This morning, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was found dead at a ranch he was visiting in Texas. 

Frankly, I’m reeling.

There’s a sort of strange thing that happens when you move to the DC area. You begin to realize that the kind of people you’ve only heard about on the news or seen on TV are a part of your world now. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve gone to Mass with Rick Santorum, Pat Buchanan, Justice Clarence Thomas, or Justice Antonin Scalia.

Scalia, like Buchanan, was someone I only ever saw at the Traditional Latin Mass. (His son, Fr. Paul Scalia, is a priest of the Diocese of Arlington and our Vicar for Clergy.)

I didn’t know Justice Scalia — I never had the nerve to introduce myself to him — but I have always admired and respected him. His dissent on Planned Parenthood vs. Casey is probably the only Supreme Court decision I’ve ever read, and it really left an impression on me. He was, in my opinion, the best man on the court — and the most stalwart guardian of true justice in America.

His role on the court was so pivotal that his loss, especially in an election year, will have repercussions for our entire country that we cannot ignore.

But first, we grieve the loss of a good man and life-long public servant. First, we mourn with his family — his wife Maureen and their nine children — and as a nation.

Please join us in praying for the repose of his soul.

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord…