Fr. Eric Freed. A personal reflection.

My new year began as all my days do. I got ready, went to mass. It is my most favorite time of the day. The night before, I had a rare chance to spend some time alone with Fr. Eric after mass. I had become very close to him, particularly in the last year. We are very different and our trust and acceptance of each other, especially our quirks, grew as we got to know each other.

It was like any other day, except his newspaper wasn’t picked up. A window seemed like it was being fixed, there was an area trashed. This has happened before. There was nothing out of the ordinary. Until, Father did not show up for mass. And then our Deacon came in, told us mass was cancelled and why. For the entire St. Bernard’s community, our world was turned upside down for so many reasons.

Usually when I am upset, I write. I share. That was not an option. There has been no time to grieve or mourn for our leadership, for others who are too busy getting out information, dealing with logistics, being there for our fellow parishioners who are having a harder time coping.  All of us at St. Bernards are so grateful to our Bishop, all our local priests, for the leaders in our church community and all who have been a rock for us. For 2 days, the one place we go to find peace, to gather, our real home was a crime scene.

Fr. Eric was a pastor, a friend, family and to those of us who are orphans, a father figure.

This My Word is a small effort to share what Fr. Eric means to those whose lives he touched and the response—mostly very positive. Some that I would have preferred not to address. In the last 2 days, I have struggled with what to write and whether I would. This is not a news story to me. More so the reluctance comes from not wanting to discuss the one area in my life that is private and off limits, and more so because it is not about one person’s grief, one loss, but a community that needs and deserves space and privacy.

The local media has been wonderful in their coverage. Thank you.

In the last 2 days, a brutal crime was committed against an innocent holy man who did nothing but serve his community to his last breath and whose grace and love continues to live on in us and in our actions and in what he taught us. 

I am not going to discuss the suspect, the evidence, the reasons. Loss of life, violence is unacceptable under any circumstances. Emotions are running high and yet most of us have shown incredible restraint.

Instead we focus on Jesus and pray and are thankful because that is was our pastor taught us and reminded us everyday.

Fr. Eric was a very loving man. The following words from Galatians are often quoted: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free person, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus”.  Fr. Eric lived it. Our pastor reached out to all people of faiths, even to atheists; he loved and accepted unconditionally, without wanting to change people.

There are so many misunderstanding about the Catholic Church and teachings. The Church is made up of individuals, diverse. This is not an opportunity to be exploited for someone’s political agenda or opportunity to take pot shots at the Catholic Church as some people have already.

I guarantee you know someone Catholic. Take an opportunity to get to know that person and learn about their faith. This takes years, not a quick moment. As we learned with Fr. Eric’s unexpected death, you never know when you will last see someone.

I start my day with the words Fr. Eric often said to us. With thanks for that first cup of coffee and I thank my Heavenly Father for my daily bread and most of all for the gift of faith and Fr. Eric. As he would say, I will stop here.