Sunday, July 7, 2019
Elegy from July 11th, 1966 - on Dad's Passing
On the Occasion of
Dad’s Death
From Elegy by
Father Prado
July 11th, 1966
St. Barbara’s Parish, Powell, Wyo.
(As I remembered it later in the day)
Requested by Denis Bessler of Francis Bessler –
two sons of Leo & Clara
Have you ever gone beyond the timberline? If you have, maybe you have done what I did one time. I was walking through some pine trees, but I did not stop when the pine trees did. I kept right on going – right into the barren land beyond, or rather what I thought was barren and fruitless and so forth. Maybe this has occurred to you, too, but right out in the middle of nowhere, I came upon one lonely, beautiful, little flower. The beauty of that flower stood out because of the surroundings in which it was found. The petals were set in beautiful array and would have gone entirely unnoticed, except that I had chosen to travel beyond the apparent beauty of the forest into the apparent drab and sightlessness of the hills beyond. But as it happened, I was made aware of the beauty of the single flower because I took a few steps beyond the ordinary and traveled where it appeared that life was not.
Such was the case of Leo. (Yes, such was the case of Dad.) He lived a life like that lonely little flower, unnoticed and more or less without company. And only those who were willing to go a few steps beyond recognized the worth of the life he lived. Only those few that knew him were aware of the beauty of his life. Like that lonely little flower, he showed forth a beauty by the way he lived his life that was extraordinary in spite of the fact that few chose and choose to accompany him and travel the path of holiness that he did.
A great amount of security and rejoicing should be had because of the fact that he was always prepared and waiting hopefully for the end.
As long as I have known Leo, I have nearly every Sunday, if not every Sunday, seen him come to that altar rail and receive our Blessed Lord in Holy Communion. Now, this is not something he did because I came here. On the contrary, this was probably something Leo did all his life. Most likely, all his life, he received our Blessed Lord in the Holy Eucharist. And because he had such a love and devotion to our Lord, he was always ready and eager to meet Him and love and serve Him in eternity.
It goes without saying, Mrs. Bessler, that you and your sons and daughters and grandchildren should take great pride in the life that Leo led and gave to our Blessed Lord. As the family protector and breadwinner, he has shown and given you an example that you should respect and live up to.
As your representative, as your leader, and as your guide, as your spouse, and as your father, he has shown you the way – and he is asking that you follow him and eventually join with him and share with him an eternal peace. The greatest tribute you could possible pay to Leo would be to follow his example. In fact, Mrs. Bessler, if Leo were able to speak to you today, I am sure he would ask of you just two things. First, he would ask that you would follow his example, and, secondly, he would ask your forgiveness for any wrong he has done you.
It is often said, and rightly so, that death is not an end, but rather a change from an earthly and mortal life to a heavenly and immortal existence. It is because this is so that death constitutes for the believer something to inspire hope and security, not a hopelessness and fear. Death is beautiful and we must recognize it as such – and I am sure that Leo realized the beauty of it and was because of that realization, always ready to accept it.
Like I said before, ever since I have known Leo, I have known him nearly every Sunday, if not every Sunday, to receive our Blessed Lord in Holy Communion. Because of this love and devotion, he was always ready.
If Leo were here today, Mrs. Bessler, he wouldn’t want you to bereave his death; but rather he would want you to find peace and promise in his death because he was ready for it. And nothing is more beautiful than death for the one who accepts it and prepares for it with a love and devotion such as that for which your husband had for our Blessed Lord.
It was truly an honor for me to have known Leo – and I know that everyone of the few that did know him feel the same way. Like that one little flower out there on the apparently barren hill, he showed forth to those of us that knew him the beauty of a single life when lived for the sake and love of Almighty God. And for this, we should all be sincerely and truly proud.
JMJ
(Jesus, Mary, and Joseph)