In Memoriam: Carlos

A good friend and colleage of mine just died, Deacon Carlos Naranjo. Carlos was ordained a deacon in the most recent class, in the Archdiocese of Seattle. He discovered less than a year ago that he had cancer in his ribs. The cancer proceeded rather quickly, and though he fought with determination and hope, he died early on this past Sunday morning, January 7th.

I interviewed Carlos and his wife Martha at the time that they applied for the formation program. He was a Hispanic Catholic, and worked for Boeing. He was personally a pious man, very active with his spirituality and outreach to others. I gave them a good recommendation, and was not surprised when they were accepted for the program. I was also on the evalutation committee, and would up having his "case" assigned to me, for presentation to the whole committee and recommendation to the Archbishop. I was delighted that he was ordained.

After his ordination, I called him to ask him to apply as a chaplain at Children's hospital as a bi-lingual chaplain, with funding through our North Seattle Deanery. He took to this ministry like a duck to water... he was SO GOOD with families! He was serious about the ministry, so attentive to the families, and so deeply spiritual. He was far better with Spanish-speaking families than I could ever hope to be.

He planned to retire from Boeing this past summer, and hoped to become a full-time chaplain at Children's. I supported him in this... and pledged to find the money to support the ministry somehow.

But then he fell ill.

The cancer was first found in his ribs... a bad sign. I'm not a doctor, but everything I know about bone cancer is bad. But Carlos was as upbeat as he was gentle. He trusted that either he would beat the disease (which he did believe he would do) or it would still work out somehow. I was surprised, though, one afternoon... I came to his hospital after a surgery... which he told me that he didn't think he'd wake up from. When he saw me, he broke into soft tears... of gratitude. "I am so grateful to still be here," he said.

And yet now he's gone. I met today with his wife and sister... both named Martha, as coincidence would have it. I have the honor tomorrow evening of sharing prayer with 60-70 family members.

By what grace are we still here, and what is it that God has in store for us?