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'Our hearts go with you' Post Gazette

About 150 people walked from the church to the house
where the two victims had lived and where relatives waited
to accept flowers from the mourners.

Monday, June 07, 1999

By Grace Rishell and Robert Dvorchak, Post-Gazette Staff Writers

In a service that combined traditional Catholic liturgy and contemporary
Christian music, two college students were mourned yesterday by relatives,
friends and classmates.

After a memorial Mass at Christ the King Chapel at Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio, mourners walked the mile to the house at 165 McDowell Ave. where Aaron Land,
20, of Philadelphia, and Brian Muha, 18, of Westerville, Ohio, were
abducted.

There, they placed flowers on theporch, sang songs and offered prayers.

Land and Muha, both sophomores, had been attending summer classes at Franciscan University.

Since Land and Muha were abducted from their off-campus apartment,
people have been gathering to pray in the chapel of the Catholic liberal arts
school, which educates many future priests and nuns.

Yesterday's Mass, though not a funeral, addressed the reality of their deaths.

The Rev. Michael Scanlan, Franciscan's president, spoke of resurrection. "As
we expect to see Jesus again, we expect to see Brian and Aaron again," he
said.

The Mass began early on a brilliant summer morning, with people entering the
white interior of the chapel shortly before 8. The chapel, which holds 400
people, was filled to overflowing, and some waited outside on the church
patio.

Light streamed in through stained glass windows while students sang to the
accompaniment of a guitar.

Family members took seats in the front pews. Seventeen priests stood at the
altar, where Scanlan and the Rev. Augustine Donegan, who ministers at
Franciscan's sister campus in Austria, presided.

Contemporary songs mixed with centuries-old Latin liturgy.

"No other day in the year is more fitting for a memorial Mass than this day,"
the feast of Corpus Cristi, when Catholics celebrate the body and blood of
Christ in the form of the eucharist, said Donegan.

"Why has God allowed us to be afflicted?" he asked.

Then he answered his question, saying the lesson was that people must turn
their sights to the eucharist, which promises eternal life to believers.

"Everything [else] is passing away," Donegan said. "That is the one thing that
is usually forgotten by most people. That which we have today, we will not
have tomorrow."

To the families of the slain students, he said, "Our hearts go with you."

After the service, Scanlan announced that counseling would be available on
campus and that sign-up sheets would be ready for those who planned to
travel out of state on school-sponsored buses to attend the funerals.

Then about 150 people made the journey through suburban streets to 165
McDowell Ave., where relatives of Land and Muha waited on the porch and
accepted flowers from the throng.

Maria Garabis of Columbus, Ohio, a recent Franciscan graduate, said she
was present because she knew both Land and Muha.

"They had very pure hearts," she said. "I know they are in heaven."

"Brian and Aaron put smiles on everyone's faces," said Chad Wilson, 20, who
attended St. Charles Preparatory School in Columbus with Muha and who
was a business major with Land at Franciscan University.

"These guys held Christ in their hearts and exemplified everything we want to
be. They lived what they preached. Every business class I'll have from now on
would have been with Aaron, and now he won't be there. That's why it's such
a tragedy. Two of the greatest guys got lifted off this campus. Who's going to
put those smiles on our faces now?" Wilson asked after attending a Mass at
the chapel on Saturday.

Chris Muha, 20, Brian's older brother and also a student at Franciscan, spoke
in a trembling voice outside the chapel then.

"Brian was a bright spot in our lives," said Chris, like his brother a former
football player at St. Charles Prep.

The last contact Brian Muha had with his mother was the day before he
disappeared. He sent Rachael Muha a bouquet of flowers and a greeting card
to say goodbye before he went off to summer classes at Franciscan.

Friends say that was characteristic of Muha.

"Brian was the nicest guy," Wilson said. "He had this gentleness around him.
Everyone loved Brian. He was the most caring person. He'd do anything for
people. He made time for everyone. As soon as you met him, you knew he
was a great guy."

Muha was a running back on the St. Charles football team and also a member
of the lacrosse team. Friends say he was also an outstanding student and was
active in student government.

A biology major, he also did a commentary for the campus radio station.

Rick Ganim of Cleveland, an uncle who was also Brian's godfather, said the
Catholic faith was a pillar of Muha's life.

He and Brian had twice made the pilgrimage to Medjugorje, Yugoslavia, to
celebrate sightings of the Virgin Mary. Brian also trekked to Denver in 1993
to attend a Mass celebrated by Pope John Paul II.

Aaron Land moved from Evergreen, Colo., to the Overbrook section of
Philadelphia during his senior year of high school.

He was an avid sports fan with a special affection for the Denver Broncos and
Colorado Avalanche. He was also a member of the religious fraternity, the
Prodigal Sons, at Franciscan University, where he was majoring in business
with a minor in theology.

His mother, Kathleen O'Hara, lives with her mother, Edith, in Philadelphia.
Land's father died seven years ago. He has a sister, Anna, 18, and a brother,
Michael, 14.

"Aaron was never meant for this world," classmate Wilson said. "He was
always so happy. He never once made a person sad. He never got upset."

Staff writer Johnna A. Pro contributed to this report.
http://www.post-gazette.com/regionstate/19990607steuben3.asp
June 8, 1999