Mass of Christian Burial for Brian Muha
Holy Family Church
584 West Brad Street
Columbus, Ohio 43215
Homily given June, 9 1999 by Fr. Kevin F. Lutz

Holy Family Church has never looked more glorious than it does today.   I often bring people through the church on tours and they admire its great beauty even when it's empty, but it has never looked more beautiful than it does now with your presence here.  And the Church as the Body of Christ looks its best when doing what it does best: offering the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

As you look at the Blessed Sacrament Altar behind me, you can see a depiction of the Transfiguration of Our Lord on Mt. Tabor.  At his right hand is Moses with the Tablets of the Law; at the left of Christ is Elijah, the chief of the Prophets.  In the Transfiguration Christ showed himself as he really was ... in his glory.  The Apostles could hardly look at him, and they were so confused that as one translation puts it, "Peter was speaking at random,'and came up with the meaningless suggestion to erect three booths there.  Jesus showed his glory to the Apostles so that when they saw him upon the cross, scourged and bloody, they would have the memory of this moment to give them strength.  We have that moment now as a moment of hope, for God will transfigure our lowly bodies and make them like his own.

It is a sad thing that Brian could not be seen after he was found.   It is not difficult to know why.  His body had been disfigured, the beauty taken away.  Faith tells us that Christ will transform his body on the last day, and it will be more beautiful and radiant than we could ever imagine.  The future glory will be greater than the beauty we have looked upon here as we knew him.   This is one more offering we can make to God, not to be able to look upon Brian again in this life.

How strong should the faith of a believer be?  It should be so strong that, through tears, one should be able to say, THY WILL BE DONE.  We see that strength in many people today gathered here in faith.  The very phrase thy will be done suggests to the mind some very hard questions:

What answers can I offer to a stunned group of friends?

Did God really will this?
God willed it only insofar as he gives us all the gift of free will...free will...even to do evil...but God did not will this tragedy as something that would please him, rather, he has taken this tragedy and has sanctified it, so that it will bear fruit in the lives of thousands.  The fruits of prayer, grace, and conversion are already manifested in so many ways.

Young and innocent?
Yes, just like the Pascal Lamb which was chosen without blemish.

Did they suffer much?
We don't know how much or for how long, but we do know that God carried the weight of suffering and death with Brian and Aaron, and that, like Stephen the protomartyr of the Church who saw Jesus standing at the right hand of the Father when he was being stoned to death, Jesus stood with them too.  Bishop Sheen once rightly commented that the Creed says that Jesus is seated at the right Hand of the Father, but when His children are being persecuted, He stands... He stands to give them the strength to endure their trials.  He stands ready to welcome them to glory.

Why would anyone do such a thing?
Read Genesis.  It's all there in the first few pages.  There is something very broken in our human nature which only grace can heal.  It's called Original Sin and it has done great damage to our ability to speak to God and to each other.  And if that were only the worst of the damage.  The shedding of innocent blood is the very first sin mentioned in the Bible that cries out heaven.  Blood is God's portion.  Even lying to God, which Adam did, was not a sin that cried out to Heaven for vengeance.  But the shedding of innocent blood did, and does, cry out.

Why did God let this happen? 
God did not spare his only Son.  He would not let us ever experience anything that was not his own already.  And just as God triumphed in the horror of the crucifixion by raising Jesus from the dead, so will he bring about victory here beyond our imagining.   We have made the crucifix a beautiful thing to behold, but it was not so at Calvary.  It was yet, by faith we now see that as the moment of glory, the moment in which God would not let evil rule the day, and he made it the means of our salvation.

What can I do to help?
That, my friends, I will try to answer at the end.

I must say a few things about Brian Muha.  He was a beloved member of the St. Charles Class of 1998.  I was at the graduation ceremony of that class.   I heard your principal, Mr. Cavello speak of Christ and the importance of living your life for God, and that the purpose of St. Charles went far beyond an academic education.  You were to live for God.  Those words are now prophetic.  Some classes from your school have been known for producing incredible teams, phenomenal academic skills, others for some particular characteristic.  Your class seems to be called to witness the faith in its most trying times.  The Class of 1998 has lost two members, Brian and Anthony Austin, within but days of each other.  it seems your class is especially called to holiness.

I remember after the graduation ceremony ...I remember Brian's false teeth. Not some crooked dime-store fangs, but hideously discolored protrusions with what appeared to be the stains of coffee, whiskey and smoke.  I remember Rachel going after him and saying in mock horror "Bri, take those out!"  And on the day of his life when more pictures of him would be taken than any other, most show him with the fangs.  I had a friend with me and I asked Brian to play a small trick on him.    I made the introductions and Brian said how happy he was to meet him.   In a stage whisper I said, "Jim, don't stare at his teeth, you'll embarrass him"

But I must go back to the serious questions...and answers found in God's word and in our experience this day.  The Scriptures today give us hope about the most serious questions before us.  The Questions of death, resurrection, faith, Jesus Christ...and Brian.

Of Death, St. Paul writes: We would  have you be clear about death, lest you yield to grief like those who have no hope.  You and I have hope this day, great hope, for this is not the end; this is the chapter before the last, Hope cannot yet see its object.

Of Resurrection-Even Job had the grace filled knowledge, long before the coming of Christ into this world, that his sufferings were not the end or without meaning.  He states "I know that my redeemer lives, and on the last day I shall rise,  In my body I shall look on God my Savior. With my own eyes I shall see him, not those of another."  We know that Brian could not be seen or held after he died, but that is temporary.  The disfigurement, the sad condition of his body will be totally changed in the twinkling of an eye when Christ calls him forth on the Last Day.  There will be no trace, no evidence of any suffering.  Not even the painful memory of it.  Just the knowledge of it so that God may be glorified in His power and mercy before the whole world

Of Faith- It is only when things seem totally beyond reason that faith can guide us.  Everything about this tragedy lacks reason, but faith tells us that this may be the greatest moment in our lives to know and love God more.  A moment of intense evil has been turned into a call to holiness for all of us.  The precedent for this is Calvary where the greatest moment of evil, the killing God's only Son, became the call to holiness for all who would look on Him whom they had pierced.

Of Jesus Christ- Yesterday, today, and forever.    Christ loved, loves and will love forever; Christ forgave, forgives, and will forgive forever, and we are called to imitate Him, especially in the hour of the greatest test.  That is where the true disciples are known.

Of Brian - The last months of his life were filled with graces unknown to many of you.  His brother, Chris, helped him to make the Consecration to Mary according to the plan of St Louis de Montfort.  The consecration was made on March 25, Feast of the Annunciation, the First Joyful Mystery.  And Brian went home to God on the Second Joyful Mystery, the Visitation, May 31. Can we fail to see Divine Providence in this?  Now he has undergone the Sorrowful Mysteries, all in a few short hours. Even the sorrowful mysteries of his life were not without   consolation. Like any mother, Rachel is very devoted to her children and their going away to school was always a source of pain for her.  Brian knew this and sent her flowers which arrived on Memorial Day.  The flowers came with a card that read, "Dear Mom, Even though I'm away, I want to say Hi, Love, Bri" The flowers arrived  at 9:15 AM; the call about his abduction came at 2:15 PM; his message can easily be read on two levels now with the eyes of faith. Roses were his farewell gift, and at the spot where his body was found, a huge wild rosebush was in full bloom.  It appeared almost to be a canopy sheltering him at the end.  Rachel saw it as a sign from another Mother who lost a Son long ago.

Only mothers who have lost children can understand such sorrow and such simple consolations.

The Glorious Mysteries have already begun... and until they are manifest, we cry out with whole church: 'Even so, Lord Jesus, quickly come and night shall be no more.'

At the beginning of my remarks, I said I would answer the question What can I do?  I will tell you first that the family needs no more flowers or food.   They feel that the greatest honor and tribute to Brian would be the living of your life for Christ.  To answer the question what can I do?  Be holy. Love Jesus Christ.  Love his bride, the Church. Imitate Mary who contemplated always the things of God and who stood faithfully with her son even in the darkest hours of Calvary.   Receive the Eucharist often.  Be swift to forgive.  With the knowledge that Brian has in eternity, he would only want us to spend each day in our quest for God.   If we could  only look beyond the veil that separates this life from eternity, we would regret every waited moment.  This is now the moment in which God asks us, in fact He commands us to be holy.  Until our Lord returns we faithfully watch and pray with the whole Church: 'Even so , Lord Jesus, quickly come, and night shall be no more...'

God bless you, dear Brian, and please pray for us before the Throne of Mercy.

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