Monsignor James F. Coffey

Monsignor James F. Coffey Mass Of Christian Burial October 12, 2007
Fr. John Rowan

Readings:   Isaiah 40: 25-31 Lectionary 184
           Ephesians 3: 2 - 12 817
           Luke 9: 28b - 36 27c

Several years ago at one of the celebration masses marking another milestone in the life of Jim Coffey, he said to me, possibly thinking that I would like to have been the homilist on the occasion, that "I have you down for another time, but I won't be listening." He had today in mind.

I'd naturally like to put the best spin on his remark that I can: it is that every homily is part of a larger conversation. True that the homily at the moment may seem to be a monologue, but, in context, there is experience and study in its preparation, and afterwards, a response from listeners and an opportunity to clarify, perhaps defend. Jim was just saying that he was a listener as well as a speaker. In Jim's published homilies, "Seeing with the Heart," there is an illustration by Pat Healy showing Jesus leaning over the table at the Last Supper like the chairman of the board; the understated caption says: "Jesus does most of the talking." True, but it was a conversation, with questions and discussion. "We don't know where you're going; how can we know the way?" (Jn 14:5)

I would like to remember Jim this morning as a person in conversation: as a pastor, a teacher, a homilist, a friend, a brother and uncle. Maybe, when I'm finished with this homily, you may conclude that of all the rich possibilities presented by his life, I made a poor choice. Or a good one. We can talk about it.

The gospel of the transfiguration of the Lord has always been identifies with Jim. This was the Lenten Gospel proclaimed at his ordination to the priesthood in Rome on February 28, 1931, a day that he remembered with total clarity. The transfiguration gospel also connection with his lifelong fascination with the mystery of conversion or transformation of the human person through grace. I remember in 1976 we were visited here at St. Patrick's by Rosemary Haughton, the author of "The Transfiguration of Man". Jim had read the book seven times. Now the author and Jim were having a conversation in one of the rooms below with about fifty or sixty of us sitting there in awe of these giants. One of the horizons that itself was widening on that very occasion was that of the place of women in theology and in Church, which was part of Jim's quest since his association with Dorothy Day and the Grail Movement up to his recent delight in the writings of Sister Elizabeth Johnson.

I chose the Lukan version of the Transfiguration because some scholars think it is closest to the original tradition. It focuses on Jesus and only secondarily on the experience of the apostles Peter, James and John. I am relying here on Jerome-Murphy O'Connor (a Corkonoan, but what can you do?) He also suggests that the earliest tradition of the story did not name the two men who were conversing with him, or any of the other references to Moses and Elijah. And paring it down, the simplified text would be: "And behold, two men were conversing with him and spoke of his exodus that he was going to accomplish in Jerusalem".

The two men were "Explaining Angels", that is, the messengers from heaven that are present at the most mysterious moments when heaven touches human life, to offer a word of instruction or help. We are reminded that the most important angels in the scriptures are explaining Angels, like Gabriel at the Annunciation "The power of the Most High will overshadow you..." (Luke 1:35) and like the two men in the tomb on Easter, who explain: "He is not here. He is risen." (Luke 24:6) In the Transfiguration scene, the angels are discussing the mystery of Jesus; death and referring to it as an "Exodus". But it isn't exodus a term of deliverance and liberation, of a protected passage into freedom? Can this term "Exodus" be used to speak about death? In this conversation Jesus is transfigured and so is the meaning of his death.

I would like to stay with this metaphor and suggest that Jim Coffey was an explaining angel. This this was the stewardship of God's grace given to him for our benefit (Ephesians 3: 2), to stand by and help us with the mysterious dimensions of life, largely through prayer and conversation. To help us with the mystery of family and friendship, the mystery of women in the church, the mystery of depression and dread, of sin and redemption, the mystery of joy and hope, the mystery of priesthood, the mystery of each one of us and the mystery that was Jim Coffey a creature of God.

I think it would be fair to say that Jim was a person uniquely disposed for the ministry the Spirit assigned to him. Born of Irish immigrants in Brooklyn, he spoke in complete sentences even as a toddler. He was aware from his earliest memories of the sacred precincts of soul and spirit in his family and his parish church. He wrote with awe of the solemn stillness that came over the Coffey household as his father began with his Saturday Confession to prepare for his monthly Holy Communion with the Holy Name Society. The profound conversation began early in his life. Maybe a high point, where true education meets the fertile mind, happened during his graduate studies at the Catholic University of Louvain. He wrote later: "At Louvain, any author who was worthy of mention was considered to have learned something of the truth we were all searching for. There was a presumption that we had something to learn from him. Whatever his failures, there was a hope that we might learn something by trying to discover why he taught and what he taught. We tried to look into the thought processes in order to discover the strengths and weaknesses of our thinking...The preoccupation at Louvain was with the "subject", the thinking person in whom the truth comes alive."

Jim at Louvain became a disciple of Cardinal Desire' Joseph Merciers conviction that Catholic thinking should not be a closed system but should be a conversation with all who are seeking the truth. Jim carried this message as a seminary professor and in his ten years as a seminary rector, as well as making his parish one that was conversant with great religious questions. That's the work of an explaining angel in the world. Like St. Paul, who has been called the patron saint of Thought in Christianity, Jim can be praised for "minding" our faith.

In 1993, the parishioners of St. Patrick's published the first of three volumes of Jim's Homilies, the first under the title "Seeing with the Heart." Was this emphasis on the heart an eleventh-hour correction of the life's work of the student, professor, rector, pastor and preacher? Was the heart going to make a dramatic and triumphant appearance at the end of this long conversation? No, the heart has been part of the formula all along. It is the love of truth, and the Lord who is the Way, and the Truth and the Life, that causes us to humbly seek the truth. "For the love of Christ impels us...to our convictions. (2Cor 5:14) Love does not make a last minute appearance; it was the driving force all along.

The last scene of "Man for All Seasons" has a great exchange between Thomas More and his wife Alice who is visiting him in the Tower of London just before his death. Alice is lamenting that she does not understand why Thomas must make the sacrifice and that he has not explained to her sufficient reason for his death. And Thomas, chastened, responds:

               "Well, finally, it isn't a matter of reason.
                Finally, it's a matter of love."

So, the conversation on this side of life, full of reason and full of love, has lost a valued partner, an angel one might say. It remains for us to carry on, because this holy conversation about the mysteries of God is the finest tradition of our Catholic Church. "Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope" (1Peter 3:15) Jim will help us from above. Maybe he will be made a full fledged Angel, which is higher that even Monsignor (and much more useful!). Jim we feel your warmth and friendship glowing in our hearts and minds. You listened to our stories and you blessed us on your way. We envy those who are with you now. We are grateful, each one of us, to have been loved by you, to have been taught by you. You make it easier to believe in Resurrection. You make it easier for us to believe in God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.