The Attitude of the Beatitudes

Funeral Homily for Father Thomas Lane, Diocese of Yakima May 17^th 2018

Isaiah 25: 6a, 7-9; Romans 5:5-11; Matthew 5:1-11

Most Reverend Joseph J. Tyson, Bishop of Yakima

Peace be with you! The attitude of the Beatitudes! That might best summarize the way Fr. Tom Lane pointed all of us to Christ. The attitude of the Beatitudes.

Paula Newman Labernik writing on Facebook recalled how her dad worked with Fr. Tom at Hanford before he became a priest. After ordination, Fr. Tom taught chemistry at the old Carroll High School. “He was a genius level for higher intelligence.”

Likewise on Facebook, Pegi Lee Danielson Ackerman shared with all of us how her husband Paul, along with Fr. Darell Mitchell, spent the final hours with Fr. Tom singing with him and the chaplains from Cottage in the Meadows the great hymn, “How Great Thou Art.” Fr. Darrell had needed to return early from our Diocese of Yakima retreat, where we were all praying for Fr. Tom in his final hours, remembering him in our intentions during the Liturgy of the Hours as well as our daily Eucharist. Fr. Ricardo Villareal, who had come back to Yakima for a funeral, joined Fr. Darell to be with Fr. Tom in his last hours as well.

Out in Goldendale, where Father Ibach and I were together for Confirmation this last Sunday, many of the older parishioners recalled with affection Father Tom’s care for them, offering their prayers for him too.

In the run up to his final months, Cathy Godfrey offered hours and hours of service and care. Both Monsignor Robert Siler and Father Michael Ibach spent considerable effort in the care of Father Tom, staying close to his family, tracking the medical care, and monitoring his needs as his body and his mind began to fail him.  There are certainly many others too numerous to mention who did so much for Father Tom. To all of you, thank you!

Certainly, our own Father César Vega here at Holy Family spent considerable time making sure that Father Tom had opportunities to exercise his priestly ministry. He made sure that Father Tom was able to concelebrate the Sunday Eucharist. He and Cathy helped organize a wonderful 50^th anniversary celebration as a priest here at Holy Family. Father Tom also liked helping out with confessions. You – the parishioners here at Holy Family – were so gracious to him in all of this – even when in hearing your confessions he wanted to you to repeated everything you said loudly so he could hear.  I know many of you hoped and prayed that those outside the confessional wouldn’t also hear!

As bishop, I am a relative late-comer into the life of Father Thomas Lane. But very early in my first days as bishop, Fr. Tom got me over to visit his classmate Father Robert Shields. He took great pains and great responsibility for making sure that Father Shields got to his doctor appointments and that he didn’t become too isolated and alone.  He did this in the midst of his own infirmities.  I thought to myself: Between the medications of Fr. Tom Lane and Fr. Robert Shields, the two of them could open a Rite Aid pharmacy!

The attitude of the Beatitudes! That is what Father Thomas Lane sparked in so many of you. But what sparked this attitude of the Beatitudes inside of Father Tom? That can be answered in one word: prayer.

Father Tom was a man of prayer. He not only prayed for all of us. But he prayed united with the  Church through the Liturgy of the Hours.  Fr. Tom was very devoted and very dedicated to the Liturgy of the Hours.

What is the Liturgy of the Hours? As many of you know, the Liturgy of the Hours consists of a collection of psalms and canticles along with specific scriptures and readings. Morning prayer and evening prayer are the linchpins of our Liturgy of the Hours. The early morning “Office of Readings” with its extended psalms, scripture and spiritual reading opens the day. The shorter Night Prayer or Compline closes the day. The daytime midmorning, midday and midafternoon psalms punctuate the day with psalms that uplift our love of the law of God, assisting us to see the rule of our life as a tool for our human flourishing.  Upon ordination, all clergy – bishops priests and deacons – promise to pray the prayer of the Church: The Liturgy of the Hours.  So do many of the religious men and women in consecrated life.

Father Tom understood the seriousness of his commitment to the Liturgy of the Hours. He grasped that when he prayed, he was not simply praying for himself and his parishioners, but for the entire Church and for all the living and all the dead. Father Tom took this commitment to heart and made this prayer for the Church the center of his life.

I became aware of this centrality for Father Tom during my first hospital visit with him. Father Ibach clued me in that Father Tom was pretty concerned about the Liturgy of the Hours obligation. I told him that I was dispensing him of his obligation to pray the Liturgy of the Hours when he was sick. I cited the old dictum of Teresa of Avila: Pray as you can – not as you ought. I told him that even St. Teresa of Avila knew that sometimes our human frailty prevented us from praying and that, as a result, we often simply have to offer our struggles and our sufferings up to God as our prayer in those moments. Sometimes we have to allow others to pray for us and trust that God will make up for what we lack. But from time to time Father Tom continued to worry about his prayer life. I know many of the brothers needed to repeat to him that he should pray as best as he could and not worry about hitting the breviary if it became too much due to his health.

The attitude of the Beatitudes! That is Father Tom!  As we listened to the list of beatitudes taught by Jesus, it’s easy to identify the attitudes and interior dispositions each beatitude call from us. But it might also be wise to remember that both the Catechism of the Catholic Church as well as the Church’s General Directory for Catechesis define prayer as an “attitude.” 

“Communion with Christ,” notes the General Directory for Catechesis, “leads the disciple to assume an attitude of prayer. To learn to pray with Jesus is to pray with the same sentiments with which he turned to the Father: adoration, praise, thanksgiving, filial confidence, supplication and awe for his glory.” Then the General Directory for Catechesis concludes with this insight: “This climate is especially necessary when the catechumen and those to be catechized are confronted with the more demanding aspects of the Gospel and when they feel weak or when they discover the mysterious action of God in their lives.”

The attitude of the beatitudes. This is Father Tom’s lasting legacy. He showed us how to pray in our weakness. His attitude of poverty, of peace, of meekness, his attitude of mercy and singleheartedness, his desire for righteousness and comfort for the persecuted and the sorrowful grew from his intense and firm conviction about the centrality of prayer in his life.

Are we doing the same? We might want to ask ourselves how we are doing in our life of prayer. How are we making prayer – not only for ourselves – but for the entire Church a central piece of our daily life? As we give thanks to God for the gift of Father Thomas Lane, let us resolve to learn the central lesson of his life that threads through his teaching career and his time as a priest here in the Diocese of Yakima. Let us resolve to pray more deeply and thus foster the attitude of the beatitudes as did Father Thomas Lane.  Peace be with you!

The Rev. Thomas V. Lane, a senior priest of the Diocese of Yakima, died this morning at 3:20 a.m. at the Cottage in the Meadows hospice in Yakima. He was 90. Two of his brother priests, Fr. Darell Mitchell and Fr. Ricardo Villareal, were able to be with him, and he was remembered in prayer by the priests of the Diocese still on retreat. Mass of Christian Burial is planned for Thursday morning, May 17, at Holy Family Parish in Yakima, with a Vigil the evening of May 16. Details will be provided as plans are made.
Born on All Saints Day, November 1, 1927 to Timothy and Helen Lane, who had emigrated from Ireland, Father Tom grew up in the Seattle area. His brother Art, who preceded him in death in 2014, was born three years later. Following high school graduation in 1945, Fr. Tom entered the U.S. Army Air Force and served for 13 months in Japan during the military occupation after World War II. He returned home and enrolled at Seattle University, where he received a BA degree in chemical engineering in 1951. Following graduate studies in the same field at the University of Washington, Fr. Tom worked on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation until 1958. He then enrolled in the St. Philip Neri Seminary for Delayed Vocations in Boston, and later transferred to St. Thomas Seminary in Kenmore to finish his theological studies. He earned a teaching certificate through summer studies at Seattle University. Following graduation, he was ordained at St. Paul Cathedral on May 23,1964.
Father Lane taught higher mathematics at Yakima Central Catholic High School from 1964 to 1968 and served on the faculty at St. Peter the Apostle Seminary in Cowiche from 1965 to 1968. As an associate pastor he served at St. Pius X Parish in Quincy, St. John Parish in Naches, St. Paul Cathedral in Yakima, and Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Moses Lake. As a pastor he served at St. Peter Parish (now St. Juan Diego) in Cowiche, Holy Trinity Parish in Goldendale, and Holy Rosary Parish in Moxee. As a senior priest, he was in residence for many years at Holy Family Parish before moving to Hiilcrest at Summitview Assisted Living in Yakima. As his health difficulties mounted, it was a common experience for Father Lane to encounter health care providers who would thank him for having baptized them, married them, or taught them in school.
Father Lane is survived by his sister-in-law, Eleanor Lane, five nieces and nephews, and many great nieces and nephews. A fuller obituary will be provided at a later date. May he rest in peace.

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That the lay faithful may fulfil their specific mission, by responding with creativity to the challenges that face the world today.
Pope Francis - May 2018

Lay people are on the front line of the life of the Church.

We need their testimony regarding the truth of the Gospel and their example of expressing their faith by practicing solidarity.
Let us give thanks for the lay people who take risks, who are not afraid and who offer reasons for hope to the poorest, to the excluded, to the marginalized.
Let us pray together this month that the lay faithful may fulfill their specific mission, the mission that they received in Baptism, putting their creativity at the service of the challenges of today's world.

Para que los fieles laicos cumplan su misión específica poniendo su creatividad al servicio de los desafíos del mundo actual.

Papa Francisco - Mayo 2018

Los laicos están en primera línea de la vida de la Iglesia.

Necesitamos su testimonio sobre la verdad del Evangelio y su ejemplo al expresar su fe con la práctica de la solidaridad.
Demos gracias por los laicos que arriesgan, que no tienen miedo y que ofrecen razones de esperanza a los más pobres, a los excluidos, los marginados.
Pidamos juntos este mes para que los fieles laicos cumplan su misión específica, la misión que han recibido en el bautismo, poniendo su creatividad al servicio de los desafíos del mundo actual.

The Central Washington Catholic Youth Camp is scheduled for August 19 through the 24th at YMCA Camp Dudley, west of Yakima near White Pass! This is a quality weeklong summer camp for your kids or grandkids, including daily Mass and Rosary, Stations of the Cross, Reconciliation, priests and sisters, seminarians, and daily faith talks PLUS all the goofy songs and games, swimming, canoeing, rock climbing, zipline, campfire every night!

For more info and to make reservations, see our website, cwcyc.org “Like” our FB page, CWCYCclick. Why “click”? C-L-I-C-K stands for Christ Lives in Catholic Kids!

Dear Friends,

We are here in Rome on pilgrimage and are with the Holy Father, Pope Francis, at his Wednesday general audience. By happy coincidence today marks the start of the Holy Father's global campaign, "Share the Journey," where he invites us to walk with migrants refugees and – in his Spanish comments – "campesinos" – something quite particular to our Diocese of Yakima. Today's kickoff points to a Week of Prayer and Action October 7-13. For an overview of the campaign, including personal stories, click here.  For ideas and resources for Catholic leaders planning events for the week, click here.  For a parish toolkit put together by Catholic Relief Services, click here. For ideas for social media, click here. Para recursos en español, haz click aquí.

Here in the Diocese of Yakima we are uniquely positioned to share the journey as Spanish and English speakers forming a single Church witness. Let's "Share the Journey" with each other – especially the migrants and undocumented as well as those young people impacted by DACA. Many prayers.

+Bishop Joseph Tyson