Fr Harry Gibson

Fr Harry Gibson (photograph 1963)

The funeral liturgy of a priest, like Fr Harry, in the church where he regularly worshipped and assisted for nearly 25 years is undoubtedly a family affair, and this is how it ought to be. For there should be no more familiar and loved person than the priest. He can go to any home and find a welcome. He is expected to be a friend to everyone, without distinction - from the least to the greatest, the practising or lapsed, the old and the young. Even though it is unfair and unrealistic, there is a nagging hope that he really can manage to be all things to all men and women. It is certainly his privilege to know and be familiar with so many people; to be able to listen to them, to try to heal them and to absolve them. He is there to encourage, to laugh, to chide, to teach them and to pray. He truly belongs to the family of the parish.

Such was the traditional pattern of the priest imprinted so clearly upon Fr Harry. He was brought up in a large family of five sisters and a brother and learned the faith at All Hallows, Gospel Oak. It was there he sang in the choir and served at the altar. In due course he took his degree at Keble College, Oxford and subsequently trained for the priesthood at St Stephen's House in Oxford. These early years left a lasting impression upon his spiritual and vocational life.

All of us here in this large congregation will have different memories of Fr Harry. There is Joyce, his caring wife and great support in all his parishes, his daughters Judith and Jenny, together with their husbands Peter and Andrew who have greatly contributed to the warmth and joy Fr Harry experienced in his close-knit family life. His personal family enabled him to serve the various parish families where he ministered faithfully and lovingly over so many years.

We priests knew him as a fellow priest, a colleague, a friend, a companion. Someone who could tell a good story and someone, in my case, who enjoyed sharing a whisky.

And then, many of you might have known him from churches in Oxford where, way back, Fr Harry began his ministry, from Scotland where he worked as a Youth Chaplain, from Farlington where he was assistant priest, from Ryde where he was Vicar and from his last parish before retirement in 1981 - St George's, Waterlooville where he rebuilt the church and beautified its interior - a building which remains as a monument to his ministry.

Yes, and on a personal level you will remember him as the priest who married you and baptised your children, who prepared you for confirmation, who buried your loved ones, who befriended you, who spoke so convincingly in sermons, who celebrated the Eucharist regularly with devotion and profound belief. His presence at the altar was always gentle and completely involved as he believed in his heart that through the offering of bread and wine he was truly bringing Christ to his people.

Our memories are fleeting and might be haphazard and disconnected but they form strangely good patterns and for all their incompleteness they can be deeply satisfying and convincing that Fr Harry has brought many blessings to a wide range of people.

So, thank God for the power of memory. This is the gift which makes it possible for us to link the past with the present and be confident about our future. We are here now because we remember, and we are hopeful now because of our memories.

Let us try to realise that the memories we have of Fr Harry are treasures for our own growth. And now they are held in God's memory. He knows us all through and through and loves us all with an indescribable love, with complete understanding and compassion. God sees it all - the good, the bad and the patchy bits of our lives; and he still loves us - utterly, totally, unconditionally. As Joel put it "Our God is all tenderness and compassion, slow to anger, rich in graciousness and ready to relent."

I believe there is always to be found in a priest who loved his parishes as did Fr Harry, one very special quality. It is the quality described in one of the Beautitudes. "Blessed are the pure in heart, they shall see God." The pure in heart are the completely direct, single-minded, straightforward people. They have a fierce loyalty to the people they serve. Fr Harry as priest and pastor, like the good shepherd loved you and me with a loyal love, and whatever failings he may have had, was single-minded in his concern for us all, and especially for his own wife and family. Such purity of heart will most certainly lead to the vision of God because it is an image - however imperfect - of the love that God has for us.

At the end of his long life of nearly 91 years Fr Harry suffered pain and disablement and must have become frustrated by his failing eyesight and hearing problems. He fought bravely to conquer these disabilities, bravely walking, if possible, most days, keeping smiling and not surrendering to selfish introspection. But then he suffered a rapid deterioration in health and was taken to St Richard's Hospital. Just two weeks ago he placed his hands on mine and said with deep sincerity "I just want to get it all over with and go straight to heaven." Fr Phil and myself anointed him and commended him into God's care.

So let us ask God today that Fr Harry's prayer has carried him into eternal life and that he now rejoices in glory for ever with the Blessed Virgin Mary and St Michael, St Andrew, St George, St Wilfrid - the patrons of the churches where he served his long ministry.

May he rest in peace and rise to glory. Amen.

Fr Maurice, St Wilfrids, Chichester