Homily at
Memorial Mass for William V. Guerin
4 September 2007
by
Father Jonathan DeFelice, O.S.B.
President
Saint Anselm College

Father Peter J. Guerin, O.S.B. was the celebrant at the Mass in the Abbey Church
Readings from Tuesday of the 22nd Week in Ordinary Time, Year I

I believe that it is often providential that the readings already scheduled for the Mass of the day have something to offer when we plan a special celebration such as we have this evening.  There are times when the reading simply won’t work and no amount of twisting will solve the problem.  But today God’s providence has provided us with some real possibility for reflection as we remember our alumnus, benefactor, Trustee, and friend, Bill Guerin and commend him to the loving mercy of God.

Saint Paul’s insight that “God destined us to gain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live together with him” comes from a profound understanding of the nature of the paschal mystery of the suffering, death, and resurrection of the Lord.  He himself, after all, had experienced that saving reality in a rather startling and dramatic way.  The darkness in which he lived was overcome by the light of Christ who sought him out and transformed his life.  His intolerance was transformed into the zeal of a missionary, and his hatred transformed to the Love that moved him to work for the salvation of all and ultimately to give his life for Lord Jesus, whom even the poor demon in today’s Gospel recognized as “the Holy One of God.”

Faith in the Lord Jesus can lead ordinary and extraordinary people to lives of real greatness and there is no doubt in my mind that this kind of faith is what gave Bill Guerin the foundation to do what he did during the 66 years he was among us on earth.

Bill’s association with Saint Anselm began because of his older brother, Father Peter.  When Father Peter entered the monastery here, Bill was about 15 years old; and from that age on Bill’s affection for the College, his loyal support, and his indefatigable work for the College’s success never flagged.

At his wake and funeral last week business associates, family members, and friends of all ages recounted stories of a man who truly knew who he was, a man self-possessed enough to make it a mission to meet new people every day, to give words of encouragement to those who needed them, to be witty and even boisterous, to have regard for the less fortunate, to help the many causes with which he was associated, to enjoy music and art, travel and sports, and, with his wife, to raise a family rooted firmly in faith and filled with the same infectious love.

During the last decade, Bill was a member of our College’s Board of Trustees.  Coming on the board at the same time as a whole new group of talented men and women, he was as strong an advocate for our College as anyone could desire; for me as President he was the kind of Trustee that, even when he challenged what we were doing – and Bill was never shy about his opinions, even when he advocated for things we could not do – and again Bill was not shy about his opinions, in whatever circumstance -- I and others always knew that his passion was for our success, that his advocacy was completely sincere, and his love for his alma mater was deep and unshakable.  Bill was capable of pushing us all to think in new ways, to at least examine what alternatives might be in our best interest, and what we needed to do to become even better than we thought we could be.

When Bill was first diagnosed with what ended up being his final illness, many of us thought that he would not continue as he had before.  But how wrong we were!  Present at meetings in person when others would have found an easy excuse to be absent, present on the phone or at his home with fellow trustees and administrators, he kept up his remarkable service to the end.

Some of us – or at least I – wondered why Bill pushed as hard as he did; how he could continue to try treatment after treatment, and how he could maintain the remarkably positive and cheerful attitude he did in the face of such a difficult situation.

And it is here that I think the insight of Saint Paul comes into special play – what Bill realized and what he taught us especially these last couple of years was what Saint Paul knew – Christ died for us -- and whether we are healthy or suffering, whether we are laughing or in pain, whether we are alive or dead, we are in Christ.  And so for Bill there was no hurry to give up the good fight because he was already living in Christ; there was no reason to give up another trip or another adventure with his family – he was already there with Christ; no reason to give up the chance to be of help to someone, to show his love for those around him because he knew that he was living now the passion of Christ in order to know, when time came, his resurrection and peace.

In my brief reflection at Bill’s funeral I said “Bill was one of those wonderful people that God puts on the earth to cheer on the rest of us; to teach all of us how to approach life, to help us see what love is about, what faith and family are about; what being a fully alive, funny, talented, enthusiastic Christian gentleman is about.”  We are so very fortunate to have known him and to have had him as a companion in this life.

Now it is our turn to cheer him on – not so much by our words, but by our prayer: our prayer that the Lord whom he loved so completely will take him to his merciful embrace, our prayer that from the Kingdom Bill will continue to be our advocate and our support; our prayer that God’s grace will help us be a bit more like him while we are still here – living each day in the light and knowledge of Christ our Savior, living with a love that always sees the good in the other and that sees where our help is needed, and living with a passion for our work here at Saint Anselm College that will bring all of us one day to rejoice together in God’s eternal life.

If we do so, just imagine what a marvelous reunion we shall have!