to be able to work in such a Diocese.

From our limited all too human vantage point this tragedy is abhorrent. In the plans of God, Fr. Walker’s life and death have spoken with a louder and more sustained voice, and have reached a larger number of souls than many in 50 years of priesthood.

When we see these fruits we can only echo rhetorically with St. Paul: “O death where is thy victory? O death where is thy sting?”

Though perhaps not that of a martyr (who strictly dies in defense of the faith), the death of Fr. Walker will undoubtedly be a seed, a grace for souls, and a particular grace for the Fraternity of St. Peter.

In his application to Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary, then Kenny Walker already had very clear motivations for becoming a priest: “Along with the Church, then, I am deeply grieved by these errors concerning the nature of and dignity of man accepted by so many people in the world, which deviate them from their supernatural end. In full view of the situation in the world, then, the only vocation that I could be satisfied with would be one that would be dedicated to bringing people to salvation and this work is best carried out in the priesthood.”

We are all aware of how badly man’s vision of his rightful end is obscured in this modern world and how it seems to worsen every day. Every day in and outside of the confessional, the priest sees how badly the world is in need of the example of those who will imitate the Good Shepherd. But I ask my fellow priests, especially those in the Fraternity: how will we rightfully honor the memory of our confrere? Will we occasionally take out of our breviaries the holy card we received today commemorating his burial and recall that we ought not to take anything for granted in the service of the Lord; that we are instruments to serve in the place and in the time in which He chooses; that we are simply called each day to do so more faithfully than the day before? Will we recall the simple, honest, quiet, and consistent strength that we saw in our confrere, which is the mark of the Good Shepherd, who is always keeping watch over his flock, and be reminded that as long as each action of our priesthood is seen as an opportunity to work as an instrument of Christ there will never be any question of drudgery in attaining the arduous good? In turn then we will not be swept up into judging the work and it fruits with worldly eyes, but only in light of Christ’s Priesthood and the Sacrifice which is its defining act.

Will each one of you, the faithful, do the same; look at the holy card, recall his life and pose the question of St. Ignatius regularly posed to himself: “From where am I coming, and where am I now going?”

If this be the result of the tragic death of Fr. Walker, then indeed we may cry out, “O death where is thy sting!” for it will be clear us that regardless of this terrible crime “where sin did abound, grace will more abound”.

But the fact that death has lost its sting, and that we live not as those who have no hope, but as those who believe that when the soul departs from the body life has changed but not come to an end, it does not mean that there is no place for sorrow today. Our Lord showed us at the tomb of His dear friend that tears can be concomitant with great confidence in God and the resurrection. Today the liturgy has the church and its ministers draped in black to share in the mourning of one who has been lost to his family his friends and his community. The Church as a good mother is compassionate upon our sorrow. She acknowledges the wrenching truth about death but she does not fail to impart hope - even in the very context of that truth.

On behalf of all of my confreres I would express our deep sympathy to all the members of the Walker family. You gave your son to us years ago and entrusted him to our care. I pray to God that we cared for him well, as a family should, in every aspect, especially spiritually, since the day he entered the doors at Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary. Two years is such a short time as a priest, but knowing Fr. Walker, I believe he would not have traded in 50 more years in this valley of tears for even one as a priest, as another Christ. Every day of his priesthood he had the consolation of celebrating the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. To do so even once is a gift from God of incalculable grace and lies at the heart of the Fraternity's vocation. If we need consolation it should come from recalling that Father had the gift of standing before the altar each day and renewing the sacrifice "ad Deum qui laetificat iuventutem meam". For Father Walker those words are literally true now and for all eternity.

Our primary purpose today, however, is not to seek our own consolation or commemorate the deceased, but to offer prayer and sacrifice for the repose of Fr. Walker that he may rest eternally in the Beatific Vision, one with the Divinity Whom on earth he was privileged to hold in his consecrated hands. This is our primary and solemn duty as those who knew him; those who loved him; those who were absolved by him; those who received Our Lord in Holy Communion from him; and those who were blessed by him.

The rite of this Requiem Mass expresses this urgency again and again in her prayers: Lux perpetua luceat ei: Requiem aeternam dona ei Domine. But this urgency is also seen in the very gestures of the priest. In this Mass there is no blessing of objects; the priest does not concede a blessing to the deacon and subdeacon at the Epistle and Gospel; not even the final blessing of the congregation is allowed. There is no exchange of peace between the ministers and the clergy. It is as if the Church reserves all for the deceased; as if every last grace of this Mass and absolution is jealously guarded for the repose of his soul.

This urgency was also beautifully seen on Monday when hundreds of priests offered Mass for the repose of Fr. Walker's soul. The first of the day was offered by a confrere at 7 am in Sydney, Australia; eight hours before the break of dawn in Europe, and the last was offered in California by another confrere as the next day was already breaking in Europe. We were mindful of the words of God through the Prophet Malachi:

“For from the rising of the sun even to the going down, my name is great among the Gentiles, and in every place there is sacrifice, and there is offered up to my name a clean oblation.” (Mal. 1:11)

This urgency is the second reason to keep in our missals the holy card commemorating his funeral; so that we might frequently and fervently pray, offer masses and sacrifices for the repose of the soul of Fr. Walker not just tomorrow or throughout the week, but continually. This is the great consolation of the doctrine of the communion of saints!

And as theologians remind us, there is always some self interest in praying for the holy souls, because someday they will in turn intercede for us before the throne of God. I know how much our Fraternity needs such an intercessor, and given how Fr. Walker has never been one to waste words, I think Our Lord will be keen to hear him when he does pipe up and ask for an intention!

In a few short moments Christ’s infinite sacrifice will be offered to the Father once again for the remission of sins and in particular for the soul of the faithfully departed. Then the absolution will be carried out with its blessings. Finally, as a last word, the liturgy of the Church will provide us with the hymn, In paradisum, as the coffin departs. This last liturgical text is also a very fitting bidding of goodbye, and again, on behalf of all priests of our Fraternity, I would like to make it our own and offer it directly to our confrere:

Dear Father,
May the angels take you into paradise: may the martyrs come to welcome you on your way, and lead you into the holy city, Jerusalem.
May the choir of angels welcome you, and with Lazarus who once was poor may you have everlasting rest.

Amen.

 

Thank you, Nihil  His sermon was amazing and beautiful as always. I've met Fr. Berg, and just being in his presence is an edifying experience.  He is a great priest and humble man of God.

 

Praying for Fr. Walker, and for all priests and religious.   

Edited July 9, 2014 by Credo in Deum