PRESS RELEASE
7 September 2010
Homily of Bishop John McAreavey, Bishop of Dromore, for the funeral Mass of Francis Gerard Brooks, retired Bishop of Dromore
The death of a loved one brings us to what the Gospel today calls ‘a lonely place’. It reminds us of our own mortality and forces us to confront realities that normally we choose to evade. When a loved one dies, we have to face a future without them. At the same time, the death of a person provides us with the opportunity to reflect on their life. In the case of Fr Gerard, as his family and friends knew him, this leads us to reflect on the vocation that led him to serve God as a priest and Bishop. The call of Jeremiah – recounted in the First Reading – reminds us that the mystery of every vocation begins in the mind of God:
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The Word of the Lord was addressed to me, saying: Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you came to birth I consecrated you. I have appointed you as prophet to the nations. |
The Word of the Lord was addressed to me, saying: Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you came to birth I consecrated you. I have appointed you as prophet to the nations.
Jeremiah protests:
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Ah Lord, look; I do not know how to speak: I am a child. |
Ah Lord, look; I do not know how to speak: I am a child.
God reassures him:
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Do not say, ‘I am a child’.
Go now to those to whom I send you.
Do not be afraid of them For I am with you to protect you – It is the Lord who speaks! |
The prophet then recalls: The Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, ‘there! I am putting my words into your mouth’.
Reflecting on his life as Bishop (or ‘elder’), St Paul, says:
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I am an elder myself, and a witness to the sufferings of Christ, and with you I have a share in the glory that is to be revealed. |
Like St Paul, he carried in his own flesh a reminder of the sufferings of Christ. Particularly in his final years as Bishop and in his retirement, he experienced intense pain that is associated with polio. While he did not refer to this during most of his life, he began in his latter years to talk openly about that pain and discomfort.
As a Bishop from 1976 till 1999, his life was touched often by the Troubles; the violence and suffering of many people in the diocese in those years affected him deeply. The discouragement of those years weighed heavily upon him.
In more recent times I know that that problems that face the Church today were a cause of suffering for him.
It is hard to sum up a lifetime’s ministry of a priest or Bishop. However I wish to highlight some of the main preoccupations of Bishop Brooks. When he became Bishop in 1976, just a decade after the Second Vatican Council, many of the changes of the Council still had to be implemented. One of the developments he promoted was the appointment of laywomen and men as Readers and as Eucharistic Ministers.
As a man who spent many years teaching in a Catholic school, he was deeply interested in Catholic education; he was involved in setting up CCMS in 1989 and he was concerned with many other issues that affected Catholic education over the years.
He was deeply committed to the work of Trócaire. The fact that the people of this diocese were consistently the most generous in the country is due at least in part to his support for Trócaire and his encouragement of it in the parishes and schools of the diocese.
He was a committed supporter of the annual Dromore pilgrimage to Lourdes. In retirement he joined the sick of the diocese on that pilgrimage, finally dropping out just two years ago when the challenge of travel was too much for him.
Bishop Brooks was a member of the Irish Bishops Conference and in that forum played an active role, particularly in the area of finance. A bishop who worked alongside him wrote to me, ‘he was a fine bishop, a good colleague and an extraordinary servant of the [Bishops’] Conference’.
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Then he took the five loaves and the two fish, raised his eyes to heaven, and said the blessing over them; then he broke them and handed them to the disciples to distribute them among the crowd. They all ate as much as they wanted, and when the scraps remaining were collected they filled twelve baskets. |
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
Biography of Bishop Francis Gerard Brooks
- Born 14 January 1924, one of three children of Bernard and Mary Elizabeth.
- Baptised 15 January 1924 in Newry Cathedral.
- Attends National School in Rathfriland.
- Confirmed 22 April 1934 in Barnmeen Church, Drumgath Parish.
- Receives his early secondary education in Newry, first at the Abbey Christian Brothers’ School, then at Saint Colman’s College, where eventually he is appointed Head Prefect.
- Enters St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth to begin his studies for the priesthood – Autumn 1942.
- Graduates Bachelor of Science – 1945.
- Graduates Bachelor of Divinity – 1948.
- Ordained Priest 19 June 1949.
- Pursues post-graduate studies in Rome, achieving his Doctorate of Canon Law in June 1952.
- Appointed in the autumn of 1953 to the staff of St. Colman’s College to teach Science, Geography and Mathematics.
- Appointed as College President in 1972 and created a Canon of the Cathedral Chapter.
- Ordained Bishop of Dromore 25 January 1976.
- Retires as Bishop of Dromore with the elevation of Bishop John McAreavey 19 September 1999.
- Died 4 September 2010.
Further information:
Martin Long, Director of Communications 086 172 7678
Brenda Drumm, Communications Officer, 087 310 4444
