Deceased priests remembered as ministers, mentors, friends
The priests of this diocese share tight familial bonds with one another and with those who have gone before them.
“They’re not strangers, they’re not ancient memories,” Father Louis Dorn said of the priests who are awaiting the Resurrection. “They’re people we’ve known! People we’ve worked with. People we’ve been inspired by. People we’ve been surprised by, seeing them and their abilities manifested.”
Fr. Dorn, a retired priest of the Jefferson City diocese, preached the homily at this year’s diocesan Mass for Deceased Priests.
About 30 fellow presbyters gathered with Bishop W. Shawn McKnight Nov. 6, during the Octave of All Souls, in St. Andrew Church in Holts Summit to remember and pray for the priests who ministered in this diocese before their death.
“We share stories, we share life, we share memories,” said Fr. Dorn in his homily. “We especially share the gift of God and of God’s love shared with each of us, always.”
Fr. Dorn pointed to the reading from the Eighth Chapter of the Letter to the Romans, in which St. Paul reminds the early Christians that they are children of God, brothers of Christ and heirs to the gift of eternal salvation.
“Therefore, we have the courage to listen to Jesus when He tells us to call God ‘Abba,’” said Fr. Dorn. “‘Father’ is not a good translation for that word. It’s too weak. It should be ‘Daddy!’
“And that’s what He taught us. That’s what He’s shown us. So that’s the way it ought to be,” said Fr. Dorn.
He spoke of the Gospel reading from John 17, in which Jesus prays for His followers and recalls that they are the Father’s gift to Him and will be filled with the same love the Father has for the Son.
That has been the Father’s desire since before He created the world.
“Do we really think of ourselves as being a gift of God the Father to Jesus?” Fr. Dorn asked. “We should! We’re supposed to. That’s what He told us.”
All of the gifts, talents and potential that each person receives is part of that gift from the Father to the Son.
“We embody today that love that the Father has for Jesus, which He shares with us in the gift of grace,” the priest said, “in order that we may become better representatives, embodiments, spokesmen for Jesus Christ.
“That is our work: to proclaim the Gospel, to announce His Good News to the people,” he said.
He spoke of having known many of the priests who have served in this diocese since its founding in 1956.
“For me, after 48 years of Priesthood, when we read that list of names, faces come to mind as men I have known,” he commented.
Several of them ministered to Fr. Dorn and his family before he answered his own priestly calling.
“And like them, through the laying on of hands, we have all received this gift of God’s love that sends us forth to proclaim, announce and celebrate the love of God,” he said.
And just as the priests of old manifested that reality to the world, “may we continue to build on their efforts, continue that life of sharing the goodness and love and concern God has for everyone. And may it receive full expression in our love for the people and in our fellowship as the priests of this diocese.”
Fr. Dorn called on all of his fellow priests to continue supporting and strengthening one another, so they may continue to celebrate God’s love and help reveal it to the world.
“May we be those instruments of God who know His presence and His goodness, who make His presence known to all people,” he said.
One in the Resurrection
The priests and people prayed for the deceased priests: “May God in His infinite mercy blot out all of their offenses, establishing them in light and peace, together with the company of all the saints to sing the heavenly Liturgy.”
They also prayed for more priestly and religious vocations, especially in this diocese, and “that our lives, our preaching and our outreach may serve as inspiration and invitation.”
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the priests did not join the bishop in the sanctuary but stood at least six feet from one another in the pews.
They prayed the Eucharistic Prayer together, including the passage: “Remember Your servants, the deceased priests of the Diocese of Jefferson City, whom You have called from this world to Yourself. Grant that they who were united with Your Son in a death like His may also be one with Him in His resurrection.”
After Holy Communion, Father Daniel J. Merz and Monsignor Robert A. Kurwicki took turns reading the names of priests of the diocese who had died since its founding in 1956.
After each group of names, cantors Chris and Laura St. Clair led the singing of a prayer of saintly intercession: “Receive their souls, O holy ones. Present them now to God Most High.”
The priests and people then chanted in Latin an ancient funeral hymn, which means in English: “May the angels lead you into Paradise. May your arrival be greeted by the martyrs, and may they lead you into the Holy City, Jerusalem. May choirs of angels sing to you, and with Lazarus, who was once a beggar, may you have eternal rest.”
At the end of Mass, the priests processed out of the church while chanting the “Salve Regina” — “Hail, Holy Queen” — which they traditionally sing during Funeral Masses for fellow priests.
Afterward, they shared a meal and fellowship in the parish gathering space, at a safe distance from one another.
