Father Nick Forde, A Believer: One Man's Opinion

By Ben Meisner

I am always reluctant to write about funerals, because when you do, you run the risk of perhaps offending someone by not mentioning a member of their family passing on.

It is a tight rope.

This week I attended the funeral of Mary Novak , who passed away on December 29^th.  

Everyone who came forward to speak about her talked about a simple woman , a mother , a grandmother , a wife and above all a caring person who liked her home and her garden . Now you might say having married into the Novak family would put her in a special position, not so folks, had you known her you would understand what I am saying to be true. Mary was a woman who came up through life the hard way, she wasn’t born a captain she was simply one of the troops.  Born in Slovenia as a simple farm girl she came up the hard way helping to look after a large family and then immigrating to Canada  marrying Henry Novak who at the time worked in the bush in this region.

She may have been simple in life, but in death hundreds of people from all walks of life, from all religious denominations were in attendance , that speaks volumes about her character, and  about how much she will be missed.

It was  the way in which  Father Nick Forde conducted the service that  made  this service so  special. I am not Catholic, but I have often asked Father Forde, that when I die, if he is still around , would he mind terribly doing the service for me. He is a believer and listening to him conduct the funeral service for Mary Novak that was very evident.

Instead of standing at the pulpit, he went out into the crowd. He talked to each and every one of those in attendance as being all there to honor Mary. "If you have any religious differences" he said "leave them in the parking lot." He tried to make the service understandable to everyone, and I think he did, given that there were Muslims, Jews, Christians and indeed atheists all in attendance in one setting. He said "No matter what your beliefs,  have some prayer in your every day life."

He didn’t talk about Catholics being singled out but rather tried ,and I believe succeeded, in telling those in attendance they were there to celebrate Mary’s life. "I have been a priest for the past 50 years in four different continents" he said. In addition to praying for Mary he asked those in attendance to pray for the families and the men who have died in Afghanistan. It took nerve to do that, but that is Nick Forde.

One day, as my wife and I sat with him, he said, "Religion is a bit like this, you tinker around with your car trying to fix it and when all else fails you call in the mechanic."

He covered all religions with that comment. He is a believer and a credit to the religious community, he transcends the boundaries of religion and I am sure that the maker, what ever form that may be, smiles down on him every day.

I’m Meisner and that's one man's opinion.

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