Fr. Mark Weidner Funeral Homily

Fr. Mark Weidner, 1926-2017

On June 8th, we buried our dear brother, Fr. Mark Weidner, and here is Abbot Peter’s Homily for the occasion.  We deeply appreciate your prayers for our deceased brother.

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Funeral Mass Homily by Abbot Peter McCarthy

Funeral Homily for Fr. Mark Weidner: 6-8-2018

“Awake at Night” by Wendell Berry

Late in the night I pay
the unrest I owe
to the life that has never lived
and cannot live now.
What the world could be
is my good dream
and my agony when, dreaming it,
I lie awake and turn
and look into the dark.
I think of a luxury
in the sturdiness and grace
of necessary things, not
in frivolity. That would heal
the earth, and heal men and women.
But the end, too, is part
of the pattern, the last
labor of the heart:
to learn to lie still,
one with the earth again,
and let the world go.

My brothers & sisters,

When I read these final lines from this Wendell Berry poem: “Awake at Night” I find myself standing once again with our Fr. Dominique beside me in Fr. Mark’s senior room this last Sunday morning just before Mass where we found him.

The end too is part of the pattern
The last labor of the heart:
To learn to lie still
One with the earth again
And let the world go.

What immense & mysterious peace we encountered in the stillness of Fr. Mark’s body lying in gentle death. Both Dominique & I noticed together the expression of a long-awaited joy emanating from his facial features; his right arm extended clutching his crucifix.

Once again, I find myself haunted by this mystery question: what is holiness? I don’t believe I’m the only one who lived or moved around Fr. Mark who finds himself asking this question. Since his death so many of you monks & friends have mentioned to me a presence of quiet, peace, & healing acceptance he brought to everyone he encountered … to everything really … even to his own death. I keep reflecting … it was like an atmosphere … an equally strong & gentle embrace that surrounded Fr. Mark. Truth to tell … Fr. Mark never spoke of any “atmosphere” around him … he was unaware of this and I only found one sentence on holiness in all his personal papers, it was written in his unique calligraphy (like a saying from a desert father):

“Holiness is not a state of never needing to be forgiven.”

So, what is holiness? I will attempt an answer in a typically monastic-genre: Yes, it’s a story of a young monk going to visit a senior monk for advice. And yes, it’s a true story; I was a new & inexperienced abbot headed up the hill to visit this hermit of over 25 years. After sharing sweet tea & pleasantries we got down to business … I needed to ask him my question: after all … I was his abbot! This life you’ve been living up here is so singular so unconventional for a Trappist monk … how do you know this is God’s Will for you? Fr. Mark was silent … gazing out the window of his little house-trailer set up on the edge of our hill, He had a beautiful panoramic view of the valley! I remember a shadow of a smile playing on his face. Then he looked directly into my eyes & said quite seriously:

“Once a year, on my anniversary Reverend Father, I ask myself the question: Mark, have you grown more gentle toward your world, have you grown more gentle toward your brothers & guests, have you grown more gentle toward yourself this year? If I can honestly answer yes to that question I’m good to stay up here another year.”

My friends, I will be honest with you here, I was surprised by Fr. Mark’s answer, I was expecting something more “ascetical”, more “spiritually athletic”, more dramatic! And yet … I have come to realize in the years following that visit: Fr. Mark was pointing in the direction of the very center of monastic spirituality … actually the soul-center of any authentic spiritual path. The 6th century Monastic Rule of St. Benedict for monks refers to it as Delatato Corde…we can translate this to The expanding human heart. In the words of the contemporary theologian, Maurice Blondel, Our God dwells within us & the only way we can become one with our God is to become one with our authentic self. Or in the words of our father, St. Bernard, The human heart is born old & narrow & meant to grow ever younger (more supple).

So, reflecting on Fr. Mark’s life & death among us we come closer to an answer to our question: What is holiness? Holiness is the impress of the Cross of Jesus at the center of the human heart. Today is the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Fr. Mark’s favorite feast, and our Gospel presents us with St. John’s icon of human holiness . Please pay close attention to the image & the movement in this verbal icon:

But when the soldiers came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs, but one soldier thrust his lance into his side, and immediately blood & water flowed out. An eyewitness has testified, and his testimony is true; he knows that he is speaking the truth, so that you also may come to believe.

Jesus is fixed to his cross. He has totally embraced now who he really is. In all the poverty & pain of his authentic self as the Crucified One & at that very moment his Heart is opened & he becomes Eucharist (immediately blood & water flowed out) for others! The Eucharist was Fr. Mark’s home; he spent his monastic life before the Eucharist daily. And Eucharist is where we will discover him again; at the center of our Community Life.

Holiness is the impress of the Cross of Jesus on a human heart & life … to come to accept fully & embrace totally the gift & utter poverty of who you really are which, total surrender, opens your heart to become food for others. My sisters & brothers, this monk, this hermit for 53 years, lived & moved among us daily in an immense & profound silent- surrender. A silence that was in intimate communion with each of his brothers in community. Yes, the Cross of Jesus was the pattern of Fr. Mark’s death because it was the pattern of Fr. Mark’s life.
Again, in the words of our poet, Wendell Berry:

But the end, too, is part
of the pattern, the last
labor of the heart:
to learn to lie still,
one with the earth again,
and let the world go.

+ Abbot Peter McCarthy