Funeral homily for the late Most Rev. Peter Stasiuk, CSsR by Bishop Bryaan Bayda,

I think Bishop Peter sat before the tabernacle of many altars and in different ways, heard the voice of God. Therefore, I would like to read for you a small portion of a reflection written by Fr. Joseph Langford, co-founder of the Missionaries of Charity Fathers with Mother Teresa. Of course, he was highly influenced by St. Teresa of Calcutta in writing this reflection who spent a great deal of time before tabernacles herself. Every time I hear this reflection, it helps me understand what Christ says to us in the silence of our hearts where the Trinty dwells.

I THIRST FOR YOU

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock” (Rev 3:20)

It is true. I stand at the door of your heart, day and night. Even when you are not listening, even when you doubt it could be Me, I am there. I await even the smallest sign of your response, even the least whispered invitation that will allow Me to enter.

I want you to know that whenever you invite Me, I do come — always, without fail. Silent and unseen I come, but with infinite power and love, and bringing the many gifts of My Spirit. I come with My mercy, with My desire to forgive and heal you, and with a love for you beyond your comprehension — a love every bit as great as the love I have received from the  Father: “As much as the Father has loved me, I have loved you” (John 15:10) I come — longing to console you and give you strength, to lift you up and bind all your wounds. I bring you My light, to dispel your darkness and all your doubts. I come with My power, that I might carry you and all of your burdens; with My grace to touch your heart and transform your life, and My peace I give to still your soul.

Today, I truly believe that every funeral we gather at is God’s way of calling us to reflect on the mystery of the Body of Christ and how we are all members of that Body. This brings into focus the Golden Rule :  LK 10:25 “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”

There are many stories that are ripe for recounting at this time, but I would like to limit myself to stories that illustrate three things:

1) the life of the late Bishop Peter,

2) The Body of Christ, and mostly

3) the action of the Holy Spirit in every one of our lives.

OUR DIGNITY and POTENTIAL

The Holy Spirit wanted and still wants to reveal to each of us our true dignity and potential. Bishop Peter was used by the Holy Spirit and did this for me when I was still an inexperienced 23 year-old seminarian in Toronto.

He called me in Toronto in April and asked me to be the Director of a summer Ukrainian language immersion camp in Saskatchewan, known as Camp Chaban.  After getting permission from Fr. Sianchuk, my formator and superior at the time, I called Fr. Peter back and reminded him of a few things: 1) I don’t speak Ukrainian, 2) I have never been a summer camper, 3) I have never been a Counsellor at a camp nor a cook, nor a teacher, and 4) I certainly have never directed a staff before. But if you want me to direct this, I accept.

Two months later, I found myself in a borrowed caravan trailer, pouring over the legal requirements for a government grant on language immersion camps. I had 2 hours to prepare three days of training for a staff of 15 counsellors, teachers and   cooks. However, God had provided for me two wonderful managers, Eugene and Angela Ostopowich, to assist me.  So, with their help, we had a very successful camp for the next 7 years.

Why am I sharing this with you?  The Holy Spirit, through Bishop Peter, called forth my potential as a member of the Body of Christ. Therefore, I invite all of you to reflect on how this was the case for you in your personal relationship with Bishop Peter. He had a crazy way of challenging people. Please give thanks to the Holy Spirit and acknowledge how you were called forth to realize your potential as part of the Trinitarian Body of Christ through Bishop Peter.

FORGING a RELATIONSHIP 

As a staff member of St. Vladimir’s College minor seminary high school in Roblin, Manitoba in the early 1990’s, the then Fr. Peter Stasiuk impressed upon me the importance of wholesome recreation. He taught me how picking mushrooms, hunting pheasants, deer, elk, moose and bear was divinely inspired and always good for the soul, so to speak. Oh, and in the tradition of apostolic succession, what it meant to be a fisherman.

I fondly remember building tree stands in plus 35-degree heat for hunting or sitting at the edge of a forest in minus 40-degree freezing weather waiting for elk to pass in the dark at five o’clock in the morning. I perhaps didn’t realize it at the time, but these were the sacrifices that would bear much fruit later. They were ways of getting one’s mind off the stress of being a teacher, director, pastor and community member as a Redemptorist. I can’t tell you how….. relaxing that was for me.

But, I was drawn like a bird that migrates, drawn to the comradery, trust and sacred memories that are born in this way all the time, when The Holy Spirit, through Bishop Peter, helped me forge relationships as a member of the Body of Christ. Again, why am I sharing this with you? I invite all of you to reflect on how this was perhaps the case for you in your personal relationship with Bishop Peter. He had a crazy way of challenging people. So please join me in giving thanks to the Holy Spirit and acknowledge how you were called to develop new relationships as part of the Trinitarian Body of Christ through Bishop Peter.

Yes, there is a litany of memories that come to mind as I reflect on the Mystery of how the Holy Spirit spoke through Bishop Peter to me, deepening my relationship to God. But indeed I am not the only person that was blessed by knowing the man.

He inspired us as a pastor in Toronto and before that, in small towns like Ituna and Goodeve, Saskatchewan where he produced two record albums with his parish youth group. He inspired us as a hockey coach to become NHL-ers. He inspired us as a pastor in rural Manitoba, as a friend who liked to fish, as an uncle of very capable nieces and nephews. He challenged us as he challenged his family of brothers and sisters. You know that, while as children playing church, he made sure that before receiving communion they all went to confession to him as an 8-year old playing the role of a priest.

Much, much later in life, he inspired us as head of the Patriarchal Catechetical Commission (nearly killing – excuse me bringing out the potential of Doctor Sister Luisa Tsiupa) that coordinated and marshalled many theologians and scripture scholars to produce on behalf of the Synod, a cathechism for the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.

He inspired many of us. At times painfully and at times with wit and comedy, but always with love, he inspired many religious, his brother Redemptorists and bishops in Canada, in the United States, Ukraine, Australia, Oceania and across the globe. So, in the name of so many who wished they could be here today in person but are not able to attend this celebration of his life, we give thanks to the Holy Spirit who, through Bishop Peter, deepened our relationships in the Body of Christ.

Today, I invite you to join me as together we review the spiritual and heartfelt basket of memories that each of us has with the Holy Spirit because of the late Bishop Peter Stasiuk. Take an Easter egg from your basket, a hidden memory that now brings joy and meaningfulness when reflected upon.  Share it with someone else today as a sign of the Resurrection. Allow the Holy Spirit to continue to speak through Bishop Peter and to speak through you to someone else. Allow the Holy Spirit to give dignity to the memory of Bishop Peter and to give dignity to you and give dignity to someone you know well or perhaps just met today. Why? Because we are all members of the mystical Body of Christ.

May the Holy Spirit use you to express to one another the immearsureable love of God. The Holy Spirit calls us to be more like the Theotokos, Our Mother of Perpetual Help. She was perfectly open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and She remains very fond of Bishop Peter. With Her intercession, may you convey more profoundly the love of Jesus Christ to some other person today so that they become more aware of how they are loved beyond comprehension.

When the Holy Spirit speaks to a person in their heart, may you come to mind as a vessel of the Holy Spirit as happens with Saint Teresa of Calcutta. True, none of us is perfect or worthy. However, today Bishop Peter hears the eternal message of God with a much deeper understanding. Jesus spiritually reveals to Bishop Peter in no uncertain terms God’s love. Upon his earthly death, in the blink of an eye, Peter’s hearing aids were no longer needed. He becomes deeply aware of God’s love. You might say Peter exclaimed, “I finally get it!” hearing Jesus say; Above all, do not run from Me when you fall. Come to Me without delay. When you give Me your sins, you give Me the joy of being your Saviour. There is nothing I cannot forgive and heal. So come now and unburden your soul.

Above all, do not run from Me when you fall. Come to Me without delay. When you give Me your sins, you give Me the joy of being your Saviour. There is nothing I cannot forgive and heal. So come now and unburden your soul. Whenever you do open the door of your heart, whenever you come close enough, you will then hear Me say to you again and again, not in mere human words but in spirit: “No matter what you have done, I love you for your own sake. Come to Me with your misery and your sins, with your troubles and needs, and with all your longing to be loved. And I stand at the door of your heart and knock: Open to Me, for I thirst for you!”

+Bryan J. Bayda, CSsR