August 28, 2009
Saying goodbye
Legion of Mary remembers Father Ray Reising
“The Legion of Mary of Evansville has recently lost a devoted friend in the passing of Father Raymond Reising,” said Jackie Fehrenbacher. “His inspirational guidance will be missed at our monthly meetings of the Evansville comitium.”
Father Reising died July 14.
Ten years ago he was ap-pointed as the group’s spiritual director. “We were honored to have a priest guiding our decisions and prayerfully conducting our activities. We could always count on his thought-provoking homilies and quiet leadership in the various en-deavors we undertook to share our love of the Catholic faith.”
She said Father Reising “quickly became not only our spiritual director but a friend to each of us. We celebrated his birthdays as well as the anni-versaries of his ordination. He seemed to cherish these special occasions with us.”
She added that was “fitting that he should have ended his priesthood during the Year of the Priests as proclaimed by Pope Benedict XVI. Father Reising truly fulfilled this role using St. John Vianney, the Cure of Ars and patron of priests as his example.
“He reflected the role of the priest as one who serves until he was no longer able to physically perform his duties.
“Father, like St. John Vianney, had a deep dedication to the necessity for the Sacrament of Reconciliation. He continually reminded us of the graces we can receive by frequent reception of this sacrament of God’s forgiveness. I am reminded of the prayer we pray during the Year of the Priest, ‘I recommend to You the priests dearest to me; the priest who baptized me; the priests who absolved me from my sins; the priests at whose Masses I assisted and who gave me Your Body and Blood in Holy Communion; the priests who taught and instructed me; all the priests to whom I am indebted in any other way, O Jesus, keep them all close to Your heart, and bless them abundantly in time and in eternity.’”