Homily by Fr. Mike Murphy
Msgr. Jeremiah O’Sullivan Mass of Resurrection
15 January 2021
(Is.25:6-9; Psalm 23; Rev.21:1-5a,6b-7; John 6:51-59)
These Scripture passages were chosen by Msgr. O’Sullivan for this Mass. They reveal the centrality of the Eucharist in his life. “I am the bread of life, whoever eats this bread will live forever” (John 6:59). The Church teaches that the Eucharist is the “source and summit of the Christian life” (CCC 1324). The Eucharist is at the heart of priestly life. In the Mass, the priest repeats the words of †Jesus from the Last Supper: “This is my Body, which will be given up for you...This is the chalice of my blood, which will be poured out for you.” The priest is “in persona Christi in capite”, “in the person of Christ, the head.” This is the true identity of the priest. As Mary gazed at the infant she gave birth to, she could honestly say, “This is my body, this is my blood.” St. John Vianney, patron saint of diocesan priests wrote: “The priest can do something, the Mother of God could not. She brought †Jesus into the world once; the priest makes †Jesus truly present in the world every day.” This is an incredible gift and responsibility for a priest. “This is my body, this is my blood.” When the priest speaks these words, he speaks of his reality. He is ontologically, mystically, and sacramentally united to †Jesus. St. Paul came to this realization, expressed in his Letter to Galatians: “I have been crucified with Christ, Yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). His divinely inspired words call us to strive for unity with Christ, the crucified Christ. For the priest, it is his essence; to die to himself, after the manner of †Jesus; to remove self, from self.
In the 5th century, Bishop Faustus of Riez, wrote: “The law withdraws, and grace takes its place; the shadows fade, and the truth becomes present.” This is a beautiful description of the priest. In the realm of nature, he is a man: flawed, weak, and very human. But, to the priest who strives to live, “in the person of Christ, the head,” grace perfects nature. The shadows of the false self give way to the light of his true self: “in the person of Christ.” The priest is not the Light. He does not generate the Light, it is the Light of Christ shining through him. Our mission is to reflect the Light; to hold the light so others, see the Way. We do not always do this perfectly but the love and prayers of the faithful, and the grace of the Holy Spirit, strengthen us to lead others through the “sheep gate” (John 9:10).
As priests, we hold in our hands, those whom we serve. Pope Benedict XVI, said: “God desired to save us by going into the abyss Himself so that every person...may find God’s hand to cling to, and rise from the darkness.” The hands of the priest reach out to those in darkness. The Son surrendered into the hands of His Father. The Apostles probed and took the pierced hands of the risen Son. The bishop grasps the hands of the priest at his ordination. The priest reaches out and takes the hands of the faithful: those seeking forgiveness for sins, those who need comfort amid human tragedy, those with crosses too heavy to bear, and those who are slipping away from the bonds of earthly life.
Through the hands of His priest, Jeremiah, countless numbers touched the hands of God. While he had the strong hands of a laborer, his hands had the gentleness of an artist. Fr. Jeremiah grew up on a farm, overlooking Tralee Bay in western Ireland; the 8th of 15 children. The boys worked the farm with their father, the girls attended to household chores with their mother. In
1|Page
1927, a month before Jeremiah’s 2nd birthday, his father was working the farm when he heard the sound of an engine, overhead. He looked up and flying over the O’Sullivan farm was the Spirit of St. Louis, on its way to Paris. Michael O’Sullivan waved to ‘lucky Lindy,’ Charles Lindbergh.
Growing up in a devout Catholic home, young Jeremiah thought about being a Franciscan. In typical meekness, he did not feel worthy. At age 20, he moved to Dublin where he joined the police department. He always had a desire to serve others and this seemed like a good fit. At that time constables did not carry weapons unless on a special protection detail for a dignitary. Once Jeremiah was assigned to that duty. He told me he went off by himself and removed the bullets from his revolver, fearing he might harm someone. One day as Constable O’Sullivan was walking his beat in Dublin, an incident occurred that changed his life. When this muscular, 6-foot police officer went to greet a group of children playing they ran away in fear. He decided that day, he could not be in a profession that frightened children. Not long after, he resigned from the police department, His brother Martin invited him to move to the United States with him. They landed in St. Louis and worked in construction. Soon, the call to priesthood began to strengthen. The O’Sullivan had two cousins who were priests in San Diego: the Flahave brothers. They arranged an interview with Bishop Buddy, and he was accepted into St. Francis Seminary. Martin had met a beautiful Irish lass named Nancy. They married; their children and families are here, today. Martin is watching today on-line, as are his other siblings from L.A. to Ireland. Hannah Mary, Liam, Mary, and Flurry.
Fr. Jeremiah lived his priestly life focused on prayer and ministry. He saw God’s wonderous creation through the eyes of an artist. He was a remarkable artist, painting still life, Irish landscapes, seascapes, the missions, and the Blessed Mother. Even his signature was a work of art. He also took up photography and his photographs were beautifully artistic. At past priest Convocations we would gather for a group photo taken by Jeremiah. He was a beloved spiritual director and served as a chaplain for lay Carmelites. He was attracted to the spirituality of the great Carmelite saints: Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross and Therese of Lisieux. Father Jeremiah served as director of the diocesan catechetical office and pastor of numerous parishes in Riverside, San Bernardino, and San Diego Counties. In all this, he was known for his prayerfulness, gentleness, and his love of going out to eat. Breakfast, lunch, or dinner, it did not matter, your company is what mattered. Many of you joined him at the Bistro and his annual birthday lunch at the Marriott. Fr. Jeremiah was loved by many people. To all who cared for him at Nazareth House, thank you for your kindness to him. Be certain, he is praying for you at the heavenly banquet
The Blessed Mother is often called “the Mother of Priests.” She is a model of holiness for the priest as she is for all of us. She knew that her life belonged to Another. She belonged to God in the concrete circumstances of her life and gave herself totally and completely to God. For the priest, his life does not belong to him. Everything He is, everything he will become, is a gift from God; it is grace. Those whom we serve, the lay faithful, you are a gift to our priestly life. We are humbled by your honesty in Reconciliation. We are strengthened by your faith and perseverance in times of challenge and crisis. We are grateful for your affection for us, even in moments we are not so loving.
All this is possible, because †Jesus loved us enough, to give His life for us. He sent His Apostles to proclaim the good news. He washed their feet the night before He died. He loved them
2|Page
all. He loved the one who would betray Him for 30 pieces of silver, He loved the one who would deny Him 3 times before the cock crowed. †Jesus loved two brothers who wanted special treatment: to sit at His right and His left. Even these first priests were not so perfect. When a parish priest becomes a saint, it is through the love and grace of God and the formation received by those he served.
Today we give thanks in this Mass for a simple priest entrusted with this mission: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the So and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19). He shares in the fullness of life as we all hope to, someday. Fr. Jeremiah: “The Lord has sworn an oath He will not change: ‘You are a priest forever in the manner of Melchizedek.’” (Psalm 110:4). Let us continue to pray to the Lord of the Harvest, that He will send us more laborers for the vineyard. Pray for the courageous and selfless priests you know. The prayer on the back of the Mass card was written, prayed, and lived by a woman in this parish and ministered to us. She suffered with bone cancer for 20 years, refusing pain medication and choosing to offer her suffering for the holiness of priests. You might recite the prayer for the priests you know and those unknown to you. We are called, in the ordained priesthood and the common priesthood of the faithful, to live lives centered on the Eucharist and to live in union with +Jesus: “This is my Body, this is my blood.”
May the choir of angels lead you into paradise, and may the martyrs come to welcome you, to bring you hope into the holy city, so you may dwell in new Jerusalem. May holy angels be there at your welcoming, with all the saints who go before you there, that you may know the peace and joy of paradise; that you may enter into everlasting rest.
Reverend Monsignor Jeremiah O’Sullivan
June 13, 1925-January 5, 2021
(Celtic Song of Farewell)
I watched online. Moved beyond words. Monsignor forever in our hearts and prayers✝️
♥️🙏♥️🙏
A most wonderful man. 🙏🏻
♥️🙏♥️
What a lovely memorial! One time he came to our house by accident. He said-“I’m so sorry for your loss” I said-With all due respect what loss? Turned out he was trying to reach out to the family across the street! He apologized and we chatted for a bit. He was so witty and funny too! May he RIP.
😇❤️🙏
🙏🙏 Peace be with his family and friends.. ✝️
Sitting in front, at the right.
It was difficult for young Michael to understand.
From the age of 3, young Michael had been best friends with another boy. Young Michael was black, and his friend was white, but it didn't matter to either of them. They enjoyed each other's company, and they loved playing together, that's all that mattered. They were the best of friends.
But, at the age of 6, as they started school, Michael's friend started acting differently toward him. He finally confided to Michael that his father told him he could no longer play with him.
Michael thought he did something wrong, something his friends' parents disapproved of. His parents finally had to explain to him, it was nothing he did, it was because Michael's skin was a different color.
Michael could still not understand, why the color of his skin mattered, and why people would hate him because of it.
His father would later take him to a shoe store to get new shoes. As he and his father sat down, a store clerk told them they had to move to the back of the store. Michael's father explained the seats were fine, but the clerk insisted that they move. Perhaps the store didn't want their white customers to feel uncomfortable; regardless, Michael and his father were forced to go to the back of the store if they wanted service.
Michael's father became upset, and they left the store. As they walked away, Michael's father muttered, "I don't care how long I have to live with this system, I will never accept it."
Little by little Michael began to understand. He began to understand why a white woman would slap him on his head, why he had to sit in the back of the bus. He experienced segregation firsthand, he experienced racism, he witnessed hatred. He saw a black man being beaten by the Ku Klux Klan, he walked past spots where he was told men of his color were lynched.
His father would take Michael and the rest of the family to a trip overseas. His father learned about a monk, who was known as a reformer and a leader, who would change the world fighting for justice and equality.
So inspired by this monk, Michael's father would change his name and that of Michael's name, reflecting the monk's name. The monk's name was Martin Luther.
Michael would be known as Martin Luther King, Jr., he was born on this day, January 15, 1929.
He would later "speak valiantly against the lynching, bombing and shooting of black people who merely wanted what white people took for granted: a cup of coffee at any lunch counter, a room at any hotel they could afford, a drink at any water fountain they passed, a seat on a bus wherever they pleased and a desk in the nearest schoolhouse," according to the New York Times.
He said, “Even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal.’”
[Photo, from the New York Times]
Heavenly Father, I wish to add my voice to the cry which rises up with increasing anguish from every part of the world, from every people, from the heart of each person, from the one great family which is humanity: the cry for peace! It is a cry which declares with force: we want a peaceful world, we want to be men and women of peace, and we want in our society, torn apart by divisions and conflict, that peace break out!
There are so many conflicts in this world which cause me great suffering and worry, but in these days my heart is deeply wounded in particular by the persistent ugliness and brutality of racism and violence and the overwhelming impacts of the pandemic both in lives lost and the strain on families, health care professionals and frontline workers. I am anguished by the dramatic divisions and developments which are looming on our nations horizon.
I pray God’s great gift of peace upon our beloved nation and upon each situation of conflict and violence around the world.
And I ask Mary to help us to respond to violence, to conflict and to injustice with the power of dialogue, reconciliation and love. She is our mother: may she help us to find peace; all of us are her children! Help us, Mary, to overcome this most difficult moment and to dedicate ourselves each day to building in every situation an authentic culture of encounter and peace. Mary, Queen of Peace, pray for us!
Prayer text adapted from the Pope’s plea for fasting and prayer for peace.
Saturday, Jan 16, 2021
OPTIONAL MEMORIAL OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
Be present to the Presence
The great paradox of God’s kingdom is often expressed in the teachings of Jesus: The blind see, the lame walk, the deaf hear, the last are first, the dead live. The first and most profound paradox is that the Virgin conceives. Our Blessed Mother experienced the coming Kingdom in her own body. She shares that experience with us in our communion with the Lord. We carry the Real Presence of the Savior in our own bodies. The ongoing paradox is that the Lord calls us, who are sinners, to be the vessels of his presence in the world. Express that presence today by lifting up the lowly.
TODAY'S READINGS: Hebrews 4:12-16 Mark 2:13-17. “I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”
#takefiveforfaith
201. Indeed, the media’s noisy potpourri of facts and opinions is often an obstacle to dialogue, since it lets everyone cling stubbornly to his or her own ideas, interests and choices, with the excuse that everyone else is wrong. It becomes easier to discredit and insult opponents from the outset than to open a respectful dialogue aimed at achieving agreement on a deeper level. Worse, this kind of language, usually drawn from media coverage of political campaigns, has become so widespread as to be part of daily conversation. Discussion is often manipulated by powerful special interests that seek to tilt public opinion unfairly in their favour. This kind of manipulation can be exercised not only by governments, but also in economics, politics, communications, religion and in other spheres. Attempts can be made to justify or excuse it when it tends to serve one’s own economic or ideological interests, but sooner or later it turns against those very interests.
Excerpt: FRATELLI TUTTI
Pope Francis Encyclical
On Fraternity and Social Friendship
*Part of a sequential daily series to read and reflect on this new encyclical.
Reading I
Hebrews 4:12-16
The word of God is living and effective,
sharper than any two-edged sword,
penetrating even between soul and spirit,
joints and marrow,
and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.
No creature is concealed from him,
but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him
to whom we must render an account.
Since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens,
Jesus, the Son of God,
let us hold fast to our confession.
For we do not have a high priest
who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses,
but one who has similarly been tested in every way,
yet without sin.
So let us confidently approach the throne of grace
to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help.
#dailyingodsword
Prayer For Unity and Healing
Lord our God, we come to you this day with broken hearts and broken spirits.
We are in need of your healing.
A healing that recognizes our own sinfulness.
A healing that proceeds from inexhaustible love.
A healing that summons us to recognize everyone in our society as brother and sister
A healing that leads us from division to unity, from animosity to love.
The motto of our nation is "from many, one".
Let this motto be our pathway forward as a nation in these coming days, so that the spirit of Washington, Lincoln and King might reanimate our nation with the greatness of which we are capable.
And let us entrust these petitions to our God in union with the Blessed Mother, the ultimate example of discipleship rooted in love:
Hail Mary ...
Msgr. Jeremiah O'Sullivan Funeral Mass
“Well done, good and faithful servant”
Beautiful service on a beautiful day for such a beautiful man. God Bless You, Monsignor O’Sullivan. ♥️🙏🏻
Beautiful service welcomed by God with open arms 🙏 ..
❤️🍀🙏
