Future officers seek to unite religion , role in military

While soft tunes from an acoustic guitar streamed through the Zahm Hall chapel Tuesday night, students' thoughtful prayers and quiet sobbing provided a fitting chorus for the occasion. "Miracle" may have been the operative word for the night, but it is uncertain if one will come for Notre Dame junior Conor Murphy. Amid reflections and grieving, several hundred students gathered for. Mass in Zahm chapel Tuesday to offer prayers for Murphy. Murphy's health took a turn for the worst Tuesday when doctors discovered he was stricken with apparent fatal complications from leukemia. Murphy, who was diagnosed with leukemia in March, recently developed pneumonia and his immune system is "seriously compromised," according to former Zahm rector Father Jim Leise, who has been in daily contact with the Murphy family. "It's a very critical time and prayers would be appreciated by the family." Leise said. In a homily at Tuesday's Mass, Zahm Hall rector Father Thomas Be.dnar spoke to a packed chapel that filled the pews and lined two walls of the chapel. "We ask that Conor's life be renewed, that by some miracle he may return to us," Bednar said. "It's good that we weep and grieve today. We know that our sadness is a sign of our friendship and faith." Throughout the homily, Bednar characJOB TURNER/ The msArvAr