By Archbishop Thomas Wenski - The Archdiocese of Miami

Archbishop Thomas Wenski preached this homily at the funeral Mass for Msgr. Tomás Marín. The Mass was celebrated Jan. 5, 2019, at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Doral.

Rosie, to you and to your mom, to your husband and your children, our deepest condolences on the loss of your brother, Msgr. Tomás Marín. And while we commend his soul to our merciful Lord with firm faith and hope that he who has now died like Christ will also rise with him to New Life, we grieve his loss. He will be missed. Rosie, for you and your family, your grief will be a heavy cross to bear — but, as you have seen yesterday and today, you do not bear this cross of grief alone.

Tomás Marín was a man of many talents — and great energy. He put those talents to work — and he worked hard — and he put them to work in the service of Christ and his Church. He served Archbishop Favalora as chancellor for 10 years, he also worked as a canon lawyer in the Metropolitan Tribunal, he was the long-time chair of the Archdiocese of Miami’s Health Plan, he was a dean or Vicar Forane, a member of the presbyteral council; he served on numerous boards —Holy Cross Hospital, Mercy Hospital, Belen and a few more. And, on top of all this, he managed to found Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish — where he served for nine years — and then went on to take on St. Timothy and its debt, and most recently he came to St. Augustine, where he continued to serve with great energy despite dealing with chemotherapy and fighting his cancer. And I cannot forget to mention his work as a chaplain with the Cuban Association of the Knights of Malta and his work on behalf of the Church in Cuba. Bishop Emilio Aranguren, president of the Cuban Bishops’ Conference, wrote me when he heard of Msgr. Marin’s passing and described him as a “dear brother for the Cuban Church.”

He will be missed — but not only for the many things he did in his almost 30 years of priestly service but for who he was as a priest. He was a human being like each of us, with faults and failings, but he was a priest of integrity, totally committed to serving Christ and his bride, the Church, and he served faithfully.

Pope emeritus, Benedict XVI, once said: “Being a priest means becoming an ever closer friend of Jesus Christ, with the whole of one’s existence. The world needs God — not just any god but the God of Jesus Christ, the God who made himself flesh and blood, who loves us to the point of dying for us, who rose and created within himself room for man.”

Tomás, when pressed to tell his vocation story — why he became a priest — recalled how when he was studying medicine in the Dominican Republic there was an explosion at a nearby sugar mill. Some 400 people seriously burned —125 men died of their injuries. He went there as a med student to help — and he noticed that with all doctors and nurses trying to help, the injured and dying were calling for a priest. And there he realized that there was a greater need for priests than there was for doctors. Eventually he found himself in the seminary and was ordained a priest. Yes, the world needs God; and Tom Marin became a priest and brought God to the world. He had studied to be a cardiologist, a doctor that fixes hearts with stents and such. But God, who is a God of surprises, set him on a different path — still fixing hearts — but with the healing balm of God’s grace and mercy as a physician of souls.

And of all the things Msgr. Marin did, nothing was more important to him than to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. And there is nothing more important than this, for in the Mass we receive the Bread of Everlasting Life. Many times, Msgr. Marin held the consecrated host in his hands — and he contemplated and adored the Living Christ hidden under the appearances of Bread. Now, we pray that he sees him face to face at the Eternal Banquet of the Heavenly Jerusalem of which the Mass is only the foretaste and anticipation.

Tomorrow, the Church celebrates the great feast of the Epiphany, the feast of God’s manifestation, his revelation to the nations in the humility and weakness of a small child. Christ revealed himself to the Magi in Bethlehem, to the crowds at the River Jordan when John baptized him; he revealed himself to his disciples at the wedding feast of Cana when he turned water into wine. We can also say that Christ revealed himself through the priestly ministry of Msgr. Tomás Marín. His life too was an Epiphany, a manifestation of God’s love, of God’s closeness, of God’s gentleness.

In December, while in the hospital, he had fully expected to be home at St. Augustine’s for the New Year. When I visited him the Sunday before Christmas he told me he was worried because he hadn’t made the schedule for January’s Masses — he hadn’t made up the schedule because he was sure he would be home by New Year’s. I told him not to worry: I’d take care of it. He didn’t make it back to St. Augustine’s for New Year’s. But he did make it home.

Habiendo celebrado por tantos años junto a sus fieles la muerte y resurrección del Señor, hoy ofrecemos por él esta eucaristía junto a sus familiares, sus amigos, y sus feligreses, sabiendo que el mismo Jesús lo hará participar de su victoria. Que al lograr Monseñor Tomás la meta de su existencia, y purificado de sus pecados, le conceda el Buen Pastor gozar para siempre del lugar de la luz, del consuelo y de la paz. Dale Señor a tu sacerdote el descanso eterno y que brille para él la luz perpetua. Amen.