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Homilies | Thursday, September 26, 2019

He was the man for our season here in South Florida

Archbishop Wenski's homily at funeral Mass for Miami Mayor Maurice Ferré

Archbishop Thomas Wenski preached this homily Sept. 26, 2019, at St. Mary Cathedral, during the funeral Mass for former Miami Mayor Maurice Ferré.

Today, during these solemn rites, we commend the soul of Maurice Ferré to our Merciful God. At the same time, we ask the Lord to comfort Mercedes, his wife of 64 years, his children, grandchildren and all who mourn his loss. He was a husband, a father and grandfather, a businessman and a politician; he was the founder and father of modern Miami: he leaves behind a legacy of a life well lived.

He was a remarkable man; a good steward of the many gifts God gave him. A few months ago, he was at my home for lunch and he shared many reminisces of his interactions with Archbishop Coleman Carroll and Msgr. Bryan Walsh, men who like Maurice, did so much to shape this community we are proud to call home.

Someone once said that tears are prayers incarnate – and our tears will not be unheard by our Merciful Father. We commend him to the Lord confident that one day we shall enjoy again the company of Maurice and all the faithful departed. On that day God himself will dry our tears and we shall see Him face to face in the glory of heaven.

In the catechism of our youth we learned that God made us to know him, to serve him and to love him in this life and so to be happy with him in the next. And we can say that Maurice not only could recite this lesson, he lived it. He knew where he was going – and he knew the way, for, as a committed Catholic Christian, he believed sincerely what Jesus says in today’s Gospel reading, “I am the way and the truth and the life.”

Pope emeritus, Benedict XVI, once commented: “What we most need at this moment of history are men who make God visible in this world through their enlightened and lived faith. The negative witness of Christians who spoke of God but lived against him obscured his image and opened the door to unbelief. We need men who have their eyes fixed straight on God, and who learn from him what true humanity is.”

In Maurice Ferré, we had here such a man, a man of enlightened and lived Catholic faith. St. Thomas More, chancellor for King Henry VIII, is known as the “Man for all Seasons.” In the year 2000, St. John Paul II named St. Thomas More the patron saint of statesmen and politicians. Politics can be – and, indeed, it is at its best – a noble profession, a vocation dedicated to promoting human flourishing and the common good. At that time, John Paul wrote about Thomas More:

“His life teaches us that government is above all an exercise of virtue. Unwavering in this rigorous moral stance, this English statesman placed his own public activity at the service of the person, especially if that person was weak or poor; he dealt with social controversies with a superb sense of fairness; he was vigorously committed to favoring and defending the family; he supported the all-around education of the young. His profound detachment from honors and wealth, his serene and joyful humility, his balanced knowledge of human nature and of the vanity of success, his certainty of judgment rooted in faith: these all gave him that confident inner strength that sustained him in adversity and in the face of death. His sanctity shone forth in his martyrdom, but it had been prepared by an entire life of work devoted to God and neighbor.”

“Profound detachment,” “joyful humility,” “balanced knowledge of human nature,” “judgment rooted in faith,” “confident inner strength,” these are qualities that should describe a good politician. And, I believe these words do describe Maurice Ferré – he was the man for our season here in South Florida.

That is not to say that he wasn’t a sinner like the rest of us here. And I am sure that he would be first to acknowledge that; and to ask you to pray for him as he now transitions from this life to life eternal. Maurice proclaimed Jesus as his Lord and Savior; and he trusted in his promises; and he hoped that having died with Christ in the waters of baptism he would also one day rise with him to Eternal life.

“Santa María, Madre de Dios, ruega por nosotros, pecadores, ahora y en la hora de nuestra muerte, Amen.” This prayer was frequently on his lips, as it should be on ours. “Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for him, and pray for us, sinners, now and at the hour of our death.”

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.

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