I agree that we shouldnt turn away from a family suffering loss. However, the church needs to think about how it appears to the public and to Christians. The role of the church could have been much smaller, or, think about the effect it would have to the world for the church to take a stand against participation? It would have been a much better witness in my opinion. Remember, Christ was pretty angry when He threw those money changers out of the temple, and it wont be much different when He sends people to hell. Thanks.

It seems illogical for the Cardinal of Boston to defend the elaborate rituals at the Mass for Ted Kennedy, and then make a statement that the bishops ought not to allow laws covering abortion to be passed in the new health bill. wWhile he seems to disagree with those who question his judgment, does he not realize that the laws of logic could not possibly be applied to the events which took place recently in Boston.

Snatches of the Eucharist at the Kennedy funeral appeared briefly, punctuated with political stories and jokes. I kept waiting for a net of balloons to be released from the Basilica's ceiling at the end. It was shameful to permit the Mass to be so profaned.

Such was the celebrity of Mr. Kennedy.

It must be great to be so Godlike that one knows that Senator Kennedy did or did not repent and was or was not forgiven by God.

Is there no possibility for a Prodigal to be welcomed home?

Ah Clay, I almost see the clay oozing from your skull as I peruse the musings from within your cranial cavity. I think Matthew Hay Brown needs to start a witness protection program for those who are subjected to your witness ecstasies on his blog posts. Michael Paulson, one of the great religion writers working today--the other Matthew Hay Brown--a man of infinite patience for reading all these posts and a man of infinite wisdom for not censoring them--I salute you Mr.Brown--keep up the good work--live long and prosper. However, I wouldn't wish the same to the Catholic church which stands on the cusp of its own demise and demands that its silly edicts be obeyed. Completely anencephalic if you ask me. The Catholic church doesn't have the luxury to quibble about who should or should not receive communion--take what you can get and shut up in a world gone sour about all the encyclicals and profound pronouncements from the sanctum sanctorum of the papacy. Look at the picture of Benedict on one of Brown's blogs--the pomp, the circumstance, the vestments that cover the eternally enfeebled popes and priests----they all look alike these bachelor boys--speaking multiple languages in quavering voices, nothing ascetic whatsoever about any one of them- chefs to cook the foods on their groaning boards, luxurious beds to wallow in, the most magnificent art in the world looking down from the walls on their slumbering forms--wine from the best vineyards of the Mediterranean regions of Europe to gulp-- the vanities of the Vatican are too numerous to count and to top off these follies--- a major sick preoccupation of these men is the female reproductive tract and its ability to be fruitful, multiply and overrun the earth with human forms galore--we don't need an apocalypse to witness the chain of events Clay awaits so eagerly, we only need the Catholic church to overpopulate the Earth and kill us all with its kindness overflowing for the fetus. Cardinal O'Malley begs for civility and tolerance among Catholics and less judgment about fractious issues like abortion but to those for whom there is no give or take in these matters, an anti-abortion stance is the ultimate power play over women--a stranglehold on the Eves of this world by the prudish Adams of the Catholic church who, more than anything else, would like to deposit unwilling pregnant women in barber shops, to be carved up as dead meat--punishment for the sex with whom you are not allowed to have sex--a natural outgrowth of the misogyny inherent in the Catholic church!

For gosh sakes Anon calm down. Catholics are my Christian brothers and sisters. They seem a lot calmer than you. Thanks.

Anonymous I'm not going to start up another abortion debate I had my fill with Robert on that topic. I also won't deny that the Catholic Church has done much to give Christianity a bad name throughout its history. That being said bad messengers don't invalidate the message. Reading your post sort of reminded me of listening to my son's multitude of reasons why he shouldn't have to do homework. They all had a certain degree of logic and truth to them, but their purpose was to simply avoid doing what he knew he should do in favor of what he wanted to do.