Today, we celebrated the funeral liturgy for a man of great courage and faith. A missionary in a foreign land, he knew how to teach others about Jesus, about love and about self-sacrifice because he truly believed that these precious gifts had been shared with him too.
Job, the holy man whose life is described in the Old Testament once expressed his desire that these words be written down, inscribed on a monument forever: My redeemer lives ... after my awakening, he will set me close to him and in my flesh I shall look on God (Job 19:23-27). These words, uttered so many years ago, could easily be applied to our brother Bert. Today, we are here to remember and to give thanks to God for the gift of our brother, and to inscribe upon our hearts the truth that we have come to know: that our redeemer lives and that one day, we too shall look upon his face.
We have come this morning to remember Bert. His earthly life began at a certain moment in time, at a particular place on this earth: in his case, that place was in the Netherlands, in the city of Utrecht. Like many of us, Bert’s life was a series of adventures. In his case, he shared each of them with Cecilia, the love of his life. They were married in the Netherlands and then set out for Canada, arriving in Brantford in 1960. There, Bert worked as a draftsman, and then he and Cecilia ran a deli. All the while, they were both active members of their local parish. It was there that they met Father Tom, who they came to fondly refer to simply as Lobby.
As time went on, Bert became more and more involved in the life of the Church. Visits in jails and in hospitals where he shared the gift of the Eucharist with those he encountered opened the door for him to respond to an ever-deepening call to service. In response to this call, they eventually set out for the Diocese of Whitehorse. Setting out on that adventure, they were both being led to a deeper understanding of the truth that in baptism, we all enter into the self-sacrificing death of Jesus. Dying to ourselves, we are called to live in union with him and to look forward to the day when we shall also rise with him to new life (cf Rom 6:3-4).
Even the most fervent of Christians can only respond to such a call if he or she is dressed for action and has a lamp lit (Lk 12:35). This was certainly the case with Bert and Cecilia. Once they made up their minds, they wrote to many of the northern dioceses in Canada and offered their assistance. It was their old friend, now Bishop Lobby who answered first, and they were off.
They sold their home and their business in Brantford and arrived in the Yukon in November 1987. As the years came and went, they happily served in a variety of ways: Bert spent his time as an itinerant jack of all trades, doing physical repairs to church buildings, leading prayer services in various communities whenever priests were not able to be present. He and Cecilia were the first lay pastoral workers in that part of the world. Eventually, they were the ones who trained others before leaving them to follow in their footsteps when they came back to Ontario and settled here in Elliot Lake.
Today, we have come to celebrate the Eucharist, to thank God for having allowed us to share a part of our faith journey with Bert. Our faith reassures us that he who served so faithfully will now sit down at table where the Lord himself will put on an apron ... and wait on him (Lk 12:37). And as for us, the Lord continues to send us out into this world, inviting us to be close to those who we meet, to share their laughter and their struggles, all the while encouraging them with the light of our faith until the day that we too shall be called home to the Father’s house.
Funeral homily for Gysbertus Timotheus (Bert) Nagel
Job, the holy man whose life is described in the Old Testament once expressed his desire that these words be written down, inscribed on a monument forever: My redeemer lives ... after my awakening, he will set me close to him and in my flesh I shall look on God (Job 19:23-27). These words, uttered so many years ago, could easily be applied to our brother Bert. Today, we are here to remember and to give thanks to God for the gift of our brother, and to inscribe upon our hearts the truth that we have come to know: that our redeemer lives and that one day, we too shall look upon his face.
We have come this morning to remember Bert. His earthly life began at a certain moment in time, at a particular place on this earth: in his case, that place was in the Netherlands, in the city of Utrecht. Like many of us, Bert’s life was a series of adventures. In his case, he shared each of them with Cecilia, the love of his life. They were married in the Netherlands and then set out for Canada, arriving in Brantford in 1960. There, Bert worked as a draftsman, and then he and Cecilia ran a deli. All the while, they were both active members of their local parish. It was there that they met Father Tom, who they came to fondly refer to simply as Lobby.
As time went on, Bert became more and more involved in the life of the Church. Visits in jails and in hospitals where he shared the gift of the Eucharist with those he encountered opened the door for him to respond to an ever-deepening call to service. In response to this call, they eventually set out for the Diocese of Whitehorse. Setting out on that adventure, they were both being led to a deeper understanding of the truth that in baptism, we all enter into the self-sacrificing death of Jesus. Dying to ourselves, we are called to live in union with him and to look forward to the day when we shall also rise with him to new life (cf Rom 6:3-4).
Even the most fervent of Christians can only respond to such a call if he or she is dressed for action and has a lamp lit (Lk 12:35). This was certainly the case with Bert and Cecilia. Once they made up their minds, they wrote to many of the northern dioceses in Canada and offered their assistance. It was their old friend, now Bishop Lobby who answered first, and they were off.
They sold their home and their business in Brantford and arrived in the Yukon in November 1987. As the years came and went, they happily served in a variety of ways: Bert spent his time as an itinerant jack of all trades, doing physical repairs to church buildings, leading prayer services in various communities whenever priests were not able to be present. He and Cecilia were the first lay pastoral workers in that part of the world. Eventually, they were the ones who trained others before leaving them to follow in their footsteps when they came back to Ontario and settled here in Elliot Lake.
Today, we have come to celebrate the Eucharist, to thank God for having allowed us to share a part of our faith journey with Bert. Our faith reassures us that he who served so faithfully will now sit down at table where the Lord himself will put on an apron ... and wait on him (Lk 12:37). And as for us, the Lord continues to send us out into this world, inviting us to be close to those who we meet, to share their laughter and their struggles, all the while encouraging them with the light of our faith until the day that we too shall be called home to the Father’s house.
No comments:
Post a Comment