Recordings and resources
God gave each of us a unique light. That light is not put out when we die; it is not given to someone else. The light shines on. How will the unique light that God has given me shine on after I am gone?
Session resources
Session one: The Light Is Given
- Poems and Quotes John used in his presentation
- Song, We Belong to You by Trevor Thompson
- Song, Were I the Perfect Child of God, text by John Bell, arr. by Tony Alonso and Michael Mahler
- Song, This Is How by Chris de Silva
- Song, I Will Lift My Eyes by Tony Alonso
Session two: May the Perpetual Light Shine Forever
- Michael used The Order of Christian Funerals as the sourcebook for his presentation. As Michael mentioned, it is sold at several sites. Our friends at Liturgical Training Publications have created a special offer for Beyond the Moon and Stars participants for this and other resources that complement our theme.
- Information about cremation is included in The Order of Christian Funerals. Please see Appendix 2.
- Teaching Mourners the Language of Witness: How to Transform the Funeral Eulogy by Diana Macalintal. The third page of the article includes questions for families to reflect upon when talking about their beloved dead.
- Blessed Are those who Mourn: Music for the Order of Christian Funerals, Revised Order of Mass 2010, a collection of over 100 pieces of music for the funeral rites and order of service for the funeral vigil, funeral mass and rite of committal.
- The Last Journey: Music Collection-Songs for the Time of Grieving, a small collection of hymn texts for reflection of offering as a gift to funeral families.
- Funeral Planning Guide
Session three: Stewarding the Gift of Life
- The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker, The Free Press, New York, 1973.
- Being Mortal: Illness, Medicine, and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande, Welcome Collection, London, 2014.
- Henri Nouwen: Writings Selected with an Introduction by Robert A. Jonas, Orbis Books, Maryknoll, New York, 1998.
- The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy, Bantam Books, 1981.
- Assisted Suicide, Euthanasia or Better End-of-Life Care? by Matthew Kenny, Ph.D., Henry Schneiderman MD, MACP
- Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, Santa Clara University
- American Medical Association, Medical ethics and end of life: What every patient should know
- Hospice Foundation of America, End-of-Life Ethics, a program available on DVD: A Sneak Peek
- National POLST, The Basics about POLST
- The Kennedy Institute of Ethics, Introduction to Bioethics: Bioethics at the End of Life by Dr. Maggie Little
- Hope and Care at the End of Life by Daniel Sulmasy, MD, Ph.D.
- The Last Sweet Murmur of the Dead by Daniel Sulmasy, MD, Ph.D.
- Voluntarily Stopping Eating and Drinking: Separating the Wheat from the Chaff by Jeremy Make
- A Better Way to Die by Jeremy Make
Session four: A Legacy of Light
- Quotes used by Michael in his presentation
- International Catholic Stewardship Council
- 2021 Conference has both virtual and in-person attendance options
Our Presentation Team
Session 1: John Flaherty
John is proud husband to Kathleen and dad to Clare, Kennith, James, Colin and Aidan. John’s 41-year career has been at the service of the Church as an educator, elementary school principal, music director, liturgy director and composer. He has taught at all levels, from elementary to postgraduate.
John has been with Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles for more than twenty-five years. Currently, he is the Associate Director of Campus Ministry and Director of Liturgy and Music. He also teaches in the University’s Center for Religion and Spirituality, where he serves as the Founding Director of the Pastoral Liturgy and Pastoral Music Certification programs.
John has planned and directed the music for the Episcopal ordinations and other major gatherings of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. John has taught in the Los Angeles Archdiocese and San Bernardino Diocese Diaconate Formation Programs.
John has served as the Chairperson of the Liturgy Committee and Music Director for the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress since 1991, the largest annual Catholic catechetical and liturgical gathering in the world.
He has worked extensively with the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops, including having served as the music director for two national conferences of the USCCB - Encuentro 2000 and Jubilee Justice. For several years, John provided the music for the annual bishops retreat for Ecclesiastical Province of Los Angeles which includes the dioceses of Fresno, Monterey, Orange, San Bernardino, San Diego and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
Especially noted for his love for, and expertise in, multi-cultural prayer and liturgy, John has served as music director for numerous conferences and liturgies throughout the United States. From large gatherings with the larger Church or smaller gatherings with her leaders, John counts it as privilege to have led thousands in prayer and worship.
John holds Master’s degrees in liturgy and in Catholic school administration.
Session 2: Michael Silhavy
Michael Silhavy is Senior Project Editor at GIA Publications (Chicago) and has worked in parish, grade school, university, cathedral and diocesan settings. He is also director of music at St. Mary church, Riverside, IL.
Michael’s work at GIA centers around choral and congregational music, hymnals and working with composers and authors to create musical and liturgical resources for both Roman Catholic congregations and the wider ecumenical community. He is a regular contributor to the GIA Quarterly, writing on various liturgical and music topics. Currently, he is working with a team of ecumenical colleagues from across the country in creating a graveside prayer and music resource in response to the way the restrictions of the Covid 19 pandemic have affected the way families, friends and congregations gather to remember their dead. He was editor for the Blest Are Those Who Mourn, Second Edition, a hymnal and pastoral resource of music for the Order of Christian Funerals.
Prior to joining GIA, Michael served as director of music at the Cathedral of Our Lady in Duluth, Minnesota, and as the Associate Director of the Worship Office for the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis for fifteen years, where his responsibilities included liturgical and musical training and formation for clergy, parishes ministers and choir members. His music responsibilities in the archdiocese also included serving as the director of the archdiocesan choir. In addition to his chancery work, Michael served as a parish music director, allowing him to be grounded in the realities of parish life, and valuing the experience of weekly music-making with a congregation.
Michael is also a workshop presenter, frequently leading reading sessions around the country of new choral and congregational music. He joined with his GIA colleagues in presenting a number of webinars in 2020 addressing the challenges to liturgical and musical life in the parish brought about by the Covid 19 pandemic.
He is a graduate of De Paul University (music education); Loyola University, Chicago (theology); and St. John’s University, Collegeville (liturgical studies).
Session 3: Sr. Jean Katherine deBlois, CSJ
Sr. Jean Katherine deBlois, baptized Beverly, was born in San Francisco, California. She entered the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet in 1968 and was received into the novitiate in 1969 in the Los Angeles province.
Before entering the congregation, she became a registered nurse. After entering, she received a Bachelor’s degree in nursing from Mt. St. Mary College in Los Angeles in 1971 and worked as a critical care nurse and nursing supervisor at Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital in Los Angeles. She received a Master’s degree in theology and ethics from the University of San Francisco in 1980 and a Ph.D. in moral theology and medical ethics from The Catholic University of America in 1988.
Sr. Jean transferred to the St. Louis Province after becoming a member of the faculty in the Department of Internal Medicine at St. Louis University Health Sciences Center, where she served as associate director of the Center for Healthcare Ethics from 1989 to 1993. During the next six years, she served at the Catholic Health Association as the senior associate for clinical ethics (1993-1997) and vice president of mission and sponsorship (1997-1999).
In 1999, Sr. Jean joined the faculty of Aquinas Institute of Theology, where she was a professor of moral theology and started and directed the MA in Health Care Mission program (2000-2016). She served her CSJ community as a provincial councilor (2002-2008). She also served as CSJ sponsor liaison to Ascension Health (2003-2008).
Since 2016, Sr. Jean has served as professor emerita/adjunct faculty at Aquinas Institute of Theology. She works with the Nazareth Living Center ethics committee and is an ethics consultant for the Hospital Sisters Health System in Springfield, Illinois.
For fun, Sr. Jean loves old movies and playing with her adopted friend, Joe, the late Sr. Pat Flavin’s beloved pup.
Session 4: Michael Murphy
Michael Murphy is the Executive Director of the International Catholic Stewardship Council. He has worked with the ICSC board of directors to bring Christian stewardship and Catholic philanthropy to the Catholic Church in Asia and Central and South America. He has addressed bishops’ conferences in the United States, the Philippines, Latin America and the Caribbean.
Mr. Murphy established the first development office for the Archdiocese of Detroit in 1994 and served as its director as well as that of the Archdiocese of Detroit Endowment Foundation for 17 years. As a result of his own research and theological reflection on Christian stewardship, Mr. Murphy and his team developed a comprehensive manual for introducing parishes to stewardship. Now in its second printing, Called by Christ, Gifted by the Spirit, has enjoyed much success among parishes and dioceses in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and, in its Spanish-language version, in parts of Latin America.
Mr. Murphy’s team assisted the archbishop of Detroit in securing funds, both for the archdiocese and for Catholic institutions internationally, in an aggregate amount of $650 million over a span of 14 years. This included a $100 million archdiocesan endowment fund, the largest of its kind in the mid-90s; a $27.4 million scholarship fund for inner-city Catholic school children; and $352.6 million in archdiocesan annual appeal funds. The appeal itself yielded an average $30.2 million per year in funding over a nine-year period. It remains the largest diocesan annual appeal in North America.
A native Tennessean, Mr. Murphy was a practicing attorney who specialized in the areas of litigation and probate and estate planning. He studied in the divinity program at the University of Notre Dame, where he also earned a Master's degree in systematic theology.