1. 1. Author: Br Stephen Dardis, LC - Reprint with Permission of goodnews@arcol.org
2. 2. Al Copeland, the founder of Popeyes Chicken and Biscuits, has a tomb that looks like no other. Vehicles zooming along the interstate easily see some of Copelands treasures on public exhibit at the cemetery: speed boats, monster trucks, and sports cars, among other embellishments, and the ornate monument that encases his body. None of these would accompany him now. Yet with four marriages and a life clearly lived in the fast lane, his Catholic funeral celebration provoked a lot of gossip.
3. 3. Is that how the Church operates: pay the price, and anyone can be saved? some asked. But one woman guessed the truth: He must have done his First Fridays.
4. 4. Just weeks before Als funeral he asked for a trip to Rome, as he put it, to get things right with Jesus. The priest who organized the trip remembers that, following a Mass in St. Peters, the millionaire, his face disfigured from cancer, sat attentively in his wheelchair, listening to a woman kneeling beside him. She kept kissing his hand while praying the Rosary with him. The priest could not see the womans face, but Al was evidently moved. Tears were rolling down his face, and the priest knew that Al was getting right with Jesus. Only a week before, Lourdes had commemorated the 150th anniversary of the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary to St. Bernadette,
5. 5. Those riding in the car sat silently and dumbfounded. We that, on that very day, February 18th, France was celebrating the Feast of St. Bernadette, which normally falls a week earlier. For those present, the coincidence was just another confirmation of Gods closeness during those moments. Following the healing baths and with time running out before the return to Rome, a determined and visibly moved Al Copeland managed to fulfill the rather complex requirements of Lourdes Plenary Indulgence. His death followed only weeks later.
6. 6. Under criticism for allowing Mr. Copeland a Catholic funeral Mass, the Church officials had only one response. This was not the story of scandal, but of Divine Mercy. Those bemoaning his funeral and all who hear the story might rediscover the source and overwhelming joy of Christian hope, solidly founded upon Christ and His promises, and solemnly entrusted to the ministry of the Church. Christs words carry a lifetime guarantee, and God offers it to all who will accept it. It is a fact that many souls live to hear that same awe-inspiring promise extended to them, just as it was granted once to a thief in his final hours: Today, you will be with me in Paradise.