Funeral Homily for David Dodican Porter 11/07

Funeral Homily for David Dodican Porter by Fr. Casey Bailey OCSO. Monk of Our Lady of Guadalupe Trappist Abbey

I. My brothers and sisters,
Gathered together in this church of St. John Fisher, that noble martyr of the sixteenth century, the sole bishop of the English hierarchy to stand up to the tyranny and self-aggrandizement of King Henry VIII, we have come here to pray for, to honor, and yes, grieve, another Christian, another man of keen intellect, and of noble, loving heart, another man to whom it was not given to cower before tyrannous lies, another man whom we all know took the polar opposite of self-aggrandizement.
A. David Porter in his earthly sojourn was not an Englishman, but we can none the less rest assured that Saint John Fisher, and Saint Thomas More, indeed all the saints and angels are at this very moment either praying for him, or rejoicing with him, please God, in their fullness of the Beatific Vision of the blessed Trinity.
B. David Porter knew well that the full embrace of truth and love can often be searing, blinding, purging. This is to say that to see, and know ourselves as God sees and knows us can hurt, and even hurt deeply. But David Porter also knew deeply that God only hurts in order to heal, to bind-up, and to make whole.
C. Hence our first reading this morning, taken from the Old Testament book of Wisdom, selected for us by his wife Gerry, his daughter Beth, and his granddaughter Brigid. “Chastised a little, they shall be greatly blessed because God tried them and found them worthy of himself. As gold in the furnace, he proved them, and as sacrificial offerings he took them to himself.”
D. David Porter knew physical, psychological, and spiritual suffering. He knew well what it was to not always be understood by others. He also had strong experience of what it means to not always understand others, sometimes including those closest to him. And he never stopped seeking the truth in love, truth at all levels: metaphysical/ontological, spiritual/religious, scientific/environmental, social/political, psychological/familial/personal truth. It’s a long list but I would submit that we can’t leave any of these categories out. For David Porter, as he was among us, was unfailingly a man fascinated by, and deeply committed to knowing, the Truth. And in that knowledge he was absolutely determined to live his life in accordance with his understanding of the Truth. Hence our sure hope for his immortal union with God, in truth and love. For as our reading from the book of Wisdom goes on to teach us, to love the Truth is to be united eternally with its source and origin, God himself. As the reading concludes in its eloquent promise: “In the time of their visitation they shall shine, and shall dart about as sparks through stubble . . . Those who trust in him shall understand truth, and the faithful shall abide with him in love. Because grace and mercy are with his holy ones and his care is with his elect.”

II. If we grieve because of our physical separation from this man whom we knew to love the truth, this good and noble Christian, this friend, teacher, husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather then we must surely grieve as Christians, which is to say, our grief must not be without hope.
A. I am certain that everyone in this church this morning will agree with me that there was absolutely nothing more important to David Porter than the truth of his Catholic-Christian faith. Given the rock-like character of his faith we can be sure that he would want us to be clear about the priority of the bright promise of immortality arising out of our faith and our love-born grief because of his physical separation from us, in death, for this grief has its roots in love.
B. As we all know, the very heart of David’s – and our- faith is the resurrection of Jesus Christ, body, soul, and spirit, from the dead, a resurrection not for Himself alone, but rather for all those who will believe in Him and with clear implication for the redemption of the whole of creation as well. As our second reading, taken from St. John’s First Epistle, teaches, in that we are the children of God, we contain within ourselves a capacity for total union with him such that, “. . .we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” David Porter believed this promise to the very core of his being, and did all he could to live his life in conformity with this belief, and to pass this faith to those whom he loved.
C. And so, the promise, given by Jesus, as recorded by St. John in the Gospel selected for us by Gerry, Beth, and Brigid, is for David: “. . . I will not reject anyone who comes to me. . . this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose anything of what he gave me, but that I should raise it on the last day. For this is the will of my Father that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him many have eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.”
D. My sisters and brothers, there is cause for rejoicing here. The faith of St. John the Evangelist, the faith of the anonymous writer of the book of Wisdom, that faith of St. John Fisher and of St. Thomas More is the very faith that David Porter lived so fully. The more deeply we believe and live it ourselves, the more fully our grief can be transformed into hope and joy.
E. To be a Christian is to affirm life, both natural and supernatural life, in the very face of death. David Porter was a man, is a man, who affirms life, so we can be certain that God is now affirming our brother David’s commitment to the truth of life eternal. May St. John Fisher and St. Thomas More, indeed all the saints and angels pray for him, and for us as well, that we all may one day meet merrily in heaven, made one in the loving truth of the Beatific Vision, of the Blessed Trinity.