Homily: Funeral mass: Bill Wolfe, July 9, 2025

 Life on earth has come to a peaceful end for our beloved brother Bill Wolfe, but his joy and passion for living continues to eternity, the reward promised for his faith.

Here at St. Ambrose Cathedral, was where Bill used to attend Sunday Mass faithfully. He was nourished with the holy Body and Blood of Christ, the true food, true drink of life. While he won’t be worshiping here physically with us anymore, I am sure he will continue to give praise and thanks to God spiritually with us, with all the angels and saints, at every Mass we celebrate here. And we hold on to the promise that we will meet each other face to face again, in the glory of heaven.

Meanwhile, all of us who know and love Bill will miss his physical presence dearly.

I noticed something amazing about Bill. Anyone who got to meet him, even just once, will not forget him. He had a way of making people feel warm, welcomed, heard, and appreciated. He was a people-person: joyful, witty, and full of good humor.

I remember seeing him often, especially at the distribution of our Friday fish meals, getting people who were waiting in line, up in cheerful spirit, telling them, “This fish is raised in holy water!” A simple activity became a fun and happy event with Bill around.

This spirit of finding and spreading joy remained in him through every stage of life, even amidst illness and pain. 

In the past two years, he had been in different hospitals, and each time I visited him, even as he was suffering through pain and discomfort, he would still want to make me laugh. Once, he gave me this advice: “Father, don’t get old. Just look at me and decide.” Nothing could stop Bill from smiling, not even when it was difficult.

A few months ago, during one of my visits, we talked about suffering. Instead of wishing it away, I suggested him to offer it up, uniting it with Jesus on the cross, for his family and for the purification of his own soul, and he agreed. He carried his cross with grace and faith on his last mile.

He drew tremendous strength from the Holy Eucharist he received with deep love and great reverence.

And one of the greatest graces he received was the Anointing of the Sick and the Apostolic Pardon on the day before he died. That gives me deep peace, and confidence knowing that he had received God’s boundless mercy, that he is now with the angels and saints in heaven.

As we heard in the first reading from the Book of Wisdom: “The souls of the just are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them... As gold in the furnace, He proved them, and as sacrificial offerings, He took them to Himself.”

Bill’s earthly suffering was not meaningless, it was purification, preparing him for eternal union with Jesus in His glory. His soul is now in the hand of God; no torment can ever touch him.

St. Paul also reminds us: “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword?... No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”

Whatever Bill went through in life, especially in his most difficult moments, did not separate him from Jesus, but brought him more intimately to the love of Christ. Now through death, he is fully united with the Lord.

Jesus tells us in today’s Gospel: “Whoever comes to me I will never reject.”

Bill loved God and His Church. He came to Jesus faithfully, reverently, regularly. He loved the Lord by loving and serving others in quiet and humble ways. Many of us here have been blessed by his generosity and kindness.

Bill was himself a richly blessed man too. He had a beautiful family, he loved his wife Ginny, his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

Ginny, I want to affirm and appreciate you, for walking with Bill through his life, as his devoted spouse, best friend, loving companion. You took such great and gentle care of him, especially in his most difficult moments, I am sure those were your most difficult times too. It was not an easy journey for you. Your constant love, patience, dedication, strength and faithfulness are inspiration to us all. We pray the Holy Spirit and the Blessed Virgin Mary, may comfort and console you, and accompany you through this time and all the days of your life.

Bill was a respectable soldier, a faithful Catholic, a joyful soul, a loving husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather, a good friend. We are so grateful for his service to our country, to our Church, and to our community. He had served well his time on earth, now he will rest in peace.

Today, we offer him a Catholic farewell, we commend our brother Bill Wolfe to the loving embrace of our good and merciful God.

Bill, till we meet again, remember us in your prayers as we remember you in ours.

Amen.