The Last Mass
Fr. Jerry Meisel, just out of the seminary and as pastor of St. Matthew Catholic Church
By Joe Maffucci
In October 1966, in the beginning of my third year of Theology I left St. Joseph Seminary of the Archdiocese of New York. To borrow the lyrics from a popular song of the time I came undone. I found a mountain that was far too high. I lost the sun, the moon and the stars. Aside from my mother’s death, the lingering emotional effects of my leaving still resonate. Dark memories of that time in my life persist. Nevertheless, there is one memory from those days that I relish. At the end of the scholastic year, the deacons were ordained to the priesthood; it was the culmination of six years of study and spiritual development. It was a joyous as well as spiritual moment for all seminarians. Each year I had the privilege of attending and sometimes participating as an altar server at a First Mass—that is, the first Mass celebrated by a newly ordained priest. We eagerly waited in line for the first blessing of the newly ordained.
On Sunday January 18, 2015 I was scheduled to be sacristan and altar server at the 10:30 am Mass at St. Matthew’s Church in Long Beach. I took my usual route to St. Matthew’s—the 91 to the 605 to E. 7th Street to the Church. When I arrived at the Church, I checked the priest assignment schedule. Father Jerry Meisel was the celebrant. I placed his chalice on the credenza and a cup of water on the altar. I figured we would hear one of his short but poignant homilies (for those who bothered to listen to the homily rather than tract the duration). Fr. Jerry arrived in the sacristy and enthusiastically announced that his spiritual ‘grandson’ Seminarian Miguel Angel Ruiz was giving the recollection. We bantered awhile about our ages—his 80th, my upcoming 73rd. Fr. Jerry celebrated the Mass. Seminarian Ruiz preached a well-received homily. As I was putting away the Mass vestments, Fr. Jerry asked if I would be attending Mass at St. Matthew’s next week. I said no. We parted company.
Monday morning I received a text message: Did you know that Fr. Jerry Meisel had died? Subsequent text messages confirmed that he had a massive heart attack at 1:00 am Monday morning and never regained consciousness. Then it struck me—I was altar server for his last Mass and received his last blessing.
How do you judge a man and his life work? The bottom line is that you cannot. Only the self-righteous and the sanctimonious dare to pass judgment. Nevertheless, we can give our individual perspective. I will give the only perspective I know—the gay perspective.
In first reading for Sunday January 18, Samuel hears the voice of God but at first does not recognize it. Once the voice of God was recognized, Samuel answered, “Speak for your servant is listening.” In February 1986, with the AIDS epidemic raging out of control Archbishop Roger Mahoney called out to parishes to establish “special pastoral outreach” to gay and lesbians. Archbishop Mahoney’s call went unheeded by most pastors. Even though ridiculed and derided, a couple of brave forward-thinking pastors took up the challenge. On a Sunday in September 1986, Fr. Jerry announced that he was starting a gay and lesbian outreach group; he told the congregation that after Mass he will stand in his usual spot and did not want to hear any negative comments. Thus, St. Matthew Comunidad was born. As quoted in the LA Times, Fr. Jerry said, “What we’re trying to say (to gays and lesbians) is that we accept you. Our message is that the church loves them, Christ loves them and even these priests love them.” Years later Pope Francis I followed up by saying “Who am I to judge?”
In 2002 through a fortuitous set of circumstances, I was introduced to Fr. Jerry’s Comunidad. By the time I arrived on the scene, Fr. Jerry had already relinquished responsibility for Comunidad activities to the Comunidad Steering Committee. I knew I found the sun, the moon and the stars.
Fr. Jerry Meisel, Requiescat in Pace; Rest in Peace.
