"Life is short, but eternity is forever."

Syndicated columnist, Robert Novak, died today. Novak was famous for his columns (both in printed media as well as television) containing information from his carefully cultivated sources in Washington, DC. He was dubbed “The Prince of Darkness” by friends for his pessimistic attitude. Novak used the nickname as the title of his 2007 memoir. Those who knew him best, however, said the “dour visage masked a warm-hearted guy who cared a lot about the people who worked for him.”

Novak was born Jewish but attended Christian services sporadically until the mid-1960s. In the 1980s, he started to go to Mass regularly, but it wasn't until a few years later that he decided to convert to Catholicism.

The turning point, as he recounted in his book, happened at a lecture. Before he spoke, he was seated at a dinner table near a young woman who was wearing a necklace with a cross. Novak asked her if she was Catholic, and she posed the same question to him. Novak replied that he had been going to Mass each Sunday for the last four years, but that he had not converted. Her response – "Mr. Novak, life is short, but eternity is forever" – motivated him to start the process of becoming a Catholic through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. He was baptized at St. Patrick's Church in 1998. His wife was also baptized a Catholic.

Robert Novak was a great defender of the freedom of the press -- a basic tenet of democracy and open government. In reflecting on his career, Novak once remarked: “I am proud of my journalistic philosophy to tell the world things people do not want them to hear.” Let us hope that in the absence of Mr. Novak, others will step forward to carry that same torch.