FUNERAL HOMILY FOR FR. JIM
by Fr. Paul Burchat, A Priest of Madonna House and former Chairman of Priests for Life Canada
(Readings: Wis. 3: 1-4, 4b,5,9 Eph. 5:8-14 Jn. 6: 35-40)
With the passing of Fr. Jim our country has lost one of its most dedicated priests working on behalf of pro-life. He was passionate, knowledgeable, single-minded, devoted, and courageous - all the things you would look for in someone to head an organization such as Priest for Life Canada. Knowing Fr. Jim I can only imagine that the manner of his death was exactly as he would have planned if he could have had any say in the matter (i.e. during the preaching of a pro-life mission).The readings refer to the two aspects of his faith which were so central to his life and his work, namely his seeking for truth and justice and an unwillingness to compromise with evil and secondly his great love of and devotion to the Eucharist. I first met him when we, as a steering committee, were looking for someone to be the director for our organization and Archbishop Gervais put his name forward as a possible candidate.
My relationship with him on the one hand was quite stable and durable. We both were of one mind when it came to our standing squarely on the Church's teaching with regards to beginning and end of life issues, human sexuality, marriage and family, and our conviction about the need to promote prayer for pro-life work. However when it came to the details of how we should run Priests for Life Canada, that frequently generated some very lively discussions at our board of directors meetings. Through it all we grew in mutual respect and did enjoy many light hearted moments together. The last time I saw him was one such occasion. We traveled together to Prince Edward Island last fall for our annual symposium and I found it to be a very relaxing time in spite of all of the work that had to be done over that weekend. It was a time to reminisce and reflect on what God had done with our work over the last twelve years and to laugh at some of the seemingly absurd situations we found ourselves in over the course of that time.A sense of humor is critical in order to survive when working in this type of ministry.
The other aspect of our being here, besides mourning the loss of Fr.Jim, is to reaffirm our hope, which as the first reading says is "full of immortality". Hope of course is the belief that God will be faithful to what He has promised, provided of course, that we do our part. It is not based on wishful thinking or the notion that how I live my life will have no bearing on my eternal destiny, quite the opposite. True religion is not about helping people to feel good about themselves or to assuage a nagging conscience, but about helping them to face the truth and to encounter the grace of God in the midst of their difficulties and ultimately to reach heaven. We must never lose sight of our priorities and the means to attain our goal, which entails living well here. In this regard it is critical to remember that while we all have a God-given, unconditional right to life we do not have an automatic, unconditional right to eternal life! St. Paul reminds us of this very clearly in Philippians when he says, "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling"(2:12). Our world however seems to believe otherwise - that no one has a right to life and that everyone is going to heaven regardless of how they have lived.I cannot help but suspect that some people may be in for a rude awakening.
In the book of Deuteronomy God clearly sets before us two ways, one leading to life and the other to death (30:15-20). We need not be intimidated by this reality. If we want life - and Jesus certainly desires that we have it to the full (Jn 10:10) - it can be ours. If we are willing to live, as God would have us live, our hopes will be realized. The Lord is always faithful and merciful; we need never despair. Our hope also is that we will again one day see our brother and that our sorrow will turn to joy and our grief to happiness. As our funeral liturgy reminds us and our faith tells us we know that life does not end at the grave but rather it is changed. We hope and pray that for all of us the change will be for the better.
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