This time of year annually invites us to recall and subsequently to reflect on the lives and contributions of some of the prominent people who have died during the past year. Each year we have many such candidates to consider from a wide range of backgrounds of those who have made significant political, religious, athletic, professional, entertainment, or artistic contributions to society.

Most of the observations that we might read usually originate from those who may have a reason to promote or to endorse the positive dimensions of a person’s life or by some individuals who seek to point out the many failures and shortcomings of an individual. As you might imagine most people, even prominent people, are a mixture of positive and negative achievements.

Saint Paul writing to Timothy [2 Timothy 4:8], his faithful disciple, says that as he approaches the end of his life, he awaits the just judge who will render an ultimate verdict on his apostolic missionary accomplishments. Saint Paul began as a committed persecutor of the Christian Church and yet later Paul became perhaps our most prominent evangelist. In other words, Saint Paul changed and thus he was willing to surrender his entire life to that Just Judge who will decide all of our fates in time.

The comments that often are applied to the lives of prominent individuals who have died during the past year often fail to grasp the inevitable mixture of our positive achievements and our disappointing failures. The human judgements that people might cast on the lives of others never can capture the full breadth of God’s own merciful review.

Thus, Queen Elizabeth II’s long life was filled with countless great moments –her longstanding devotion to the British people and to the broader human society but also there were included moments of intense disappointment and frustration. That is the nature of every human being –including those who are famous and prominent individuals.

Last week, we commended Pope-Emeritus Benedict XVI to God’s merciful judgment. Without question, he made amazing contributions to the life of our Church. Yet, he himself would and certainly did admit that there were areas of Catholic ecclesial life that still remain ongoing. God sees all that we do and that which we fail to do, and He always judges us with a compassionate and just verdict. The person of faith must entrust his whole life to the Lord’s eternally perfect and merciful insight into our lives taking into account the positive as well as the negative elements.
 The Lord knows and balances both the good that we have done as well as the failures to which we must admit – so we all hope and pray. The public comments that are made on the lives of those who have gone before us, all lack that clarity and mercy of God’s vision. No one of us is without sin but hopefully each one of us has been able to cooperate with God’s grace in achieving some good for God’s creation – so we all hope and pray.