On Saturday evening, Oct. 17, 2026, Father Patricio Alfredo Sánchez Molinari stood before his congregation in Guayaquil, Ecuador, doing what he had done many times before: celebrating Mass and preaching the Gospel.
He could not have known that he was speaking for the last time.
During his homily at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, the Redemptorist priest reflected on something Christians often hear but can easily forget: life is short. We spend our days chasing many things, yet not everything we give our time to deserves it.
“One day, all of us here will also die,” he told the congregation. “Sometimes the time we’ve spent on things doesn’t have as much meaning as the time we spend with God.”
Those words would become painfully significant only minutes later.
Father Sánchez Molinari went on to encourage the faithful to give quality time to God and to the people around them. Husbands and wives. Parents and children. Brothers and sisters. Family.
His message was simple. Be present.
He also warned against allowing distractions, including phones, to take away the time that should be given to God and to loved ones. In a world where people can sit in the same room while each person is lost in a separate screen, perhaps that reminder deserves more attention than we usually give it.
Then came the moment no one expected.
As the priest moved into prayer, a large wooden crucifix mounted behind the altar became detached and fell, striking him. Parishioners rushed to his aid. Emergency services were called, but Father Sánchez Molinari died that same evening.
He was 52.
There is something deeply sobering about the way his final moments unfolded. He had been speaking about death, about time, about God and about family. Then, before the Mass was over, he himself was gone.
It would be easy to describe this simply as a tragic coincidence. And, indeed, no one should claim to know the mind of God or turn such a death into a prediction or a supernatural explanation.
But Christians can still reflect on what happened.
A priest was reminding people that life is temporary, and moments later his own earthly life ended. His words suddenly became more than a homily. They became a personal reminder of the very truth he had been preaching.
How much of our time do we actually give to God?
How much do we give to the people we claim to love?
We often say we are too busy. Too tired. Too occupied. There is always another message to answer, another video to watch, another argument to win, another task to finish. We postpone prayer. We postpone visiting someone. We postpone calling home.
Sometimes we even postpone saying, “I love you.”
Yet none of us has been promised tomorrow.
Father Sánchez Molinari’s life was not defined by the tragedy that ended it. He was a Redemptorist missionary who served communities in different parts of Ecuador, reaching people in places such as Loja, Durán, Vinces, Manta and Guayaquil. He worked with young people, supported education, cared for the sick and promoted Eucharistic adoration.
His priesthood lasted 21 years.
His final Mass, however, has given his ministry a striking final chapter.
There is also something fitting in the fact that he died while celebrating the Eucharist. For a Catholic priest, the Mass is not simply an event or a ceremony. It is at the heart of his priestly ministry, centered on Christ and his sacrifice.
Father Sánchez Molinari went to the altar to offer Mass. He left this world while doing so.
That should not make us romanticize death. Death is painful. His parishioners lost a pastor. His confreres lost a brother. His family and friends lost someone they loved.
But perhaps his final words can help us examine our own lives.
We do not know when our last conversation will be. We do not know when we will attend our final Mass, make our final phone call or embrace someone for the last time.
That is why his message matters.
Do not wait until death reminds you that life is short.
Give God your time now. Give your family your attention now. Forgive where forgiveness is needed. Visit the sick. Check on the lonely. Put the phone down sometimes. Pray.
Father Sánchez Molinari’s final words were not complicated.
He simply reminded his congregation that the time we give to God and to those we love is time well spent.
Perhaps that is the message many of us need to hear today.
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