I will be 71 years old in a few days. My older brother and sister died at 80. As my parents aged they told me that the older you get, the fewer friends you have — they start to die off. It is true.
We have had a good number of friends die in the last year or so—an unhappy sensation.
Today, we discovered our priest friend Fr. Daren Zehnle died at only 47 years old. That is too young. A stroke took him home to his Lord. He had been with us on pilgrimage, and we corresponded. Brilliant man, holy priest. God rest his soul!
One of the last entries on his X account (which I always read) discussed his desire to return to Manoppello to see the Volto Sancto, the Holy Face of Jesus. He wrote “The image of Manoppello … those living eyes not only have a miraculous origin but look for other eyes that are open to being searched, without screens and defenses, serene in affirming. I need to get back to see the Holy Face again soon.”
Little did he know he would see that face in only a few days. God rest the soul of a good man, a holy priest, and a friend.
Below Fr. Daren is in the center in the presence of the great relic and gift to the Church, the Facecloth of Christ in Manoppello.
