
Many wouldn't know the guy but the Malone family have been through a lot of hardship.
Decades ago, the large family I believe was around six to eight kids were getting ready to open their Christmas presents.
Their father Joseph went outside to pull a car out of a ditch.
Something went wrong and the car ran over the Father and he died.
All this happen while the kids were watching from the window of the house.
On Christmas Eve???
Steven's brother Tom was electrocuted in 1986.

Very sad indeed
Mes sympathie a la Famille!!
SPIRITUAL LIVING
Prayer and Devotions
Mixed Reactions
by Father Steven Reilly, LC
Resolution: When you fear something, lift your heart up to the Lord to ask him for the courage to do or say what will be most pleasing to him.
March 8, 2008
Saturday of the fourth week of Lent
John 7: 40-53
Some in the crowd who heard these words said, "This is truly the Prophet." Others said, "This is the Christ." But others said, "The Christ will not come from Galilee, will he? Does not scripture say that the Christ will be of David's family and come from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?" So a division occurred in the crowd because of him. Some of them even wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him. So the guards went to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, "Why did you not bring him?" The guards answered, "Never before has anyone spoken like this man." So the Pharisees answered them, "Have you also been deceived? Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd, which does not know the law, is accursed." Nicodemus, one of their members who had come to him earlier, said to them, "Does our law condemn a person before it first hears him and finds out what he is doing?" They answered and said to him, "You are not from Galilee also, are you? Look and see that no prophet arises from Galilee." Then each went to his own house..
Introductory Prayer: Holy Spirit, come! Set my heart ablaze with the fire of your love. Help me to hear your voice during this meditation and give me strength to be faithful when it is hard.
Petition: Lord, grant me courage when my spiritual commitment is threatened by human respect.
1. Mixed Reactions. In John’s Gospel, there is a crystalline clarity about Jesus: “And the Word was God” (John 1: 1). Yet no other evangelist documents better the mixed reactions that surrounded Jesus. Today’s reading is a case in point: On the one hand, for some in the crowd, Jesus is the Prophet or, better yet, the Christ; for others that can’t be, since (apparently) he doesn’t fulfill expected messianic indicators. As we read these texts, we wish that it could have been otherwise. Would it not have been great if the crowd just lifted Jesus on their shoulders, and the authorities and Pharisees joined in with heartfelt “hosannas” of their own. Yet, there is something positive about mixed reactions. As was the case back then, Jesus today has his followers, and he has his detractors. That means we have to make a personal choice. And that’s good. Souls who simply go along for the sake of the crowd can just as easily be turned in the other direction, for the sake of the crowd. Palm Sunday will provide us with ample reminder of that.
2. A Speaker Like No Other. The empty-handed guards demonstrate the power of Jesus’ human persona. His eloquence moved hearts – "Never before has anyone spoken like this man" – because it was validated by the utter sincerity and purity of his life. So despite the negative reactions of those with preconceived notions or written-in-stone agendas, if there is openness, the message of Jesus can penetrate. That should fuel our hope and help us to maintain our efforts to evangelize.
3. Nicodemus, Can’t You Do Better Than That? In that bubbling cauldron of mixed reactions, another response pops to the surface: that of Nicodemus, the one who visited Jesus at night in John 3. He’s the example of the person who knows what he ought to do and yet stumbles on his own human respect. The best Nicodemus can come up with in that critical moment is a mere plea for due process. But even that is a beginning. The cautious Nicodemus will later be publicly committing himself by assisting Joseph of Arimathea at Jesus’ burial. That gives hope to the rest of us temporizers. The grace of God never ceases to work.… Better late than never!
Conversation with Christ: Lord Jesus, your life here was surrounded by mixed reactions. Help me to persevere when I find that my own efforts to live the Gospel create opposition.
Resolution: When I find myself in a situation where I am holding back for fear of a negative reaction, I will lift my heart up to the Lord to ask him for the courage to do or say what will be most pleasing to him.