Where the Rubber Hits the Road

Robert Charles Susil, 1974-2010 By George Weigel Four days after my son-in-law, Rob Susil, re-entered Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he would die of an aggressive sarcoma on Feb. 5, the Church marked the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord and read the Gospel of Simeon’s prophecy to Mary—that a “sword will pierce through your own soul” (Lk 2:35). That image of a sword, often described as a sword of sorrow, is the first of the traditional “seven dolors” of Our Lady of Sorrows, commemorated throughout the Church on Sept. 15, the day after the Feast of the Triumph of the Cross. Yet if Our Lady is the first of disciples and the model of Christian discipleship, then the sword of sorrow must pass through each disciple’s life, too, configuring us more closely to the Son from whose pierced side flowed blood, water and the Church. All of us who loved and esteemed Rob Susil have been pierced by that sword in recent weeks. He and my daughter, Gwyneth, had fought gallantly against his sarco...

Friends :       Robert Charles Susil, M.D., Ph.D ., died this evening at age 35. The bleeding in his lungs had become so intense this morning that there was nothing further that medicine could do. Gwyneth was with him when he died, as she has been with him in a most heroic way throughout this illness.       Thank you for your prayers for Rob, for Gwyneth, for their son, William, and for the Susil and Weigel families: John and Agnes Susil, Rob’s parents; his brother Chris and his sister Rebecca; Joan, Monica, and Stephen Weigel.   Your solidarity has been deeply appreciated.       Rob was an extraordinary young man – a man of character, intelligence, faith, professional commitment and skill, humor, and love. We commend his soul to God, in the confidence that the prayers of these past twenty-two months, and particularly those offered so intensely in the past week, have not been in vain, but have op...

Here is the latest update on the condition of Dr. Rob Susil. As you can see, his condition is approaching a point where major decisions will have to be made as to continuing his treatment or allowing the cancer to win. His wife Gwyneth has been posting on the blog he began when he first received a diagnosis of cancer; a task she has taken up on Rob's behalf during this latest phase of his battle. When in her latest post, she speaks of desiring at least to grant him enough time to allow their three year old son, William to be able to see Rob in a state that will not traumatize him, it is clear that the situation has indeed become desperate. I ask you please to offer your prayers of support in the comment threads of this post so that I can offer them to Rob and his family as a sign of hope in these dark hours. Thank you. Fr. Tim ----------------------- Hello to all - The last two days have been difficult, as Robert has not been able to move any closer to coming off the ve...