ABBOT ELIAS DIETZ, O.C.S.O.
Homily for Funeral Mass of Br. Norbert Meier, OCSO December 14, 2017
[Wis 3:1-6,9; Rm 14:7-9, 10b-12; Lk 12:35-40]
A Wonderful Gift of Life
We are here this morning to show our gratitude for the wonderful gift of life: the long, full life—all 91 years’ worth—of our Br. Norbert. But God’s gifts are not like our gifts. He gives us life, and yet so much depends on how we live it. It is our life, and yet “no one lives for himself,” . . . “whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.” God returns to reclaim his gifts. But he expects to find something greater than what he gave: “As gold in the furnace, he proved them, and as sacrificial offerings he took them to himself.”
So, even though we have faith in Christ’s resurrection and live in confident hope of eternal life, there is, nonetheless, this moment of return, when “each of us shall give an account of himself to God.” It seems natural to ponder this aspect of Christian death just now, in the middle of Advent. It is the season of keeping watch: “Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival.” It is also the season of preparation: what will I have to offer when the time comes to give an account of myself? What shall I bring to the Child in the manger?
Brother Norbert’s way of life among us over so many years is a good example for us of these Advent virtues. To be vigilant doesn’t just mean staying awake: it has especially to do with the quality of our attention, with sensitivity to what is going on around us, and with reliability. Br. Norbert was as reliable as they get, and was entrusted with a wide range of responsibilities over the years. Probably already from his Marine days, he was disciplined and methodic in everything he did, but with a gentle touch, perhaps because he experienced a certain amount of pain and suffering, especially from his chronic back problems. He was often elected to the various councils, and was the inevitable choice when we needed someone to count votes—a man we all trusted. The only time I knew Br. Norbert to be unhappy was during the short time he was appointed prior. Typically, he accepted the job out of a sense of duty and a desire to do whatever was needed. But it didn’t sit well with him: it made him too visible, and he much preferred to stay in the background.
The real test of virtue is whether you do the virtuous thing even when it is unnoticed. This was Norbert’s comfort zone: do the right thing for the right reason and try not to be caught at it. As he moved into old age, he adapted less in terms of personal preference or comfort than in terms of service: when he couldn’t be on his feet too much, he did the driving; when he couldn’t drive anymore, he focused on the print shop, all the while fixing anything anyone brought to him, and, when all else failed, making rosaries.
So, we can be grateful for this example of the Advent virtues. Norbert was among us as a ready, vigilant, and reliable servant of all.
And what about the other aspect of Advent I mentioned earlier: preparing gifts, preparing what one will have to offer. Norbert’s lesson to us here is that the best gifts are the common ones. To illustrate what I mean, I’ll read a short passage from one of Saint Bernard’s Sentences or sayings, where he imagines the community as the little convoy of Magi on its way to offer gifts to the newborn Savior. He points out that the original Magi and their gifts had to do with circumstances and customs of ancient times, and then he says:
But since all of those factors no longer obtain, we offer him more acceptable gifts—the salve of myrrh in the form of our common life, the semblance of frankincense in the sweetness of our good reputation, and the splendor of gold in our purity of conscience. Through these we zealously seek not the friendly esteem which comes from a dutiful manner of life, nor the empty glory which comes from a favorable opinion of us, but rather the honor of God and the good of our brothers. (Sent 1.15; CF 55:122)
Or—to use Bernard’s original expression—the honor of God and usefulness to the brothers: what a fine summation of the monastic way and of Norbert’s way among us.
And since Saint Bernard has us imagining things, I’ll venture to add a further fantasy. Imagine that all the monks of the greater Gethsemani in heaven and on earth get together to elect the three Magi it will send as a delegation to bring Gethsemani’s version of these particular gifts to the Christ child in Bethlehem. In which case, I’m guessing Br. Norbert would be elected. And I’m sure he would do his best to turn it down.
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