Editor's Desk: A Place to Rest

By Michael F. Flach
Herald Editor
(From the issue of 10/30/03)

"Let us take our brother James to his place of rest." These final words were spoken last week over the casket of Msgr. James W. McMurtrie before he was carried from the Cathedral of St. Thomas More to Fairfax Memorial Park.

Not surprisingly, the funeral Mass was packed with former students, parishioners, family and friends. Equally impressive was the procession of priests, which took more than 10 minutes to enter the Cathedral. It was a fitting tribute to a priest who touched thousands of lives in Virginia during his 40 years of priestly service and whose presence in the diocese will be missed in many ways for years to come.

It took commuters traveling west on Route 50 from Washington a little longer to get home Friday night. The funeral procession from the Cathedral to Fairfax Memorial Park was reportedly a mile long and received heavy police escort.

Msgr. McMurtrie’s death brought to mind the trip I took with him in early March 1999 to Ogdensburg, N.Y., for the farewell Mass for Bishop Paul S. Loverde. The bishop was installed later that month as the third bishop of Arlington. Msgr. McMurtrie represented the Arlington Diocese as administrator. I asked if I could tag along to interview the bishop and cover the farewell festivities for the HERALD.

As luck would have it, a major snow storm hit the East coast that Friday as we prepared to leave National Airport. The trip to Ogdensburg is never easy, even under normal conditions — a flight to Pittsburgh, then a local commuter flight with numerous stops in upstate New York. It looked as though the weather was going to get the better of us that day, but Bishop Loverde and Brother David Eddy, the bishop’s secretary, were persistent. They were anxious for Msgr. McMurtrie to join them, so they suggested we re-route our flight from Washington to Toronto, where Brother David would meet us and drive us back to Ogdensburg.

We made the two-hour drive from Toronto in a driving snowstorm, with the utmost confidence that Brother David had been through worse conditions than this. We arrived at Wadham’s Hall Seminary in Ogdensburg in time to have dinner with the bishop and a group of permanent deacons and their wives. Later that night the bishop gave us a tour of the seminary (which has since closed). He called it his "pride and joy."

Saturday was spent shoveling snow and getting the "official" tour of Ogdensburg. The farewell Mass on Sunday at St. Mary’s Cathedral, followed by a reception at Msgr. Charboneau Knights of Columbus Hall, gave us a glimpse of the love the people of Ogdensburg had for their departing bishop. But it was the private time we spent with the bishop and Brother David that was most rewarding. I was a grateful spectator as Msgr. McMurtrie gave the bishop as much background as he could on his new diocese. It was time spent developing new friendships, but more importantly, showing respect for the priesthood and episcopacy. It was vintage Msgr. McMurtrie.

Back in Arlington, Monsignor fondly recalled his experience at Ogdensburg International Airport where one employee served as security guard, ticket counter, flight attendant and runway assistant. He did everything but fly the plane.

"I enjoyed his humor, collaboration and frank opinions," Bishop Loverde said at the funeral last week. "He has gone too quickly. I shall miss him."— M.F.F.

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