Volume 10 - Number 17 - April 27, 2006
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The West Tennessee Catholic
Volume 10 - Number 17 - April 27, 2006
"It Was a 25 Month Journey to Jerusalem . . ."
Special to the West Tennessee Catholic
St. Paul Church was filled to overflowing. Hundreds of parishioners, friends, and the family of Father Rick Gantert came to say good-bye on April 25 to the 31-year veteran of priestly ministry in the Diocese of Memphis. Father Gantert, pastor of St. Paul Church, died April 19 following a long illness.
Bishop J. Terry Steib, S.V.D. presided at the Mass of Christian Burial. 41 priests joined the celebration as concelebrants. Deacons were present as chaplains at the altar and celebrating the Liturgy. Several religious who worked with Father Rick at St. Paul Parish and other communities in which he ministered were also present. Father John McArthur, who had preached at Father Gantert’s first solemn Mass after his ordination, preached the homily. He gave thanks to all who were attending with particular concern for the family.
"We’re sad," McArthur said, "but we’re also filled with great joy because Rick is triumphant in the Lord. And we’re gathered here because each of us has special memories." The Pastor of St. Louis Church went on to describe how the seeds of Father Gantert’s vocation were sown in the great love that his parents had for the Church and in the large family which Gantert enjoyed.
He sprinkled the homily with humorous stories about Father Rick, including the time at a basketball game during which Gantert shouted out at one of the players in an exceptionally quiet moment, "Newman, you’re a bum." At that point, McArthur said, "If there were 3,000 people in the Coliseum that day, then 6002 eyes were aimed right at Father Rick–including Newman’s, who scowled in Father Rick’s direction. He loved basketball," McArthur said, "and all sports." But McArthur also testified about the priest, "teaching, preaching, celebrating the Sacraments with great love. And this is why we come to remember."
The huge congregation was pin-drop quiet as McArthur spoke about Father Gantert’s illness. "It was a 25 month journey to Jerusalem," he said, "But he was always proclaiming the Gospel, even in the hospital."
McArthur recalled a conversation he had with Father Handwerker about the fact that Father Rick was, in his illness, living the Liturgy. The leukemia had started two years earlier during Lent. McArthur described how Father Rick had some Ordinary Time during the 25 months. He came back to St. Paul’s and did all the things he loved to do as a priest. He was always present to the week-end during which he would celebrate the Eucharist and break open the word for people. But as the months rolled on, his sickness deepened and it was getting on toward Easter. "Father Rick was not well known for his love of the finer points of ritual, but he lived the mystery of the Liturgy profoundly," McArthur preached. "Lent is not just for giving things up.
Father Rick told McArthur, his friend of many years, in their final visit together, "I know this is not going to end badly." But Father Rick believed he had to do his part to be healed in the Lord, which is why he went to Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore for his treatments.
As Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter came and went, McArthur wondered whether or not his thought that Father Rick was living the Liturgy exactly was working out. But he noted, "Easter is not just a day, it is a season, and he died in the Easter season on April 19. Father Rick is healed, but it’s not the way we wanted it to be."
Born in the Midwest on April 28, 1949, Gantert’s family moved to Memphis during his childhood. He attended St. Therese School in Memphis and was a graduate of Catholic High in 1967.
Gantert attended St. Ambrose College in Davenport, Iowa, graduating in 1971. In September of the same year he entered Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans and was ordained a priest on May 24, 1975 at St. Therese Church. The ordaining prelate was Bishop Carroll Dozier of Memphis. Gantert has served as an Associate Pastor at the Cathedral and as Pastor of St. Mary’s Church in Camden from 1981-1987. In 1987 he was appointed Pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Memphis. He had been Pastor of St. Paul Church since 2000.
Gantert also served in several Diocesan roles. He service in prison ministry for a number of years, was the Secretary of Catholic Schools for the Diocese, served on the Presbyteral Council, the Diocesan Finance Council, and was a member of the College of Consultors. He was also a member of the Tennessee Public Policy Commission, the public policy voice of the Catholic Church in Tennessee.
Father Rick was buried in the priest’s mound at Calvary Cemetery.