Homily for the First Mass of Fr. Ferry Galbert, May 21, 2023

 

Homily for Fr. Ferry Galbert’s First Mass

May 21, 2023

A Funeral For A Priest

 

            Today is a day of great sorrow. We gather here to remember and mourn, to grieve our loss. For we gather for the funeral of a man who was taken from us far too young. In the prime of his life, Ferry is no longer with us. We may question in our hearts how God could take a young man away from us, so suddenly, so tragically. We gather, then, to celebrate a life that has been lost, to remember in sadness the life that was his.

            Perhaps you think that I have lost my mind. You wouldn’t be the first people to think that of me. But no, this isn’t the wrong homily. We do gather for a funeral – because yesterday’s ordination is a death, as Ferry died to himself, and Jesus Christ now lives in and through him as Fr. Ferry Galbert.

            Truly, to become a priest is to die. To become a priest is to say with St. Paul, “For me life is Christ and death is gain. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” In what ways must a priest lay down his life?

            He must lay down his plans for his life, surrender control, and promise obedience to another. He must lay down his natural desire for marriage, and pledge his entire body, mind, and affections to Christ alone in celibacy. He must lay down the tendency to seek to amass possessions, and live a life of simplicity. He must commit himself, not to a life of ease, but to a life of mortification and prayer. As Bl. Fulton Sheen said, “A priest is not his own. As priests we offer Christ in the Mass, but as victims do we offer ourselves with Christ in the Mass?”

            This death is not an end in itself, though. It is but a necessary step to the ultimate goal of having Christ live through every priest. One time a Protestant man from Paris heard of the holiness of Fr. John Vianney, the great patron saint of parish priests. He made the long trek to visit with Fr. Vianney, and when he returned to Paris, his friends asked him what his impressions were. The man responded, “I have seen God in a man.” And this is the end and goal of the priesthood: to make Christ present in the world through a man, who must first die to himself, to his old nature, to his sinfulness, that every aspect of him – thoughts, words, deeds, affections, emotions – may truly be the life of Christ, lived in Fairfield County in 2023.

            One might look at the sacrifices required by the priesthood and think, “That seems impossible – inhuman – too many sacrifices!” But where there is love, sacrifice is easy. When a man’s entire being is oriented towards the Lord and His glory, then what does it matter if he is rich or poor, suffering or comfortable? What does it even matter if he sees any fruit from his ministry? The fruit is God’s job, which He will harvest in His time. The priest’s role is to make God present by being totally conformed to Him.

            We often think of a priest being an “altar Christus” (“another Christ”) when he is celebrating the Sacraments – after all, he says, “This is MY Body…and I absolve you from your sins.” And this is true – we stand in the person of Christ as we celebrate the Sacraments.

            But more than that, as the Scholastics used to say, “Actio sequitur esse” – “Action follows being.” A priest’s spiritual fruitfulness is directly proportional to how much he is himself personally conformed to Christ. A few years ago, a particularly holy diocesan priest from the Archdiocese of Washington named Fr. Martin Flum was making a huge impact in his parish. When the Covid lockdowns began, he opened his church for Eucharistic Adoration from 6am-9pm – and he himself would be there every single hour. 105 hours of prayer every week during the lockdown. Pretty soon people heard about it, and came from all around to join Fr. Flum in Adoration – and miracles began happening. Marriages reconciled. Vocations sparked. Addictions healed. People returned to the Church, others converted to Catholicism. His tiny parish became a spiritual dynamite.

            And then – he discerned God was calling him to live even more for Christ. In 2021, with permission of his bishop, he left his parish and took up residence in an 11x14 foot hermitage with no electricity, no running water, no heat. He will spend the rest of his life making sacrifices and intercession for his people.

            Even most in the Church would say, what a waste of a zealous, holy pastor! So much good fruit was coming from his ministry! But the good fruit wasn’t coming from his ministry alone, it was coming because he was living the life of Christ. He is now living a life even more conformed to Christ, and the supernatural fruit of that hidden soul is unthinkably tremendous, in ways that we will never know this side of eternity. Perhaps he is even praying for us today!

            Fr. Ferry, your preaching, your Confessions, your spiritual direction will only bear fruit if you yourself are a victim for Christ. No offense, but the world doesn’t need you. The world needs Christ. And the rest of your life, in a unique way, is meant to reveal Him to the world. Fr. Ferry, I pray that you live in such a way that Christ can live in and through you, for a world that is hungering and thirsting for Him alone.