Speaking Words of Comfort in the Face of Tragedy

Manhattan Church Rite Recalls Beloved Son Killed in Blast

Posted

What does one say to comfort a family in the face of a devastating tragedy?

As a priest Father Lawrence Ford, O.F.M, has officiated at many funerals. But he acknowledged finding the right words to say during his homily at the funeral of Nicholas Figueroa, the 23-year-old former Eagle Scout, student, son, brother and friend who was killed in the deadly East Village gas explosion March 26 as he was paying his bill following a lunch date, posed a challenge.

Family, friends, neighbors and city officials filled Holy Name of Jesus Church on West 96th Street April 7 for Figueroa’s Funeral Mass. There were his parents, his three brothers Neal, Brandon and Tyler, his former fellow Boy Scouts, college classmates from his alma mater Buffalo State and other relatives. The same day a Funeral Mass was offered in Queens for the other victim in the blast, Moises Ismael Locón Yac, 27, a Guatemalan immigrant who was bussing tables in the sushi restaurant where Figueroa had been dining when the explosion occurred.

“It was very difficult because you’re trying to it figure out. I mean I have my own questions, you can’t help but wonder why does this stuff happen?” Father Ford, Holy Name’s pastor, told CNY. “I think I’m getting at least wise enough to know that there’s not an intentional causal plan. Ours is not a God who eliminates suffering, ours is one who helps us to come through it and that we’ll be okay on the other end. But it’s a hard thing to try to say what you hope people need to hear and in a way that they can hold on to it.

“It’s one thing for us who are trained in theology to get these points. But for young people, and there were a lot of young people there, they’re still learning it. They’re still trying to grasp it.”

Father Ford said he saw his role as more of a “listener” when he met with the Figueroa family. He said the family was well known in the community and that word spread quickly as new details of the tragedy emerged over the nearly two-week tribulation leading up to the funeral. The FDNY pulled the two bodies from the rubble Palm Sunday afternoon March 29 ending an excruciating vigil at the site led by his brothers and any hope that either man would be found alive. Holy Name parishioners had prayed for both Figueroa and for Locón during Prayers of the Faithful on Palm Sunday and again on Easter Sunday. Father Ford said the period between when the two men went missing and when the bodies were found was difficult and said the parish had been in touch with the Figueroa family several times during their ordeal.

“They’ve been struggling,” Father Ford acknowledged. “They are a very loving, sweet family. There is obviously a great deal of affection and respect and a family fidelity between children and parents and siblings and spouses. They clearly enjoy each other and that the stuff that helps you do better in these situations.

Luis Benitez, one of Mr. Figueora’s former scoutmasters, delivered the eulogy at the funeral. “Today we send you off with our love and blessing,” he said. “We will always love you, Nicholas.”

As homilist, Father Ford said his role was to tell the story of how Nicholas’ faith formed him into the person he became, the young man so cherished by his family and friends. “Nicholas suffered a death not unlike Jesus,” Father Ford said. “He was too young. The death was too soon, too immediate and too tragic. But death gives way to the power of resurrection and new life and Jesus promises to come back and call us forward from the grave and tomb—and from the rubble.”