Remembering Sheriff Richard H. Berdnik

We gather here today to recall how Richard Berdnik got into our hearts to change our lives. He was able to get into our hearts and to fix our lives, not because he was a trained mechanic but because he was a magnanimous man. Magnanimity is one of the most important of all virtues, for without magnanimity, all the other virtues are never as strong as we hope them to be. And why is that? Because magnanimity takes all of the other virtues and stretches and raises them to the level of excellence. To be magnanimous means that one’s spirit, soul, and life are great. St. Thomas Aquinas said that to be magnanimous is to stretch one’s heart, the very person that one is, towards accomplishing great things. The one with magnanimity wants to achieve as much as possible with the gifts God has given him. The magnanimous person realizes that one’s gifts are from God and that God is calling him or her to use them towards excellence. You see, “Who you are is God’s gift to you, but who you become is your gift back to God.” And our Sheriff gave so much back to God.

This Funeral Mass is not primarily about recalling how Richard Berdnik had gotten into our hearts, but it is, most importantly and honestly, about giving God access to our hearts. We are here in faith to allow God to lift open the cover of our hearts, which since last Tuesday have been broken — blowing the coldness of his tragic and confusing death over our thoughts and emotions. Often, we only give God access to our hearts when they are broken down and most vulnerable. That is right now. Right now, we allow his merciful hands into our hearts so that they may bring healing to our confusion and warmth to our fears.

And what is God finding in our hearts? He is touching incredible sorrow. And as Christians, though we trust that God has defeated death on the cross, we should not feel guilty for our sadness. This is a grief arising from the recognition of something missing, a lacking that affects us in such a visceral way. And it is in this grieving that the goodness of the person becomes more apparent, only intensifying our sadness. And as strange as this sounds, this painful stirring up of memories can be an opportunity to be grateful to God. In our remembrances, we think of Rich’s qualities, we come to realize how God’s ever-present love has been working in our lives, in its own mysterious way through him. For what we are really missing is not just Rich but the goodness that God filled him with. We miss the goodness of God as it overflowed, coming to life in this Polish gentleman. So how could God not find us weeping, as he had found his own son weeping at the death of his friend Lazarus?

In addition to sadness, what else might God be finding as we give him access to our hearts today? Maybe he is touching anger. When someone has taken his life, those who have loved him most dearly can be most angry as to the whys. Why did he not reach out for help? Why didn’t he talk to me? Why make a permanent decision to a temporary problem? And I believe that this justified anger is rooted in faith and in love. For we believe that suicide is contrary to love for the living God, the God who created men and women in his own very image and likeness, bestowing on each person a sacredness that we are called to protect. We know that it is never the answer.

My friends, as God finds both sadness and anger as he holds our broken hearts, we ask him for hope. Saint Augustine had said that hope has two beautiful daughters, though they are not called Ashley and Alyssa. “Their names are anger and courage; anger at the way things are, and the courage to see that they do not remain the way they are.” Are we angry enough about what is wrong with this world that there is so much violence? So little sanctity of life. In fact, suicides have gone up 30 percent in the last 10 years. Are we courageous enough to do something with our justified anger? Our hope is found in protecting all human life from conception until natural death.

And our hope is also found in having the anger at death and the courage of faith to be instruments of God’s mercy as we pray Rich home to heaven. For as we read in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, “We should not despair. The Church prays for persons who have taken their own lives.” And so we pray for him, trusting that our God has the power and the mercy to apply those prayers to assist him on his journey home.

Msgr. Geno Sylva is the rector of the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson.

Suicide is a human tragedy that shakes families and shatters hearts. God is the Lord of our lives and has dominion over both life and death. The Catholic Church upholds the sanctity of life from conception to natural death. Each day is a gift and calls for gratitude to God for his gift to the crown of God’s creation, the human person, to know him, love, and serve him. While the Church has in the past forbidden Christian funerals and burials for those who take their own lives, developments in modern psychology indicate that emotional imbalance, grave suffering, or fear more often than not diminish responsibility for such a desperate decision. In the face of tragedy, mercy is the healing promise of God. St. Paul reminds us, “Neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39). Our first priority is to protect the sacred gift of life. A close second is Christian determination to be instruments of God’s mercy for the broken and despairing.
 

RICHARD H. BERDNIK

Passaic County Sheriff Richard H. Berdnik died on Jan. 23. The visitation was on Jan. 30 at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Paterson. The funeral was the next day at the Cathedral and is archived as a livestream on the parish’s Facebook page. Interment was at St. Michael’s Cemetery in South Hackensack.

On Jan. 1, 2011, Richard H. Berdnik was sworn in as the 49th Sheriff of Passaic County.

Prior to becoming Sheriff, Richard Berdnik had a distinctive 28-year career with the Clifton Police Department. Upon retirement, Sheriff Berdnik was the Commander of the Juvenile Division and the SWAT Team; previously, he had served in virtually every position in the agency. During his Clifton career, Sheriff Berdnik received numerous citations for exceptional service and received many certifications in various law enforcement functions.

Upon becoming sheriff, Richard Berdnik undertook a complete top-to-bottom review of all aspects of the Sheriff’s Office. Because of that review, operations were streamlined, and efficiencies were created. Sheriff Berdnik focused on improving technology, training, and the agency’s overall operations. He helped local law enforcement investigate and increase enforcement of criminal activity. All three major divisions of the agency — the Patrol, Corrections, and Courthouse Security — saw basic and operational improvements under Sheriff Berdnik’s leadership.

Sheriff Berdnik’s professional memberships include member of the FBI National Academy Associates, member of the New Jersey Honor Legion of Decorated Officers, and member of the Passaic County and International Chiefs of Police Association.

Sheriff Berdnik is a graduate of Clifton High School, New Jersey State Police Academy, FBI National Academy, and FBI National Executive Institute and has taken numerous Criminal Justice classes at Seton Hall University, University Of Virginia, and Caldwell College.

Sheriff Berdnik was a parishioner and Eucharistic Minister at St. Andrew the Apostle in Clifton and Fourth Degree Knight of Columbus. Proud of his Polish heritage, Sheriff Berdnik was the 2011 Marshal for the Passaic-Clifton & Vicinity Contingent in the Pulaski Day Parade in New York City. In 2014, Sheriff Berdnik was the Grand Marshal of the Pulaski Day Parade in New York City, proudly leading the parade up 5th Avenue.

Beloved husband for 38 years of Monica (Kudlacik), devoted father of Ashley Jaramillo and her husband Oscar, Ryan Berdnik and his wife Rosalina, Alyssa Araujo and her husband Stephen, and Kevin Berdnik and his wife Caitlin. Loving grandfather of Josefina, Juliette, Joseph, Bianca, and Jason. Dear brother of Edward Berdnik.