5/4/08

"Not sacrilegious at all" - Mike Timlin


Red Sox Cremation Urn from Eternal Image


I've posted four times on the topic of cremation and the disposition the cremains ("ashes"). Lots of folks in cyberspace are interested in this topic and land here at ConcordPastor after they Google "ashes." I suspect I'll have more visitors after reading this morning's paper. An article in the Sports section of today's Boston Sunday Globe reports on the citizens of "Red Sox Nation" and their desire to have their "loved ones' ashes find their way into ballpark soil."

I kid you not.

Here are some excerpts; you can read the rest of the story on your own. Check the bottom of this post for my comments.

Across enemy lines, south of New Haven and deep in New York Yankees territory, Britton John Broatch lived and breathed the Red Sox. He was Nomar Garciaparra in the backyard Wiffle ball games with his three brothers, and he defended himself admirably against the rabid fans of the Evil Empire...

There were the family pilgrimages to Fenway Park, and trips to Yankee Stadium to root for the Sox against the Bronx Bombers.

But in an instant, the good times ended.

Britton died suddenly of a brain aneurysm on July 1, 2003, while visiting his brother in San Diego. He was only 25. The devastated family wrote to Red Sox president Larry Lucchino. They wanted to scatter Britton's ashes at his favorite place: Fenway Park.

Initially, there was no response.

The Broatch family had bleacher tickets at Fenway for an August game against the Twins. As they were leaving the house, they took Britton's ashes with them. Then the phone rang.

"We were literally in the driveway, heading up to Boston," said Britton's mother, Cydney. "We had to go back and answer the phone. A representative for the Red Sox said, 'Your request has been granted.' "

The Red Sox gave the Broatches a VIP tour of the park. The family watched batting practice from the field. Principal owner John W. Henry shook their hands, and they watched a Red Sox victory.

They were invited back the next morning. It was an off day before a big Yankee series...

The family walked to home plate. Britton's father, James, said a prayer. The family, including three brothers and a sister, solemnly scattered Britton's ashes around the plate... The brief ceremony was kept secret.

"They didn't want to tell the team," said Kierran. "I don't know why, superstitious or what?"

The next evening, the Yankees marched into Fenway and the Red Sox pounded them, 10-5.

"Make sure you say ever since we did that, we won two championships," said Kierran proudly. "It's all magical. When we spread my brother's ashes around home plate, we took some Fenway dirt back with us. I've got a jar of it here. I had it in my pocket for both World Series victories."

The Broatch family thought their idea of scattering ashes was unique. "We thought we were the only people on earth to ever have thought of this," said Cydney. "I believe when it's your son, you believe you're the only one. How many thousands are thinking the same thing?"

Too many, according to the Red Sox, who no longer honor such requests. "We had to implement a change in that policy," said vice president of media relations John Blake. "We were concerned that we were getting too many requests."

"I think a million people would want to do it," agreed Lou Gorman, the former Red Sox general manager and current executive consultant. "Many times you go out there after a game and you'll see [ashes] on the grounds. I went out there last year twice, and twice I saw it on the warning track. It's unbelievable. It's almost like a burial ground of Red Sox Nation. It's amazing how it happens. Most of the time, it's done on off days. Someone comes in on a tour group and they just drop them on the ground. It happens frequently."

Five years ago, Marilee Comerford of Marshfield sneaked in a baggie with some of the remains of her father, Jay Lintner, to a game at Fenway. "I just pulled it out of my bag, looked around, and sprinkled a couple of pinches of ashes under my grandstand seat," Comerford said. "Right in with the spilled popcorn and other detritus. That way, when we come here, it feels like my Dad's spirit is here, too."

...Some Red Sox players say the scattering of ashes is OK with them. "It's not sacrilegious, by any means," said reliever Mike Timlin. "Doesn't bother me a bit. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust..."

- Stan Grossfield, Globe Staff

With stories like this, the Catholic Church's position on the disposition of human remains looks more and more sensible. Granted, that's the statement of a Catholic priest who has never lost a night's sleep over any ball team, but - give me a break!

When Mike Timlin declares that scattering ashes in the shadow of the Green Monster is "not sacriligeous, by any means" I'm not sure if he's defending the sacredness of human remains or Fenway Park as a sanctuary.

The deeper issue here, generally about 6 feet deep, is respect for the human body which, in life, was a temple of God's Spirit. Not envisioning cremains to be kept on book shelves or mantles, or to be scattered anywhere (neither at sea nor on the mainland), or to be worn as jewelry in decorated capsules, the Church expects human remains to be buried either in the ground or at sea - and certainly not in "the spilled popcorn and other detritus" in the Fenway bleacher seats.

The Church invites families to place Christian symbols near or on the casket during the time of a funeral service, principally, a large white cloth (pall) as a reminder of the white garment given and worn at baptism. Other symbols such as a Cross, a bible or a rosary might also be used. More partisan emblems are wonderful keepsakes but not the symbols of Christian faith and life to be lifted up in prayer or rite.

The Catholic funeral service in ritual song, word and deed faces and accepts the reality of death while trusting and praying that the deceased will be welcomed to eternal joy with God. While certainly acknowledging how those who have gone before us continue to hold a deep place in our hearts and affections, nothing in Catholic ritual or theology pretends that the deceased still lives among us.

What Christians hope and pray for is that day when we will be reunited with our bodies and, more importantly, with all those who have gone before us. Life with God forever is our hope and the scripture reminds us that in Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female, and, I trust we can add, neither Sox fan nor Yankee. (Galatians 3:28)

-ConcordPastor

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