EXECUTIVE OFFICE

Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release | January 20, 2024

Homily by Deacon Daniel Mazurek for Professor Charles M. McKeough

Saint Thomas of Villanova Roman Catholic Church
Villanova University
Villanova, Pennsylvania

11:00 A.M. EST

DEACON DAN: On behalf of the McKeough family, I want to say thank you for coming today. Thank you for coming to be with their family, to show your love and support as they grieve the loss of Charles.

When you got up this morning, you went into the bathroom, you got ready, brushed your teeth, got ready for the day; how did you get from one room to the other? You got there through a doorway. You went into dress, you went into your closet; another doorway. You went for breakfast; in your house there’s another doorway. You left your house; you went out through a doorway. Probably locked the door behind you. When you jumped into your car you closed the - door. When you came in the church - beautiful doorways. Every time we turn around we are walking through a doorway. We’re so used to them, we don’t even notice them.

When a baby is born, they make a grand entrance; their doorway, their entrance into this world is met with great joy and celebration and new life to that family. That we see is normal. But with death, that person enters the doorway into the afterlife and sometimes we struggle with seeing that as normal. But it is normal. It’s the normal process. When we hear the term, “Death’s door” - like “someone is at Death’s door” - we stop - all of a sudden we are acutely aware of that doorway.

In our modern age, Death’s door has a negative connotation because we struggle so much with death because it’s unknown - we can’t see on the other side of the veil. We want so bad, and I’m with you - I want to see on the other side of the veil! But we’re not there yet. So when someone is at Death’s door, we immediately think, “Oh no! We’re going to lose our loved one.” Which - in some cases - we do; and like in today, if it’s our father, it’s painful. And when they die, there are no words, no actions that can take away that ache; the hurt is indescribable. We have the loss of that person we can no longer hug, touch or talk to.

So what is “Death’s door”? In our Catholic faith - this might seem strange but - it’s the best door you could ever be at; because - once you go through it - you leave aside your body that has gotten you this far; and in that moment, you get to see our glorious savior. When a saint dies, we assign the day that they died as their feast day because it’s their entrance, their doorway, into the Heavenly Glory. It’s a feast, it’s a huge celebration - they persevered - they made it! January first - Mary, Mother of God - is now the same day that we will celebrate for Charles as his feast day - his entrance into new life - a new life in heaven.

In the Gospel - just before Jesus dies - there’s two thieves that are crucified on either side of him. One - Dismas was his name - says to Jesus, “Remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” Dismas stepped out in faith - he believed in Jesus - and what was Jesus’s response? Immediate mercy. Open arms to a thief! Even Jesus is in agony - hanging on the cross after being sold out by Judas; put on trial by those he was sent to save. His apostles abandoned him. He was painfully scourged, mocked, spit on, now he’s hanging on a cross, barely able to believe and he says to Didymus, “You’ll be with me in Paradise.” Our minds cannot comprehend this overwhelming mercy that Jesus shows; but he gives it anyway.

In John ten verse seven, Jesus says, “I am the door.” Not just any door that we walk through everyday and forget about; Jesus is THE door, the most important, the only door that matters, the doorway that gets us into Heaven. That’s why he gives such immediate mercy to Didymus on the Cross. Dismas wants to go through that Death’s door with Jesus. This is why we’re asked by our Lord today to, “be not afraid.” “Be not afraid” of being at Death’s door or of Death itself. If you but ask, like Dismas, he’s got you.

In Sacred Scripture there are references to “be not afraid” three hundred and sixty-five times. Three hundred and sixty-five times [pause] for every day of the year. So we do not live in fear, but we live in a - with a - life filled with joy that Jesus has to give us.

Today we read in a scripture of the death of Jesus because we can relate today to the pain; but we need to know what comes next. We know what comes next: the mind-blowing power of God in Christ’s resurrection. Charles believed in this. That’s why he and Marylou raised Andrew in our Catholic faith. He believed like Dismas. He stepped out in faith. Every day for fifty years - fifty years - he taught engineering here at Villanova. He came through these doors to work hard and make a big impact on countless lives of the students; and he did it. He did what he was asked: to share his gift to those who [he] taught. He infected them with his love.

When I visited Charles a couple times near the end, I was always struck by his readiness to go through Death’s door. He didn’t have fear in his eyes, he had peace. He’d received the anointing of the sick. He was ready to meet his wife, Marylou, on the other side.

So my prayer is this: brother Charles, when you stepped through that final door January first, may you’ve heard our savior say these words to you: “Today you will be with me in paradise Charles” and may you be celebrating with Marylou in heaven, all eternity. Amen.

END
11:08 A.M. EST