Our People

Funeral Homily for Fr Terrence Purcell

By Most Rev. Julian Porteous
Auxiliary Bishop of Sydney
28/12/2006

In this Mass today we commend Fr Terrence Purcell to the Lord whom he has served as a priest with singular devotion. Fr Terrence was ordained here in this Cathedral by Cardinal Gilroy in 1954. He has been a priest for fifty one years, the last thirty two as Parish Priest of Broadway.
 
The Lord said to his disciples in the Gospel that we have just read, “See that you are dressed for action and have your lamps lit”. Fr Terrence was deeply a priest. He had a keen sense of his duty as a priest and a singular consciousness of the Catholic faith. He was “dressed for action” and never took a back step when it came to tackling issues in which he had particular conviction.

He served the Archdiocese of Sydney in a number of significant roles. He was the first president of the Senate of Priests when established in the 1970s and he was a key person in the establishing of the system of clergy remuneration.

He had a particular consciousness of the challenges facing priests at this time in our history and was a founding member of the Confraternity of Catholic Priests.

His life took a special focus in his role at St Benedict’s Parish, Broadway. He knew its historical significance in the beginnings of the Catholic Church in the colony of New South Wales. The preservation of the fabric of the Church was very important to him, particularly that the bells which are the oldest set of bells in Australia would continue to chime. And so they do!

His pastoral charity was extended to the many and varied people who inhabited the parish area, and those many who knocked on his door.

He made sure, too, that “his lamp was lit”. During the 1960s he put himself through a Bachelor of Divinity from London University. He engaged in adult education at Cusa House and wrote in many magazines and newspapers. He was active in the defence of and in the teaching of the Catholic Faith.

The Lord urged his disciples to “be like men waiting for their master to return”. Fr Terrence was attentive and focused on his master till the very end. Declining heath, the loss of his sight, did not dint his spirit. Indeed, as he spent his last days in a nursing home in Marrickville, he was visited by many priests and anointed many times over.

We are told in the teaching of the Gospel today that the Master who finds his servants faithful at their tasks will be honoured by him. One can imagine the greeting that Fr Terrence will receive from the Lord: “Well done, good and faithful servant”.

Today we farewell a priest. A priest’s life can be measured in terms of his practical achievements, but it is the hidden work of priestly ministry that cannot be ever adequately assessed or calculated. A priest is firstly a man of God. The oft quoted words of the Letter to the Hebrews captures the role of the priest standing before God on behalf of his brethren: “Every High Priest has been taken out of mankind and is appointed to act for men in their relations with God” (Heb. 5, 1). A Priest is set apart – his ordination, his embracing of celibacy, his devotion to the Divine Office, his faithful celebration of the Sacred Mysteries, his silent prayer - all express this particular “being set apart”. A priest orients his life in a very particular way around the service of God. A priest is the instrument of the action of God, particularly in the Sacraments. A priest carries the burdens and struggles of his brethren and intercedes before God on their behalf. He carries in his heart the needs of his people. He lifts up his hands before the Lord on behalf of his brethren.

This was the real stuff of the life of Fr Terrence Purcell. His priestly identity was strong in him and he lived that identity faithfully.

Fr Terrence will always be remembered particularly in relation to his beloved parish of St Benedict’s. It is worthy of note that Fr Terrence was born during the final years of the pontificate of Pope Benedict XV and died during the pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI. Indeed he knew Cardinal Ratzinger personally and I am sure would have appreciated his choice of name of Benedict as Pope. 

May the Lord grant him eternal rest and may be be received joyfully by the Lord whom he has faithfully served.