First Catholic priest in US to die of COVID-19: The practical good of Good Friday

“In this time of crisis and panic, it’s time to love
and live our faith.” This was the message of the first Catholic priest to
die of coronavirus in America.

Rev. Jorge Ortiz-Garay graduated in his native Mexico with a law degree, then followed his calling into the priesthood. He attended seminary in Italy in the 1990s, then studied theology in New Jersey. He was ordained at the Archdiocese of Newark in 2004 and served as pastor of St. Brigid Church in Brooklyn.

A priest at the church said of him, “In the community,
he was known to be a father—a father to many.” He was especially known for
his work with children; in videos, he sings Christmas carols in Spanish with
them. He also loved working with youth, including last year’s trip to Panama
for World Youth Day.

Just days before he died on March 27, he officiated a Mass. The pews were empty; dozens prayed with him from home via livestream. Afterward, he fell ill but thought it was a minor cold since he had chronic bronchitis. His condition worsened and he was taken to the hospital where he died from COVID-19.

He was forty-nine years old.

The practical good of Good Friday

Frederick
Buechner admits that the problem of evil is “perhaps the greatest single
problem for religious faith.” He notes that “Christian Science solves the problem of evil by saying that it
does not exist except as an illusion of mortal mind. Buddhism solves it in
terms of reincarnation and an inexorable law of cause and effect.”

However, “Christianity
. . . ultimately offers no theoretical solution at all. It merely points to the
cross and says that, practically speaking, there is no evil so dark and so
obscene—not even this—but that God can turn it to good.”

The “good” from Good Friday is first and foremost,
of course, our salvation purchased by Jesus’ atoning death. He died for Father
Ortiz just as he died for you and me. His death made possible our salvation…