Parish Priest of St. Patrick’s Parish

in Coventry

 

Singing the Gospel at the funeral of Pope John-Paul II:

Thinking back to the day itself, I can honestly say that I was not nervous, even if naturally excited.

Waiting in the basilica with all the lights on and with the Pope’s coffin now visible near the Confessio, we waited for the final preliminary rites to conclude and then, like any funeral, the coffin made its way down the basilica flanked by the ‘family’. We then followed immediately behind the coffin and out into the piazza with the sheer scale of the crowd evident, a sea of people stretching far as one could see. I was still surprisingly calm, yet emotional for this was really a farewell to John-Paul. In our places we had a while to wait during which all the cardinals processed out to reverence the altar. The wind was really picking up and chasubles and mitres were flying around like paper cups in a storm.

Being so close and involved at the funeral of one I loved so much (one whom perhaps I did not even fully realise myself quite how much I loved) was a real blessing and will live with me for ever, ‘til we meet in heaven. This proximity and involvement is how I imagine being able to bury those closest and dearest to me one day when I am ordained a priest.

Cardinal Ratzinger, now Benedict XVI, was simply superb and celebrated, as he always does, with dignity and reverence. When it came to the Gospel I sang, or prayed rather, with different thoughts passing through my mind as I brought to life Jesus’s enigmatic and beautiful words to Peter ‘do you love me?’ First I was aware of ‘Peter’ laying in his coffin a few metres away, especially when he is told that when he is old he will be taken where he would rather not go. I was also aware of my own vocation and sense of call. Jesus was saying as much to me as to Peter: ‘sequere me.’ ‘Follow Me.’ It was very windy and even holding down the page the attached paper kept blowing up – I was fortunate not to lose it. Had it blown off I guess I would just have had to have sung Verbum Domini in mid-sentence!

Then came Ratzinger’s homily, which was superb. He was obviously emotional. At the end the crowd was clapping and chanting. I think even some were shouting, “Joseph, Joseph!” I recall him raising his eyes to heaven in a gesture of half embarrassment and half good-natured despair, but with a smile on his face. As he brought his eyes back to the square his gaze met mine and I answered him with a knowing yet self-conscious smile, like an awkward teenager. It was a beautiful moment for me.

After Communion came the most moving part of the whole Mass. Ratzinger, and we two deacons, went to stand in front of the altar with the coffin just below us for the final commendation. Standing where only the Pope and MC would normally stand was in itself very strange and awesome. Once the litany of the saints began to be sung it was the sheer sublime beauty of the rite which brought tears to my eyes.

It was an honour and a privilege to be able to perform this act of service for the whole Church, and the memories will remain with me always. I am sure that in the future, when I lead people in funeral liturgies, my thoughts will turn to this beautiful and momentous occasion.

Fr. Paul

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