IN MEMORIAM MSGR. FRANZ GRAEF (1930 – 2016)

IN MEMORIAM

MSGR. FRANZ GRAEF (1930 – 2016)

Rev. Deogratias Ekisa

St. John Berchman's Cathedral, Shreveport - June 29, 2016

Dear Bishop Duca, my brothers and sisters, I count it a great honour, to stand before you, to say a few words about Msgr. Franz Graef, on my behalf and on behalf of Notre Dame Seminary, where he served two wonderful tours of duty.  I am sure that each of us who has known him would have something special to say about his influence on our lives.

In my case, I first met Msgr. Graef, as we called him, in 1994, when I joined Notre Dame Seminary for my theological studies.  Like me, he had an accent, an unusual accent, a German accent; but unlike me, his accent had a gravitas to it, a depth that kept you listening to what he had to say, whether it was about theology or simply his good natured humour.

In preparing my remarks for tonight, I spoke to a few alumni of Notre Dame Seminary to share with me some of their memories of Msgr. Graef.  I would like summarize these memories by speaking about three things which Msgr. Graef passed on to us, not only by his words, but especially by his actions.  And coincidentally, the three things line up exactly with the threefold office of Jesus Christ, as priest, prophet and king.  Msgr. Graef was an astute theologian, a caring pastor and a noble priest.

Msgr. Graef the theologian: Despite his humble and unassuming nature, the theological depth of Msgr. Graef was obvious to anyone who met him.  He was always available he was when called upon to teach theology, whether in the diocese or at the Seminary.  At the seminary, he taught courses in dogmatic and sacramental theology.  As you know, this area of theology is rather abstract, dealing with dry and difficult concepts like the Trinity, Christ's nature, grace, transubstantiation etc.  But he made us love theology; he made us love these abstract concepts.

In his teaching, Msgr. Graef not only taught us orthodox Church doctrine, but he also taught us to explore the various legitimate ways of understanding the faith.  Always drawing from the threefold font of Scripture, Tradition and the Magisterium, he also helped us to consider the myriad ways of understanding the same deposit of faith, both throughout history and in our times.  He trained us to receive what mother Church has to teach us, but also how to appropriate it ourselves and make it a part of our lives.  He hoped that this exercise would produce at least one Augustine or a Thomas Aquinas or at least one Karl Rahner.  If I may speak for myself, in this regard, I think that Msgr. Graef was being a little too generous about the intellectual abilities of us his students.

Msgr. Graef the pastor: If reproducing his theological prowess was perhaps a little beyond our ability, emulating his pastoral zeal was well within our reach.  Msgr. Graef always taught theology with a pastoral goal in mind, that is, he intended that we use this theology to shepherd God's people.  In fact, virtually his only assignments tested our ability to teach the faith as pastors, bringing doctrine to a practical level that would apply to the everyday lives of Christians. That is why he gave us take-home exams dealing with concrete pastoral situations.  For the course on the Eucharist, for example, he had us write a homily for the Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord's Supper; for the sacraments of healing, we had to write a parish presentation tracing the development and history of both the sacraments of penance and anointing of the sick.  And he asked that we ensure that we our work could be used later in our own priestly ministry.  And I can testify that I was able to use these assignments, with only minimal modification during my priestly ministry.

And so when I too began to teach the same courses at Notre Dame Seminary, I followed his model, as my former and current students can testify.  If these students have found these assignments a little demanding (as they once even told Bishop Duca on one of his visits), I hope they now realize that I am not entirely responsible for their having to burn the midnight oil – they have to blame Msgr. Graef.  But if these students, now in ministry, have found those pastorally-oriented assignments of some benefit to their priestly ministry, I cannot take the credit – it is Msgr. Graef they can thank for training us to always have the pastoral heart of Jesus Christ.

Msgr. Graef the priest: Msgr. Graef took his sanctifying role very seriously.  He always celebrated the Eucharist with decorum and composure.  His dignified poise at liturgy was perhaps due to his naturally subdued Teutonic temperament.  Whenever he saw priests who celebrated Mass in an excessively exuberant manner, Msgr. Graef would often remind them that the Mass, which we celebrate daily, is not about us, but about God.  Like all things in the Graef world, his dignified manner of celebrating the liturgy flowed from his theological understanding of the great mystery we celebrate at the liturgy.  He believed that since God was the focus of the liturgy, he should be allowed God to increase and the celebrant to decrease.

And so, if I may speak for hundreds of priests who received their theological training at the feet of Msgr. Graef and for thousands of other students that he taught throughout his priestly ministry, I must say that we truly won the powerball lottery of theology.  We must admit that in having Msgr. Graef for a pastor and mentor, it is like we had Pete Sampras for a tennis coach or Diana Ross teaching us how to sing.

May the memory of Msgr. Graef continue to be perpetuated in the way we carry out our various ministries, both as clergy and as lay people.

• May we always start what we do from a deep knowledge and keen understanding of our faith.
• May we continue to apply that knowledge and understanding to the concrete realities of our Christian lives and lives of other people.
• May we always celebrate the liturgy in a manner befitting the Father whom we adore, the Son who charges us to offer with him and the Holy Spirit who empowers us to offer worthy worship.

The saying goes that you can bring a horse to the water, but you cannot make it drink.  Msgr. Graef has brought us to the water, let us continue drinking and sharing that water with others.

Thank you.