57 years ago today, as I was leaving my English Literature class at Georgetown University, word came that President Kennedy had been shot in Dallas. His condition was unknown.

Then, in my next class, American History, a messenger from the Dean’s Office mounted the platform and whispered into the ear of Fr. Joseph Durkin, S.J., the lecturer. Durkin nodded and then announced, “Gentlemen, the President is dead. There will be a Mass for the Dead in the Quadrangle. You are dismissed.”

We silently exited and went directly to the Freshman Quadrangle where Mass was underway. The above is a picture of the ceremony.

I can assure you that everyone in that picture was shocked, stunned and on the verge of tears.

America was a different country in those days. Even those of us who differed politically with Kennedy wept.

And we weren’t ashamed to do so.