Fr Edward Corbould OSB
FUNERAL HOMILY
The very sizeable presence here in the Abbey Church and of those who have joined us online is itself a testimony to how much Fr Edward was appreciated. Thank you for understanding that we had to limit numbers due to practical constraints. I will celebrate a Requiem Mass at the Brompton Oratory in January of next year, which will give an opportunity for a larger number to gather to pray for his soul. We are grateful for your understanding.
Whether it was as a Housemaster, teacher, cross country, cricket and tennis coach, a colleague in the College or simply a friend Fr Edward left his mark. Hence the number of people who asked for his priestly ministry to baptise, marry, anoint the sick or bury the dead. His ministry was legendary, as five Abbots and two Prior administrators could testify, it was sometimes hard to keep up with his travel arrangements. It led someone to remark that you almost wondered if there were no other Catholic priests in England and Wales.
What was also legendary was the way Fr Edward remembered either via email, letter, text message or phone call the various anniversaries of those to whom he had ministered. A testimony to fidelity. Yet all this activity was rooted in one simple truth, his profound love for God and his deep awareness of the love God had for each person. He desired to be a window, a window into that divine love and a window through which that love could be experienced by others.
The slow deterioration of his body and the increasing loss of mobility was deeply frustrating for him, but it gave him an opportunity to prepare for his eventual entrance into the embrace of eternal love. I took time and care to go through with him the plans for his funeral. Death was not a subject that Fr Edward was uneasy or shy talking about, so this homily in one sense has been long in the gestation. “I don’t want you to talk about me, except to ask for prayers,’ he said, “this is not a celebration of me, but of God’s love, I know you will stick to the readings and that is as it should be.”
Fr Edward will be the eighth member of the monastic community that I have buried. On each of those occasions I have reminded us that this is not the time to speak at length about the deceased monk, but to look to the Word of God. To feed on the truth of our faith, and to ask for God’s mercy and forgiveness.
The liturgy of the Word today has given us rich food upon which to ponder and absorb. As I sat with Fr Edward in the early hours of the 6th of November, I read to him the readings we have just heard. I wanted to prepare him for this next and greatest chapter in his Christian discipleship. We listened to Job, who so eloquently assured us:
“This I know that my redeemer lives…he will set me close to him…I shall look at God…these eyes will gaze on him and find him not aloof.”
Rooted in that truth I told him there was no need now to hold back, rather it was time to go in peace eager to see the God whose love he had sensitively tried to mediate to others. ‘I shall look at God.’ What a wonderful promise. I shall see God and find that he is not a distant figure. Do you hear that truth for yourselves? Then we turned to St Paul who reminded us: ‘Our homeland is in heaven…he will transfigure our bodies into copies of his glorious body”. Good news indeed, especially to Fr Edward and all those whose bodies are frail, breaking down and given over to pain. We will be transfigured, what a marvellous thought.
This led us to the Gospel of John. It brought us to the very heart of our faith, to the great promise of Jesus: ‘Anyone who eats this bread will live forever.’ What more reassurance do we need? The Mass and the Eucharistic gift of Jesus was so very important to Fr Edward. He had learnt from years of celebrating this sacrament, of charity confirmed and supported from his many pilgrimages to Medjugorje where Our Lady had spoken of the Eucharist as one of the five stones that enable us to grow in faith. Fed on this food from heaven we become what/who we consume. Heaven is already made available to us. How many times he had fed upon the food of eternity and given it to others. What must the great worship of heaven be like, a worship that he is now part of.
Finally, having been fed on God’s Word, we turned to the mother that gave that Word flesh, we turned to Mary whom he had grown to love and treasure through his pilgrimages to her shrines at Lourdes and Medjugorje. We prayed the rosary, the Gospel on beads and in doing so we released within him, as it does for all of us who pray this great gospel prayer, the power and presence of God’s redeeming love. How wonderful at the end of any of our lives if it can be said of us, they lived what they believed, they were a transparent copy of the Gospel.
Before concluding though there is one more important thing I need to do. It is what Fr Edward said whenever you visited or did the smallest act of kindness: ‘Thank you, bless you.’ Among the many things we as a monastic community need to give thanks for is our infirmary and the truly outstanding group of carers that help us. That Fr Edward was able to die at home, with such dedicated and professional care, was an expression of love in action. To the infirmary staff I want you to know that you are a great blessing to us and what you do and the personal care you give is never taken for granted or undervalued. I thank you and bless you.
But equally I cannot allow this moment to pass without extending my gratitude towards the members of the monastic community who volunteered to step in when financially we could no longer afford night cover. Day in and day out you got Fr Edward ready for bed, using the hoist with great skill. You got up in the night and saw to his needs and then helped the day staff transfer him from bed to chair. All this on top of the many other calls upon your energy and time. Brethren, this is what community life is all about. Your selfless service made me proud to be your Abbot and a member of this monastic family. I thank you and bless you.
So, Edward, we pray for you and offer the great sacrifice of the Mass for your eternal rest. Now you too must continue to do what you faithfully did, to pray for us that we will be ambassadors of the God of love, windows through which His love can be encountered and experienced.
Abbot Robert Igo, OSB
Ampleforth Abbey
26 November 2024
