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00:52In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
01:07the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God,
01:12and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
01:16In the waters of baptism, Melissa and Mark died with Christ and rose with him to new life.
01:26May they now share with him eternal glory.
01:46Amen.
02:02Amen.
02:06Amen.
02:11Amen.
07:15the pastor and rector here. Our hearts are deeply saddened at the loss of Melissa and Mark,
07:22and our hearts go out to the family. And I want to welcome Sophie and Colin. I want to welcome
07:29Harry and Linda. And we certainly welcome, viewing from afar, Jay Carroll and Ruth,
07:36the entire family, and all those who are joining. I want to welcome Archbishop Bernard Hebda,
07:42the Archbishop of St. Paul in Minneapolis, and Bishop Richard Pates, who is originally a priest
07:49of our archdiocese and is the retired bishop of the Diocese of Des Moines. We welcome Father Joseph
07:57Gillespie and Father Harry Tasto, a longtime friend of the family. We also welcome President Biden
08:06and Vice President Harris, Governor Walz, any U.S. Senators or House Senators, and members of the
08:13Minnesota House and Senate, all the colleagues of Melissa and friends of Melissa and Mark,
08:20you are very welcome here at the Basilica. I also welcome our downtown clergy group. This started a
08:28number of years ago and has been a great source of unity and a great source of work together for the
08:35common good and for the spreading of our faith wherever we come from. And so they are here in
08:44large numbers today, and I thank them for their presence as well. Let us pray.
08:50O God Almighty Father, our faith professes that your Son died and rose again. Mercifully grant that
09:13through this mystery, your servants, Melissa and Mark, who have fallen asleep in Christ may rejoice
09:21to rise again through him who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever
09:29and ever. Please be seated for the Liturgy of the Word.
09:43A reading from the Book of Wisdom.
10:13The souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them.
10:23They seemed in the view of the foolish to be dead, and their passing away was thought of
10:28as an affliction, and their going forth from us utter destruction. But they are in peace,
10:38they shall be greatly blessed, because God found them worthy of himself. As gold in the furnace,
10:47he proved them and took them to himself. Those who trust in God shall understand truth, and
10:56the faithful shall abide with God in love. The Word of the Lord.
11:03The Word of the Lord.
11:04The Word of the Lord.
12:09The Lord is my shepherd, nothing shall I want.
12:16In verdant pastures he gives me repose.
12:25The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
12:34In verdant pastures he gives me repose.
12:41The Lord is my shepherd, nothing shall I want.
12:55The Lord is my shepherd, nothing shall I want.
13:08In verdant pastures he gives me repose.
13:18Even though I walk in the dark valley, I fear no evil for you are at my side.
13:34The Lord is my shepherd, nothing shall I want.
13:46The Lord is my shepherd, nothing shall I want.
13:59In verdant pastures he gives me repose.
14:09You spread the table before me, in the sight of my foes.
14:21The Lord is my shepherd, nothing shall I want.
14:33The Lord is my shepherd, nothing shall I want.
14:38The Lord is my shepherd, nothing shall I want.
14:46In verdant pastures he gives me repose.
14:56Only goodness and kindness follow me, all the days of my life.
15:10In verdant pastures he gives me repose.
15:13In verdant pastures he gives me repose.
15:16The Lord is my shepherd, nothing shall I want.
15:30In verdant pastures he gives me repose.
15:35Nothing shall I want.
15:38Nothing shall I want.
15:39In verdant pastures he gives me repose.
15:42In verdant pastures he gives me repose.
16:05In verdant pastures he gives me repose.
16:34A reading from the first letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians.
16:39Behold, I tell you a mystery.
16:44We shall not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed, in an instant, in the blink of an eye, at the last trumpet.
16:53For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
17:04For that which is corruptible must clothe itself with incorruptibility, and that which is mortal must clothe itself with immortality.
17:19Then the word that is written shall come about.
17:38Death is swallowed up in victory.
17:45Where, O death, is your victory?
17:50Where, O death, is your sting?
17:55For God gives us the victory over death.
18:00The word of the Lord.
18:02Thanks be to God.
18:04Let us out.
18:14Amen.
18:44I am the resurrection and the life, says the Lord.
19:09Whoever believes in me, even if they die, will live.
19:16Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah.
19:39The Lord be with you.
19:48And with your spirit.
19:52A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew.
19:57Glory to you, O Lord.
20:05When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain.
20:09And after he had sat down, his disciples came to him.
20:14He began to teach them, saying,
20:17Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
20:24Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.
20:30Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the land.
20:36Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.
20:45Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
20:51Blessed are the clean of heart, for they will see God.
20:57Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
21:05Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness.
21:09Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in heaven.
21:19We acclaim in song the Gospel of the Lord.
21:46Please be seated.
21:51With that majestic Alleluia, I'm reminded of the words of Saint John Paul II,
21:57that we are an Easter people, and Alleluia is our song.
22:03Nothing conveys love and support more than presence.
22:08Thank you to those who are here and joining also via livestream.
22:14To Melissa and Mark's family, Sophie and Colin and the parents of Mark and Melissa, our hearts go out to you today.
22:23And we will continue to be praying for you and with you and accompany you in your grief.
22:30Please know the love and support of the Basilica community, and indeed this entire community of the state of Minnesota and the Twin Cities.
22:39Colin and Sophie, your grace and courage in the wake of the tragic death of your parents has been extraordinary.
22:51Thank you both for your courage and being a source of light and hope in the darkness.
22:58More about this in a few minutes.
23:01Sophie and Colin rightly have communicated that this funeral mass should be a celebration of the lives of Mark and Melissa.
23:10And it's always a celebration at the mass of God's love and grace.
23:15Indeed, they lived lives with purpose and meaning, lives lived in service of others, in community with those they loved, their family and their friends.
23:29Friends, God is present here in this Basilica.
23:35The Catholic mass is imbued with the love and grace of God, who accompanies us at all times, including in our grief and in our hope for new life.
23:48God is present here.
23:50God loves each of us, every one of us here with a deep and abiding love, a transformative love.
24:01We need to hear this more often.
24:04It's true.
24:05Today in the Catholic tradition, it is the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
24:12Mary, who is honored in the Catholic tradition as the mother of God, was given on the cross, and you can see the scene to my left, was given by Jesus to all people, not just Catholics, not just Christians, all as a spiritual mother.
24:32As Mary accompanied her son to the cross, she accompanies us as a tender mother in our time of need.
24:42While my homily will focus on Melissa and Mark and the love of God, the family has permitted me to say a word about our present reality as a nation and as a state, as we seek to turn the page to a brighter future.
24:58In a recent email exchange with a prominent Catholic layman from the United States, he said, our nation is in need of deep healing.
25:10I could not agree more.
25:13It seems as if we are living in the dystopian reality in the beginning of William Butler Yeats poem, The Second Coming.
25:23Yeats poem ends in hope.
25:27Hope is present here.
25:30My hope is in a God who made heaven and earth, who created and redeemed us, and who seeks our healing and our restoration.
25:42The path of healing and restoration begins with each of us in our hearts.
25:49That's where healing first begins, in our own hearts and in accepting the invitation by God to be loved, to enter into friendship with God, and to be sent in our society as a leaven for good.
26:05I have hope that we will open up to God's abundant grace, including me, right?
26:12All of us have that opportunity, that invitation.
26:15Here in Minnesota, we have been the ground zero place, sadly, for racial injustice, the killing of George Floyd just miles from our church today.
26:27And now we are the ground zero place for political violence and extremism.
26:32Both of these must be decried in the strongest possible terms, as they are respectively a threat to human dignity and indeed our democracy.
26:46Sadly, racial disparities, some of the most acute in the country persist here in Minnesota, with modest gains in some areas and widening gaps in others over the last five years.
27:00But friends, this can be Minnesotans.
27:02This can be a zero ground zero place for restoration and justice and healing.
27:09But we must work together and there is much more work to be done.
27:15Your presence here is a sign that we can do that work.
27:20Memory is an integral dimension of the Christian faith.
27:24It was the memory of God's liberating action in Egypt, which helped form God's people and foreshadowed the liberating work and mission of Jesus Christ.
27:36It was the memory of the words and deeds of Jesus, which formed the Gospels, which we heard from today.
27:43On the night before he died, Jesus told his friends to do this, the celebration of the Eucharist in memory of him.
27:53So too, when we honor the memory of Melissa and Mark Hortman, we honor the God who created them, redeemed them and gifted them.
28:05In meeting with Mark and Melissa's family and in exchanges with friends and colleagues, two things stood out powerfully.
28:12There were two lights that guided their life service and community services and community.
28:21And you're going to hear that in the eulogies after the mass today.
28:26Service and community are antidotes to our present afflictions as a state and as a nation.
28:33They met in service.
28:36A great story upon first meeting.
28:38They were assigned to the same student.
28:40Now there is some information that Mark might have seen an opportunity and moved in.
28:45Some would say this was serendipity.
28:50I would say that it was God's providence.
28:55And Bob Warhol, our longtime maintenance man at the Basilica, remembers Melissa serving in high school at a nursing home.
29:04This has always been her way.
29:06As her father Harry said, she has practiced the golden rule.
29:11It was no wonder Mark and Melissa paired so beautifully.
29:16They shared similar values and interests.
29:19A rich humanity.
29:21Both manifested a dynamic pairing of head and heart.
29:25I love meeting folks who have really great minds and really generous hearts.
29:31That is a powerful combination.
29:35The noted 20th century Catholic theologian Romano Guardini says that all power is rightly exercised in service.
29:44And he points to Jesus Christ as the foremost example.
29:48I quoted this at Tom Johnson, our three-time county attorney's funeral down the road at Our Lady of Lourdes.
29:55And that was true of Tom.
29:57And it is certainly true of Melissa and Mark.
30:00In the Catholic teaching, Catholic social teaching conveys that authority should always be oriented to the common good.
30:09It is not about self-aggrandizement, but always in service of the common good.
30:16And what is the common good hoping to promote flourishing personal and collective flourishing with always care for those on the margins.
30:31Even in law school, a mutual friend, Matt Forsgren, could see Melissa's strong potential to serve and lead.
30:43Matt said this on his LinkedIn page.
30:46Melissa, Melissa, he said, was a force for good.
30:51As I watched her career, I was even more impressed and grateful that she chose to serve all of us instead of pursuing the countless opportunities as a lawyer she could have pursued.
31:06A bishop friend of mine who is here in Minnesota and now serves on the East Coast said this.
31:13Melissa lived her life by the golden rule, as her father said in the news.
31:19That was my experience, he said of her as well.
31:22And I think that that's what made her capable of reaching across the aisle.
31:28He goes on.
31:29I found her respectful toward the bishops, even when we parted ways on issues.
31:36He ends by saying, may she rest in peace.
31:41The other leading light of their lives was community service and community.
31:46The family told me that their neighborhood is an extraordinary place of community.
31:52And Mark and Melissa were the first to really foster that community.
31:56In fact, at one point they moved houses, 15 houses down, and they just walked the couch right down to their new home that abutted Edinburgh golf course.
32:07So sorry if I was digging in their yard at some point looking for my golf ball.
32:12And they enjoyed time on the deck with each other, having a happy hour.
32:18They enjoyed friends.
32:19It was called the Hortman Hotel.
32:21Everybody was welcome.
32:23Card games, monthly card games were a wonderful thing that was part of Mark's life.
32:29And then gourmet dinners with their law school friends monthly.
32:34Now I have a pretty busy life.
32:36I'm also a professor at St. Thomas Law School.
32:39I can't believe how Melissa and Mark lived community with that degree of intentionality.
32:47It's a beautiful thing.
32:52They shared love for travel, other pursuit pursuits.
32:56Mark was described by his children as a hobbyist with a curious mind.
33:01Again, both very bright.
33:03He loved mountain biking and also making furniture.
33:07Colin told a beautiful story that they had an opportunity to make furniture together.
33:12That one day Colin and his fiancee's children.
