Who makes news?

The news of two Franciscan friars who were twins, and their death on the same way, has received quite quite a lot of international publicity. St. Bonaventure Brothers Inseparable to the End – Dan Barry – NYTimes.com:

Two weeks ago, the twins died on the same day in a Florida hospital; they were 92. Brother Julian died in the morning and Brother Adrian died in the evening, after being told of Julian’s death. Few who knew them were surprised, and many were relieved, as it would have been hard to imagine one surviving without the other.

But the cultivated anonymity of the twins died with them. News of their deaths, beginning with an article in The Buffalo News, traveled around the world, stunning the Catholic university’s officials. Think of it: eminent Franciscan scholars die with little notice, but the same-day passing of an identical and unassuming pair of Franciscan grunts attracts international attention.

As they say in the classics, “He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted the humble and meek.”

Heartwarming, isn’t it?

But then my cynicism kicks in, and I think that it was probably only because no notable celebs had died in the same week.

If they’d picked the same week as Michael Jackson or Princess Diana, no one would ever have heard of them.

But perhaps it’s the Lord’s timing, just to remind us.