CV NEWS FEED // After the tragic January 29 plane crash in Washington, D.C., Father Frederick Edlefsen and Joseph Mazel, a Knight of Columbus, rushed to the Reagan National Airport to comfort the family members of those who perished in the accident.
Mazel’s son Jimmy, a 17-year-old aspiring pilot, had seen the crash at 8:47 p.m. when he was watching planes fly in and out of the airport at Arlington’s Gravelly Point Park, the Knights of Columbus report. He texted his father, who decided to reach out to Fr. Edlefsen.
“I was prompted to reach out to Father to head over to the airport because there was bound to be a need for anointing of the sick, last rites, spiritual counseling, prayer, blessings,” Mazel said.
Mazel himself spent 30 years serving in the military, law enforcement, and as a first responder.
“For better or for worse, I have had a substantial amount of experience with mass casualty events,” said Mazel. “It gives you an appreciation for [who] needs to be there, not only for the immediate survivors or the victims, but also the responders.”
As CatholicVote previously reported, there were no survivors of the crash between the American Airlines flight, which was carrying figure skaters and their families from a competition in Kansas, and the Black Hawk military helicopter, which was carrying three soldiers.
Fr. Edlefsen agreed to go to help, and Mazel contacted the Arlington Police Department, who allowed them to enter the American Airlines lounge at Reagan, which was the designated family reunification center. There were two other non-Catholic chaplains, a therapy dog, and grief counselors present.
“My mind [was] all befuddled, and every now and then you need somebody to point out and say, ‘Don’t forget to do this,’” Fr. Edlefsen said.
He noted the tragic announcement at 1:30 a.m. that there were no survivors, and that authorities would not be able to identify or release the bodies for several weeks.
“When that announcement was made, it really hit [the families] like you can’t even begin to understand,” the priest said.
Mazel added, “That was a heartbreaking moment, to essentially see the hope that folks were clinging on to kind of fade away.”
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Fr. Edlefsen said that for the most part, he ministered to the grieving families simply by being present, and when he spoke he relied on the Holy Spirit’s guidance.
He also relied on his father’s example, a radio announcer who interviewed many families after the military announced to them that they had lost a loved one in the Vietnam War.
Mazel also said that he focused on being present to the grieving families.
“You don’t need to have the perfect thing to say,” he said. “It’s just being present. It’s holding their hand if they’re upset. It’s letting them talk. It’s letting them grieve. It’s letting them be angry.”
He also said that his faith and career prepared him to help those in need.
“As Knights, this is what we do — we respond when people are in need, regardless of the job. [As a first responder], you’re going to see a lot of tragedy, you’re going to see a lot of heartbreak, you’re going to see a lot of challenges,” Mazel said. “And when you do, realize that at that moment you can be the face of God to that person.”
Fr. Edlefsen offered a Mass for all those affected by the crash a few days afterward and kept in touch with some of the families.
“You’re actually participating and sharing in their grief and taking some of that upon yourself,” Fr. Edlefsen explained. “You will never see life the same after something like this. It changes your outlook, and it changes the way you pray, what you think about, and what you ponder.”
At the lounge, Fr. Edlefsen and Mazel met Andy Beyer of Virginia and his 6-year-old son, Kallen. Beyer’s wife, Justyna, and 12-year-old daughter, Brielle, died in the crash. Fr. Edlefsen contacted Bishop Michael Burbidge and the Beyers’ pastor, Father Michael Taylor of Corpus Christi Church in Aldie, to inform them of the deaths of their parishioners.
“I’m still in shock, but I lost my soulmate and my princess last night,” Beyer wrote in a Facebook post. “They were truly beautiful people inside and out.”
When Brielle was a baby, she was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, neuroblastoma. Another priest from Fairfax, Virginia, Father Juan Puigbó, had prayed with the family for their daughter’s healing, and after she was healed, remained close with the family, giving Brielle her first Communion and blessing their first home. Fr. Puigbó, Fr. Edlefsen, and Fr. Taylor concelebrated Brielle and Justyna’s funeral Mass on March 3.
“It’s going to be so hard to bury you girls today. I miss you so much,” Beyer wrote on his Facebook page on the day of the funeral. “And I love you both always. Thank you for being the loves of my life. I hope I see you in heaven one day.”
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