A Gray Afternoon, A Sweet Tradition and the World of Souls

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This afternoon, between work and errands, I stopped by a funeral home a mile or so from the high school where I teach. A young colleague's father had died at age 86 after a long, difficult illness. Along with dozens of my colleagues, I went to pay my respects and to pray for her father's soul before his funeral Mass. As I headed out of the funeral home, I was struck by the idea that such a beautiful and solemn tradition is precious and might one day be a rarity.  


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