As I write this, a great brother in the Lord, a true friend, a Bible teacher, and the original administrator of both Presentation Ministries' Bible Teachers' Program and Presentation's Bible Institute — as I write this teaching, this great man of God and a man of God's word is having his Mass of the Resurrection and is being buried. I am brokenhearted that I cannot be at the funeral Mass because I am in the hospital recovering from abdominal surgery and the doctor did not think I was well enough to be issued a pass to leave the hospital for the funeral.

In my sorrow, I read the first reading for today's Lenten Mass. God's amazing promise that His prophetic word is always fruitful fills me with consolation. My brother's life in living, loving, and teaching God's word is like the rain and snow (Is 55:10). It does not return to God void but does His will, achieving the end for which it was sent (Is 55:11).

A life in God's word is a life well-lived, pleasing and fruitful to the Lord (Ps 1:2-3). Those who abide in God's word (see Jn 8:31) abide in God forever (see Jn 8:52). Praise God for the lives and deaths of the ministers of God's word!

Nihil Obstat:  Reverend Richard Walling, July 18, 2003

Imprimatur:  †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, July 24, 2003