On Monday, July 23, Bishop Jaime Soto and Bishop William Weigand concelebrated a Memorial Mass for Bishop Richard Garcia at St. Anthony Parish in Sacramento. Following is an excerpt of Bishop Weigand's homily.
Dear Friends, we are gathered to pray for and give thanks to God for the beautiful life of our beloved former auxiliary bishop of 9 years, Bishop Richard J. Garcia. He died on July 11 at the relatively young age of 71. It was shocking how his seemingly robust health deteriorated so rapidly over the past 4 months. It caught him by surprise, too; but as a man of deep faith and prayer, he was ready for whatever the Lord wished. As the 1st reading reminds us: ”The just man, though he die early, shall be at rest..an unsullied life (is) the attainment of old age...He reached the fulness of a long career, for his soul was pleasing to God.” When I last visited Bishop Rich a month ago, we bantered openly about the probability of his passing to the fullness of life fairly soon. I said, “Rich, this looks to be your ticket home to the Father’s house; I’m 10 years older but it looks like you’re going to beat me there; that’s not fair.” He laughed: “Yes, I think I’m going to beat you.” And he did. But he will be sorely missed here.
There is a funny consequence to his passing. At Bishop Rich’s funeral in Salinas last Thursday, some of us bishops joked about artichokes. Grown abundantly in the Diocese of Monterey, artichokes have been the cause of laughter ever since Bishop Garcia’s installation as Bishop of Monterey on January 30, 2007. On that occasion, at the lunch for the bishops and family prior to the Mass, when Bishop Rich made his remarks, he called attention to the packet of memorabilia of the Diocese of Monterey that each bishop would receive. He apologized that the packets did not each contain a couple of artichokes like they had intended, since the new crop was delayed. I was then invited to say a few words. I, of course, wished Bishop Rich well in Monterey but also expressed my sadness that Sacramento and I were losing a much loved and effective Auxiliary Bishop. I then turned to Archbishop Montalvo, the Apostolic Nuncio, and, tongue in cheek, strongly complained of the injustice - that Sacramento was getting nothing in return for our loss; that at the very least we should get a sack of artichokes.
Well, the place broke out in great laughter. And every speaker thereafter joked about artichokes. And Rich himself loved the banter and kept it going. Throughout these 11 subsequent years, every time Bishop Rich would come to Sacramento, which was fairly often, he brought me a sack of artichokes, if in season. With his passing, I’ll have to shop for my own artichokes. Each time will bring back fond memories. And so it will be, surely, with each of you. Each will have precious memories of this down-to-earth, simple, friendly man of God. Bishop Rich was a kind and gentle soul; always positive, encouraging and affirming. He had time for you, whoever you were. Non judgmental, he seemed always to see the good in people; sought to bring out the best. He connected with people. He was everybody’s friend. His frequent robust embraces expressed this well. I heard one Sacramento priest at the funeral say: “there was not a mean bone in him.” Indeed, not.
To read the complete text of Bishop Weigand's homily, view the PDF below.
(Photos provided by Cathy Joyce, Catholic Herald Magazine)
