I have had difficulty with preparing this
homily. What do I call this man? Many of you knew him as Mr. Coonan, or Coach
Terry. Some of you were lucky enough to
call him dad, or like me, grandpa. I don’t
think I’ve ever heard anyone call him William Stephen, but rather always
Terry. So I think I’ll call him grandpa
for the sake of simplicity, but you all know who I’m talking about.
Another reason this is difficult is
because, of course, grandpa is family, and in fact, I’ve never done this
before. And while I’m not here to
canonize this man, because like all of us, he had his imperfections and sins
and needs our prayers, I would still like to use this homily to spread around
some of the good that he has poured into the hearts of so many. I want to look at his life in terms of
legacy: what good has he left behind?
How is the world a better place because of the way he chose to live day
after day?
Before I get into those points though, we
have to say that Grandpa’s legacy can only be understood in the context of his
wife of almost 62 years. He and grandma
Dolly were a witness to what marriage can do, to how it can purify us, and how if
we embrace the challenges of it and lay ourselves down, we reap great
benefits. I can think of a few things:
1. I
chose this Gospel reading because I think it is ultimately one of the most
important aspects of grandpa’s life. The
final test, Jesus tells us today, is summed up in what Mother Teresa called the
“five-finger” Gospel: “You did it to me.”
I am sure that with 50 years of service in the Saint Vincent de Paul
Society, coach saw Jesus in the distressing disguise of the poor and
marginalized. For 50 years, he and Dolly
tried their best to love Jesus right in their community. I can only imagine what the welcome will be
like for them when so many people on the other side come up to them and say “thank
you for giving to us.”
2. And
that leads to the next part of the legacy.
He gave an example of the true meaning of life: giving of ourselves to
others, sincerely, and faithfully.
a. His
Wife. Nothing shapes a married man more
than his wife and his ability to love her with his whole heart. Dolly made grandpa complete, and it was so
evident that since Holy Thursday 2015, half of his heart was in another
place. Over the years, they learned the
depths of love together, and they loved to the very end.
b. His
children. Whether it was in family
dinners, celebrating birthdays, going on vacations to national parks or the
lake, or just playing out in the yard, he clearly invested in his
children. And even if his life was more
of a public one, with time spent away, nothing was more important to him than
coming home. I think it is easy to see
that grandpa and grandma were proud of their kids – every one of you. I’m sure that every day they prayed for you
and they thanked God for you.
c. His
students and athletes. We all hear
stories all the time of the lives he influenced. Last night was full of them. Coach gave and gave. He cared about his players and showed it by
how he treated them and built them up.
They grew because of him.
3. Parable
of the Sower. We don’t see all that we
sow, and we don’t always get to share in all the benefits. We plant, but often the hard work goes to
someone else.
So
there is his legacy. It is people. It is the love that he sowed quietly in the
hearts of all of us here and hundreds who are not here. As we pray for God to receive grandpa in his
mercy, we also give thanks for the love that God has poured into our hearts
from grandpa’s hands. Lord, thank you
for your son William Stephen, Coach Terry, dad, grandpa. Help us commit our
lives to sowing the same love in our world and hear you say at the end of our
days: “Come blessed of my Father…for whatever you did to the least of these, you
did it to me.”
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