By Archbishop Thomas Wenski - The Archdiocese of Miami
Archbishop Thomas Wenski preached this homily at the funeral Mass for Father Guy Fenger, a retired archdiocesan priest. The Mass was celebrated at St. Andrew Church in Coral Springs, Oct. 19, 2021.
We offer this Mass for the repose of the soul of our brother, Father Guy Fenger. We also pray for the consolation of those who mourn his loss, especially for his three brothers who survive him and their families.
As Archbishop of Miami, I not only wish to express my deepest sympathies to Father Fenger’s family but I also I want to express my gratitude and the gratitude of so many of Christ’s faithful for his years of ministry among us.
Just last month, Father Guy Fenger was here at St. Andrew’s attending a clergy appreciation dinner. One of the other priests in attendance told me that he was in good spirits and seemingly in good health. On November 5th, he would have celebrated his 80th birthday; but on October 7th, he suffered a stroke that would prove to be fatal.
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, Father Fenger is aware of the influence for good that he had in the lives of so many people. He influenced many people during his long and fruitful ministry: first, in Ogdensburg, NY, where he was ordained a priest in 1977 and served for a few years until in 1983 he came to the Archdiocese of Miami where he had a long tenure as teacher at St. Thomas Aquinas High School. He was a teacher — in the classroom, but also in the pulpit. And even in the pulpit he was known to give “assignments.”
He retired in 2011; but he kept quite active. He helped pastors with Masses and confessions throughout Broward County (and sometimes even in Palm Beach County). And, even though he didn’t seek out the limelight or see himself as a celebrity, given the number of students he taught at Aquinas over the years and the number of parishes he helped out in, he might have been one of the most well-known personalities in Broward County.
Pope St. John Paul II said once, “If (the priest) is able to offer himself as a gift placing himself at the disposal of the community and at the service of anyone in need his life takes on its true meaning.” Father Fenger rendered faithful — and truly meaningful — service to the Church.
And Pope Francis also said: “The people of God receive through our words and deeds the oil of gladness which Jesus, the anointed one, came to bring us.” The sacred anointing we received is never just “about us.” Father Fenger, like these priests here, were ordained to be men for others.
The priesthood is a beautiful vocation — to be a man for others, to bring men to God and God to men. This is an immense treasure, and as St. Paul reminds us, it is a treasure that we carry in earthen vessels — the earthen vessels of our frail humanity. 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.
As priests we know our own human frailty, and so we are not shy in asking for prayers for him — 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. 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.”
The Liturgy of the Hours suggests a reading from St. Braulio, bishop of Saragossa, for the Office for the Dead. “Faith assures us,” St. Braulio tells us in that reading, “that just as Christ is not dead, we too shall not die.”
“The hope of resurrection encourages us because we shall see again those whom we lose here below.” He reminds us that as baptized Catholics — and most certainly as ordained priests — “we do not belong to ourselves; we belong to the one who redeemed us. Our will should always depend on his. For this reason, we say in the Lord’s Prayer: ‘Thy will be done.’ Confronted with death, the sentiments of Job should be our own: ‘The Lord gave and the Lord took away. Blessed be the name of the Lord!’” (St. Braulio, Office of the Dead)
In gratitude for Father Guy Fenger’s faith, for his long years of priestly service, and for his perseverance in his vocation, we commend him to Mary, the mother of all priests, whom we invoke as Queen of the Apostles.
Eternal Rest grant unto him, O Lord. May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
