Basilique cathédrale Notre-Dame
Ottawa, 14 août 2023
[Textes : Exode 18, 13-27 (Psaume 23) ; 1 Corinthiens 15, 50-58 ; Luc 10, 17-24]
Les armoiries de Mgr Gervais ont déjà été fixées sur le tombeau qui accueillera bientôt sa dépouille mortelle. Lors des travaux de la crypte, il a demandé que les couleurs des oiseaux qui sont dans l’arbre qui figure sur ses armoiries soient retouchées parce qu’elles n’étaient pas tout-à-fait de la bonne couleur. Monseigneur Gervais avait un sens artistique et savait très bien ce qu’il voulait.
La restauration de la basilique cathédrale Notre-Dame a été un moment fort de son épiscopat ; la cathédrale avait besoin d’une grande attention, on dirait aujourd’hui qu’elle avait besoin de « beaucoup d’amour ». La restauration a permis de lui redonner tout son éclat. C’est lui qui a commandé et fait sculpter la statue de Jacob-Israël que l’on voit à l’entrée principale ; elle nous redit son respect pour la communauté juive et témoigne de son travail œcuménique et interreligieux.
Les armoiries de Mgr Gervais mettent en évidence sa devise épiscopale « evangelizare » : proclamer la bonne nouvelle du Royaume comme Jésus l’a fait. Dans les Églises locales dont il a été responsable (London, Sault Sainte-Marie et Ottawa), il a toujours souhaité que le Royaume de Dieu grandisse et s’épanouisse comme la petite graine de moutarde qui devient un grand arbre dans lequel les oiseaux du ciel viennent y faire leurs nids. Cette vision, qu’il a reçue de Jésus, a marqué toute sa vie et son ministère.
Born in 1931 on the feast of the evangelist St. Matthew and ordained in 1958 to the priesthood for the London Diocese sixty-five years ago, on what was then the feast of Mary, Virgin and Queen, Marcel Andre Joseph Gervais owed much to his deeply committed Catholic family. We offer our condolences to his sisters Denyse, Celine, Estelle, Marie and to his only surviving brother, Hubert and his spouse Gaetane, both of whom cared for him so meticulously and well these past several years when he needed more care
Theological and biblical studies in Rome and Jerusalem prepared Father Gervais well for the eighteen years he spent teaching Scripture at St. Peter’s Seminary. After Bishop (later Cardinal) Emmett Carter asked him in 1974 to become director of the Divine Word International Centre of Religious Education, an institute in the diocese for adult education in the spirit of Vatican II, he added to its focus on the study of scripture that of social justice, a topic which I will return to in commenting on that uncommon first scriptural text we have just heard read from the Book of Exodus.
In 1976, Father Gervais began what was to be a major achievement of his ministry, the writing of a set of forty lessons on the Bible, known by the title “Journey”, which became widely used in parishes and adult faith formation programs, and translated into fourteen languages, making the Word of God accessible to God’s people. Father Gervais was truly an enthusiastic evangelist!
His ministry took a new direction in 1980 when he was named an auxiliary bishop of London. Five years later, the Holy Father transferred him to the northern diocese of Sault-Sainte-Marie where he guided a vast territory with wide-ranging francophone, anglophone and indigenous sectors. His close collaboration there with many small Ojibwa communities stoked his zeal for justice and reconciliation with Canada’s Native Peoples, a task he continued after his arrival in Ottawa.
Thus, a love of Scripture and a love of people guided Archbishop Gervais throughout his many years of service as a priest and bishop.
Les lectures qu’il a choisies pour cette messe devraient réconforter tous ceux qui ont de la peine à la suite de son décès. En particulier, le texte de saint Paul sur notre espérance en la résurrection qui est un gage de notre participation future à la vie éternelle que nous espérons un jour partager avec Dieu. Nous prions ce soir pour que Dieu accorde cette grâce à notre frère dans le Christ, Marcel, car lorsque « l’être mortel que nous sommes revêtira l’immortalité, alors l’aiguillon de la mort sera vaincue » Et nous proclamons avec joie : « Grâce à Dieu, qui nous donne la victoire en notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ ».
The reason Archbishop Gervais chose this first reading for his funeral liturgy took me some more work before I understood its rich message.
In that first reading, we meet Jethro, a Midianite priest and father-in-law of Moses. Earlier in that same chapter, Moses had told Jethro of all that God had done for Israel by rescuing them from bondage to Pharaoh in Egypt. Jethro praised the God of Israel, saying “Now I know that the Lord is greater than all other gods.” Jethro then brought a burnt offering and other sacrifices to God and the episode concluded with Jethro, Aaron, and all the elders of Israel eating bread in the presence of God.
The chapter continues with the passage we heard proclaimed; we discover Jethro is in awe of Moses’ constant labour on behalf of the people. But Jethro warns Moses about the danger of burn-out. The problem is that Moses is overworked by his practical concern for justice, not an issue of political pragmatism, but a matter that belongs to the very character of God.
Jethro asks Moses why he shoulders such an impossible burden. Moses answers he is preoccupied with “inquiries of God” and “instruction.” Moses saw his role as dispensing not merely practical advice but the very Law of the God who cares about the concrete, day-to-day matters of justice.
Jethro sees immediately that Moses is committed to an unworkable practice and that he must learn to delegate. Those chosen to share in Moses’ leadership, we learn, must be capable individuals, they must be God-fearing, and they must hate dishonest gain. Moses accepts the proposals of Jethro and implements them. The conclusion is that Moses will manage the more complicated cases, while other officers will take care of the less complex matters.
So, the liberated Israelite community looking back at the Exodus developed institutions that would sustain and stabilize the Exodus in daily social practice. Moses acted on the supposition that the power and passion that made the Exodus possible are the same power and passion that can make a society free of exploitation.
Biblical faith [you see,] is not simply a recital of old, isolated events of rescue. It is also about the hard, sustained work of nurturing and practicing the daily passion of healing and restoring, and the daily rejection of dishonest gain.
We can see that it was from this biblical reading and others like it that Marcel Gervais drew his personal passion for justice. A justice derived from the central moment in the experience of Israel, which had escaped from slavery in Egypt to a freedom lived in a nomadic existence in the wilderness of Sinai.
Archbishop Gervais also understood that this biblical understanding of governance anticipated the Second Vatican Council’s teaching that laity had a proper role in the mission of the church. He saw his leadership complemented by that of his priests, deacons, and lay leaders, who would in this way live out their baptismal call to participate in Christ’s mission. In his episcopal ministry he drew on the assistance of auxiliary bishops, episcopal vicars, permanent deacons, religious sisters and brothers, and many lay people—especially the women and men who serve in Catholic education and health care.
And he witnessed a vital novelty: the new role played by lay evangelists and missionaries of the Gospel. Open to this development, the Archbishop encouraged Father Bob Bedard and the priests who would become the Companions of the Cross and the women who embraced a similar vision as Servants of the Cross, helping both develop their vision in the Church. He welcomed to Ottawa the founders of NET Canada and Catholic Christian Outreach, even housing some of them initially at his residence. He showed concern for the poor of the global south by his support of Development and Peace; his preoccupation for the Eastern Churches and Christians of the Middle East by the establishment here of the Catholic Near East Welfare Association Canada; and his respect and desire for reconciliation with the Indigenous Peoples by his dedication to Ottawa’s Kateri Native Ministry, which extends its outreach across Canada.
La lecture de l’Évangile sur le retour des soixante-douze disciples que Jésus avait envoyé devant lui pour préparer son passage, trouve son parallèle dans ces mouvements contemporains et tant d’autres. Cet Archevêque visionnaire a vu des femmes et des hommes dévoués vivre leur appel baptismal dans l’éducation et l’évangélisation, dans l’action œcuménique et interreligieuse, dans les organisations qui soutenaient les médecins, les infirmières et les avocats catholiques, dans les groupes telles que les Chevaliers de Colomb, les Filles d’Isabelle et la Catholic Women’s League – dans tous ces domaines, il voyait la mission actuelle de Jésus. Cette mission cruciale et dynamique a d’abord apporté de la joie aux disciples et à Notre Seigneur lui-même, et elle nous apporte aujourd’hui de la joie. Les chrétiens catholiques engagés poursuivent la mission que Jésus a confiée à soixante-douze disciples pour qu’ils le précèdent dans toutes les villes et tous les villages qu’il visiterait.
Il y aurait encore beaucoup à dire sur l’importante contribution de Mgr Gervais à l’Église du Canada : sa collaboration avec la Conférence épiscopale en tant que président, avec le Saint-Siège et d’autres organismes internationaux. Il avait un zèle pour la jeunesse, encourageant la participation aux Journées mondiales de la jeunesse, pour l’éducation en français et en anglais, et il a dirigé l’élaboration du programme « Fully Alive », le programme d’éducation de santé sexuel enseigné dans les écoles catholiques de l’Ontario.
En tant qu’évêque de la capitale du Canada, il s’est efforcé de s’adresser aux premiers ministres catholiques, même si, dans le climat actuel, il n’a pas réussi à les persuader de la sagesse de l’enseignement de l’Église sur les questions liées au mariage et à d’autres questions socioreligieuses. Cependant, il était ouvert aux politiciens et aidait les chefs de gouvernement avec des subtilités diplomatiques lorsque, par exemple, il a accueilli le Dalaï Lama et le Premier ministre Paul Martin à sa résidence afin d’éviter une réunion non diplomatique sur la Colline du Parlement.
In closing, let me ask what Archbishop Gervais might hope we take away from this celebration tonight. I think we can find that in what Jesus says to the disciples in tonight’s gospel, which can be summarized as “do not rejoice in the powerful effects for good brought about by your sharing the good news and living the gospel, but rather in the fact that your names are written in heaven, which is where we all belong.”
Marcel Gervais understood and lived the truth that eternal life begins here below in the intimate sharing that Jesus offers us, in knowledge of the Father and of him as God’s Son, something hidden from those who think themselves wise and clever but given freely to the little ones, those of no account among the worldly-wise. Christ then points to “each one of us,” even in our weakness and frailty.
For in Him, Christ Jesus, we are strong and in Him we already share the victory over sin and death to the glory of God.
May Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and our mother, obtain from her Son that whatever sorrow and sadness we feel at our loss of a spiritual father, brother, friend may be changed into consolation and joy to the praise of God the Father now and forever.
Que Marie, la mère de Jésus, et notre mère, obtienne de son Fils que la peine et la tristesse que nous ressentons à la perte d’un père, d’un frère ou d’un ami spirituel se transforment en consolation et en joie, à la louange de Dieu le Père, maintenant et pour toujours.
Amen.
