As the celebrant of his father’s funeral Mass, Rev. Paul Scalia said Justice Antonin Scalia saw a divine blessing in the nation’s founding that will be lost if Americans ignore the strong link between religious faith and citizenship.
Speaking of his father during his homily, Rev. Scalia said:
He knew well what a close-run thing the founding of our country was. And he saw in that founding, as did the founders, a blessing — a blessing quickly lost when faith is lost from the public square or when we refuse to bring it there. Dad understood that the deeper he went in his Catholic faith, the better a citizen and public servant he became.
When Rev. Scalia began his homily, those gathered in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception might have assumed he was talking immediately about the outspoken Supreme Court Justice.
“We are gathered here because of one man, a man known personally to many of us, known only by reputation to many more; a man loved by many, scorned by others; a man known for great controversy and for great compassion,” Rev. Scalia said, adding, “That man, of course, is Jesus of Nazareth.”
“In the past week, many have recounted what Dad did for them,” Rev. Scalia continued. “But here today we reflect what God did for Dad. How he blessed him!”
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