It is with a very heavy heart that I ask for your prayers for my friend, Gary Curley, who passed away unexpectedly yesterday at age 50. He’s going to be sorely missed by a lot of people.
He’s the guy in the panoramic photo above, taken at a Ravens preseason tailgate last year.
If you look closely, you’ll see that he’s in the photo no less than three times (left, center, right). As I was taking it, Gary kept running around behind me so he’d keep showing up in different places.
That was Gary… He made a lot of people laugh over the 30+years that we’ve known him.
He was a high school mate of my younger brother who immediately became his dear friend, and it seems like he has practically been a member of the family for nearly as long as I can remember.
Gary was raised Catholic, but he’s been away from the Church for some time. He wasn’t active in any religion. I guess you could say that he struggled with faith in the broadest sense.
Even so, to give you an idea of the kind of man he was, about ten years ago (or more), out of the blue, Gary, who was in the audio-visual business, handed me a DVD that he had made just for me. It was a recording of a documentary that was shown on PBS entitled (as I recall) “The Faces of Mary,” about Our Blessed Mother as depicted in artwork throughout the centuries.
He even took the time to screen print the title on the DVD, something you didn’t just do on your home PC at the time.
I remember Gary telling me that he watched the program as it recorded. By all indications, that documentary wasn’t Gary’s “thing,” but he knew that it was something that would be special to me, and that was enough for him to make it his thing, at least for that time.
That too was Gary. Damn I’m going to miss that guy…
So, please, join me in offering prayers for my friend, commending his soul to the tender care of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and her Son, Christ Jesus our hope.
Lastly, if I may…
I know that this blog is read by priests and even the occasional bishop, some of whom have made this known to me personally, and certain of whom even occasionally post here anonymously.
If you happen to be among them, would you be so kind as to remember Gary at Holy Mass? And if I may ask, please shoot me an email to let me know: catholicword@comcast.net
I am certain that Gary’s mother, a devout Catholic, will be greatly consoled with that knowledge, as will I, my brother and many others.
Requiem aeternam dona ei, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat ei. Requiescat in pace. Amen.
May the Peace of His Majesty Our Lord Jesus Christ, a Peace not of this world, be to you and yours at this time. Prayers offered for the soul of your dear friend. Mr. V. take comfort in the fact that your witness could have assisted your friend in the moment, and I pray your friend’s gesture touched the Immaculate Heart.
Sorry to hear about your friend, Louie. Hail Marys coming your/his way.
A Hail Mary and Eternal Rest…may Our Lady bring him to Her beloved Son. You are a faithful friend Louie:+) Peace to you too my brother:+) God bless~
RIP. Condolences on the loss of your this friend, Louie, and for his greiving mother.
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‘Eternal Father! I offer Thee the merit of the Precious Blood of Jesus, Thy well-beloved Son, my Saviour and my God, for all my kindred, friends, enemies, the poor, sick and wretched, for those for whom Thou knowest, my God, I ought to pray…for all who, this day, are passing to the other life; that thou wouldst save them from the pains of Hell, and admit them quickly to the possession of Thy Glory. Blessing and thanksgiving be to Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who with His most precious Blood, saves us.’ (from an Indugenced prayer for the ‘suffering souls’.)
Thanks Louie. I love you brother, with all my heart. You are so right, Gary was our brother from another mother. He sure did struggle with his faith but it was only a matter of time before we brought him back to his true home. We kinda ran out of time a bit quicker than we thought, but we will still get him there. We need to pray him home and we will. With you and your readers and our friends and my amazing Pastor, Fr. Matt, we will get him there. No doubt. We have to… because if we don’t, his mom is gonna smack us!
I love you Louie.
The documentary “The Faces of Mary” is absolutely wonderful. It may have touched his heart more than he let on. Mary never abandons Her children. We must pray that She interceded at the “hour of his death.” My prayers are with this poor soul.
This may seem off topic but it isn’t really. We must pray for Archbishop Salvatore Cordelione in San Francisco. Louie, you have told us many times that you in Baltimore are not blessed with a true Shepherd, and that we must pray for him. If you in Baltimore had a Shepherd like the great one in San Fran, who knows how your dear friend would have been touched, and LED.
We need to pray for your bishop, but also for all good bishops.
Dear Louie (and RavensRon)
The love you have for your friend, and the pain of your loss are tangible here. May God console you and all your friends and loved ones. Since He alone knows each soul perfectly, He alone is able to justly judge the state of a soul at the moment of death, which is why we do well always to hope and pray for their salvation, and help all we can to bring them relief from any sufferings in Purgatory through our prayers and offerings.
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Because of the public format here, it’s important to clarify that your emphasis on how nice Gary always was, should not be taken as an attempt to bypass or erase the dire seriousness of anyone possibly dying in a state of Apostasy from the Faith; with the automatic excommunication that entails. Many clerics today dismiss such separation from the Church, with the “Father Barrons mentality” (which quotes Pope Benedict XVI) concluding “most souls likely end up in heaven” is “the most evangelically promising” position to hold.”
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What gives us GENUINE hope in every questionable situation, is the POSSIBILITY that what seems apparently mortally sinful and unrepented, is IN FACT NOT SO, due to circumstances or invincible ignorance which are unknown to us, and whatever happens at the moment of death, known only to God.
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God Bless you Louie and Ron, with continued Faith, Hope, Love, and the Peace that only He can give. (We’re including your intentions in our Rosaries)
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Louie this is just such a great tribute along with the video. I read it to Mom over the phone and Liz will print it out and give it to her with all the comments. The video was beautiful! Gary had the dearest and closest friends. Thank you Louie and Ronnie!