Is casual overrated?

Homily

Funeral Mass for Marion Boyle

1 June 2024

St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center at the University of Kansas

AMDG

Is casual overrated?

Maybe it is, maybe it isn't.  But just 'come as you are' or 'just come comfortable' wasn't something I heard from the mouth of Msgr. Vince Krische my mentor very often.  I to this day like to dress as well as I can, and I suppose it's something I picked up from dear Msgr, even if it was because I was afraid to disappoint him at first.  It's a part of his legacy that I like to keep going now as Director/Chaplain of his beloved St. Lawrence.   So many people ask me why I don't go casual more often - it's because of Msgr. I'm sure.  Because of him, I think it's always good to dress up, to offer our best.  

Now I might have it dead wrong about Marion Boyle, but I can't remember ever seeing her come to Mass dressed casually.  She always always always looked the part, near as I can remember.  I don't know Marion from the inside out like many of you, and certainly my best impression of Marion was always about what was on the inside - her devotion, faithfulness and attention - whenever she came to Mass.  Yet I'll remember that how much she cared matched how she looked on the outside too.  You could always tell at a glance how much her Catholic faith and the Mass meant to her.

I'll be forever grateful to the great generation of Jayhawks who established the St. Lawrence Catholic Center, for all those who said that if we're going to have a Catholic mission to KU, it has to be great!  The potential for Jayhawks to integrate and to live their Catholic faith while experiencing an explosion of ideas and relationships here, has proven to be critically important in the lives of so many, including me.  Praise God for all those like Marion, who believed that the Catholic faith has such great power to invite courage, generosity, commitment, meaning, and dedication, and who believed that so many Jayhawks would find the true meaning and fullness of life through this very mission at St. Lawrence.

It is such an amazing privilege to commend the life of Marion to the Lord, a Lord that she loved so much and trusted so beautifully every time she came to Mass in this place, and indeed with her entire life.

Three cheers and many prayers for a member of the famous Covid cohort who weathered the pandemic storm with Florine Creek and Msgr under the gentle care of Cindy Maude. Cindy, we're forever grateful for your sustaining the faith of these veritable giants who taught us so much about faithfulness and love.

Our deepest appreciation and condolences to the Boyle family, as we celebrate in this Mass the gift from God that Marion was and always will be.  

Let's continue to show up for each other, and bring our very best to bear on this journey of faith, inside and out.

Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord, and let the perpetual light shine upon her. May she rest in peace. Amen.  May her soul, and the soul of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God rest in peace. Amen.