By Archbishop Thomas Wenski - The Archdiocese of Miami
Your Excellencies, Reverend Fathers and dear people:Today, we gather to commend to the Lord the soul of a brother priest, Fr. Carl Morrison, who faithfully served the People of God here in the Archdiocese of Miami for over 41 years.
To Father Morrison�s sisters, his nieces and nephews, and their families, we extend to you our deepest sympathies on the loss of your brother and uncle.
Your family has been very generous to the Church here in Florida � not only for having shared Father Carl, a native son of Miami, with us but also for having given us two other priests who also served the Church well here in South Florida; I am speaking of Father Carl�s cousin, Fr. Leslie Cann who died a priest of the Diocese of Palm Beach about a decade ago and also Fr. Carl�s uncle, Monsignor James Cann, who died as pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Lake Worth in 1958. Monsignor Cann was the priest who baptized me � and I am sure that he played a role in Carl�s priestly vocation as, I am convinced, he played a role in my own.
Father Carl was also a brother to these priests who gather here to concelebrate this Mass of Christian burial among whom are some who were his seminary classmates. Our priesthood is a special bond that unites us all to Father Carl; it is a priestly bond of solidarity and communion, and it is expressed in a powerful way through this celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. This special bond is �stronger than death� � for we were ordained like Melchisedek of old, priests for ever.
And as priests we know our own human frailty, and so we are not shy in asking for prayers for Carl � and when we die, we beg your prayers for us, confident that the love of Jesus Christ who gave us the gift of the priesthood is stronger than death itself.
The priests here � like many of you � were associated with Father Morrison in different ways and in varying degrees of friendship and fraternity. Nevertheless, we all belong to each other � for our priestly lives and ministries are forever linked to the sacred history of salvation in this local Church of Miami. He worked for almost thirty years in our Metropolitan tribunal � and this work � while seemingly behind the scenes and not much in the public eye � is vitally important because the tribunal is the Church�s court of law. And because the law of the Church is the love of God and neighbor the work of the tribunal is an important part of the Church�s ministry of reconciliation.
Fr. Morrison was a conscientious collaborator with Msgr. Anderson and his staff at the tribunal and a valued priest in residence � and a good friend � to Father Capdepon here at St. Martha�s where he also assisted for the past 19 years.
We could recall the things he did in the many years of his priesthood spent in the service of Christ here in Florida. And certainly in the days and months ahead, his family and friends can find solace and consolation in remembering the many kindnesses he extended to them over the years. However, rather than list the accomplishments and the assignments of this man, rather than enumerate his virtues, or kid about his shortcomings, let it suffice just for us to say: Carl Morrison was a priest � a brilliant and gentle priest.
And Father Carl, like each of these men here, carried an immense treasure in earthen vessels; and so we invoke God�s loving mercy on his soul and ask for him the joy and peace of eternal life in the communion of the most Blessed Trinity. We pray in gratitude for his faith, for his long years of priestly service, and for his perseverance in his vocation.
We join in the prayer of the communion of the saints for Father Morrison and for all our other brothers in the priesthood who have gone before us: we trust that our prayers will accompany them as they journey home to the Lord. We pray confidently, comforted by the words of St. Paul: �If we have died with him, we shall also live with him; if we persevere, we shall also reign with him.�
Yes, let us thank God for the perseverance of these men � for notwithstanding human weaknesses and difficulties we are convinced that God�s promise to them is fulfilled in the gift of everlasting life.
For Fr. Morrison� like for each one of us ordained ministers � so much of his daily life revolved around the Eucharist. In the Eucharist, Fr. Morrison proclaimed Christ�s promises; he accepted and believed the words of Jesus � that eternal life is the gift that the Eucharist brings.
Jesus said: �Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.� The Christ whom he adored hidden in the host he was privileged to hold in his hands during Mass, he now contemplates face to face.
The priest, Maximilian Kolbe, gave his life in Auschwitz so that a married man might live and return to his family. During 9/11, a priest, Fr. Michael Judge, a fire department chaplain, died in the inferno of the Twin Towers coming to the assistance of rescue personnel. The deaths of these priests � like martyred priests before them � are seen as acts of great generosity and priestly love. And certainly they are. But most priests don�t die so dramatically. For Father Morrison, death came quickly � and certainly unexpectedly. But his death is no less valuable for the Church, no less precious in the eyes of God. For each of them and for Father Carl death represented their final configuration to the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, in anticipation of their sharing in His Resurrection.
St. John Eudes once said: �...the greatest effect of God�s mercy, the most precious grace He bestows upon mankind, is to send worthy priests, men after His own heart, seeking only His glory and the salvation of souls.� As priests we touch and influence people�for good or for ill�in ways that we may never be aware of, at least on this side of eternity. Father Carl Morrison was one of those worthy priests; and, I hope that now, from his side of eternity, he is aware of the influence for good that he had in the lives of so many people here in the Archdiocese of Miami and beyond.
A song that occasionally we have the opportunity to sing in the liturgy has the refrain: We remember, we celebrate, we believe. Today, as we offer this Mass for the eternal repose of the soul of Father Carl Morrison, we too remember, we celebrate, we believe.
