Even as we struggle with how to respond to the abusive action of Fr. Marcel Guarnizo in denying the Eucharist to Barbara Johnson at her mother’s funeral, and even as we look forward to further action from the Archdiocese of Washington in response, let’s be thankful for priests like Fr. Peter Sweeney of Silver Spring, MD. According to the coverage in the National Catholic Reporter, Barbara Johnson described Fr. Sweeney this way:

“He was an angel, a balm on our hearts,” she said. “He was everything I knew the Catholic church to be.”

Amen!