By Archbishop Thomas Wenski - The Archdiocese of Miami
Archbishop Thomas Wenski preached this homily at the funeral Mass for Father Andrzej “Andrew” Pietraszko, 50, who died Aug. 27, 2021, of complications from COVID-19. The Mass was celebrated Sept. 1, 2021 at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Miami.
First allow me to express on behalf of all of us in this local Church of Miami our condolences to Father Andrew’s mother in Poland along with his siblings.
Chciałbym powiedzieć kilka słów po polsku do rodziny księdza Andrzeja: do rodziców, rodzeństwa, krewnych i znajomych. Jest mi bardzo przykro z powodu tej nagłej i niespodziewanej śmierci księdza Andrzeja. Ja tylko mogę sobie wyobrazić Wasze cierpienie, które jest powiększone dystansem i niemożliwością przylotu do Miami.
Dziękuję za dar Waszego Syna i brata dla kościoła w Miami.
Obiecuję pamiętać księdza Andrzeja w swoich modlitwach. Będę również pamiętał przed Panem Was wszystkich w Polsce.
Wieczny odpoczynek racz mu dać Panie a światłość wiekuista niechaj mu świeci na wieki. AMEN.
Know of our prayers for you and our gratitude for the gift of your son who, like so many of the priests of this Archdiocese, have left their families and homelands to minister to God’s people here in South Florida.
Father Andrew “Andrzej” Pietraszko was also a brother to these priests who gather here to concelebrate this funeral Mass, among whom are some who were his seminary classmates. And I wish to acknowledge with gratitude the pastor of this parish, Msgr. (Kenneth) Schwanger who was for Father Andrew a mentor and an “elder brother.” The priests here – like many of you – were associated with Father Pietraszko 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.
Our priesthood is a special bond that unites us all to Father Andrew; 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 Melchizedek of old, priests forever.
And as priests we know our own human frailty, and so we are not shy in asking for prayers for Andrew – 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.
Father had many assignments – he served as parochial vicar in several parishes, as a high school chaplain and most recently as one of the Catholic priest chaplains at Baptist Hospital and as a chaplain for the U.S. military reserve, assisting our service men and women. And, of course, he continued to assist here at Our Lady of Lourdes. As a seminarian and a deacon, he attended to Father Paul Edwards, the founding pastor of St. Katharine Drexel, who at that time was dying because of a brain tumor. The empathy and compassion he showed to Father Edwards he also showed to countless patients and their families at Baptist Hospital these past three years.
He passed into eternal life just days after his 50th birthday. His death reminds us that we do not know the day or the hour. As Msgr. Schwanger said, Andrew did not want to die but he was ready.
His passing also reminds us that COVID-19 is not just another bad flu going around; it is a deadly disease. I daresay that none of us would have imagined back in March of 2020 when we went into “lockdown” that we would still be dealing with the coronavirus and its variants in September 2021. But we are, and as we lay Father Andrew to rest, we pray that this deadly virus spares us from more death, more sickness, and more grieving. We thank our front-line workers in our hospitals, our teachers in our schools, our priests in our parishes and hospitals for their dedicated and courageous service. With God’s help, we can beat this! But God wants us to do our parts as well – by mitigating the risks of spreading infection through social distancing, washing hands frequently, wearing masks, and getting vaccinated!
We join in the prayer of the communion of saints for Father Pietraszko 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 Father Pietraszko – like for each one of us ordained ministers – so much of his daily life revolved around the Eucharist. In the Eucharist, he 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.
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. I hope that now, from his side of eternity, Andrew 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 sing in the liturgy has this refrain: We remember, we celebrate, we believe. Today, as we offer this Mass for the eternal repose of the soul of Father Andrzej Pietraszko, we too remember, we celebrate, we believe.
