A friend has sent me a link to the funeral homily for her cousin, Father L. Dudley Day. Father Day was a pastoral assistant at St John Cantius in Chicago (see my previous post) for the last few years of his life. His cousin relates that he went to St John's because they shared the same values. He suffered great misunderstanding by "modernizers" who objected to his unwavering committment to the Holy Father and the Magisterium.
The homilist (skillfully avoiding a canonisation homily) speaks eloquently about Father Day's teaching what has now become known as the hermeneutic of continuity - that there is only one Church, that the Church after Vatican II must be the same Church as before Vatican II, if it is the Catholic Church. Our faith must be the same faith as that of our ancestors, and we must hand this on. He says how his brother, ten years younger than him, came once saying how interesting Father Day's Masses were because he taught them all the things his Catholic school was failing to teach.
Watch the videos. It is worth it.
An obituary can be found here.
May he rest in peace.
Part 1:
Part 2:
What a wonderful homily about a truly wonderful priest. He used to help out at St. John Vianney in Northlake, Illinois when we went there in the later 90's.
ReplyDeleteWhat an incredible homilist. He would refer to some of the errors of the day, and just by a turn of expression and the heavenly simplicity of his words and manner, the error would be thrown into relief as the incredible nonsense it truly was.
He also was very involved with the Institute for Religious Life, I think as the successor of Fr John Hardon who had founded it. The IRL is a cooperative of many faithful religious orders, formed with the goal of promoting vocations to the same.
When I say the Litany of the Saints, he hears from me...
Fr Dudley Day, pray for us!