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Reisers

RamblingsFr.Bernardreiser

AcollectionofcolumnsbythefoundingpastorofEpiphanyParishinCoonRapids,Minnesota

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Reisers Ramblings is a collection of Fr. Bernard Reisers best columns

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Reisers

Ramblings


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32

Recollections: The Pastor

and Important Early Influences

My rst memories go back to the farm where my

parents, Aloys and Ottilia Reiser, raised me, my brother,

and my three sisters during the Great Depression. My

father was a truck farmer, meaning the vegetables and

meat he raised was trucked into the Minneapolis Farmers

Market for sale every day. Farming was a difcult way

to support a family during the Great Depression yet my

father never faltered in his faith that God would provide

for us. My father never said, Well try when telling us

something needed to get done. Instead, he told us, We

will! This lesson in perseverance was one all of his

children took to heart.

The little parish we attended in Medina, Minnesota,

was called Holy Name, a small country parish of seventy

families with a parish school of about eighty students,

divided into two classrooms. We attended Holy Name

through eighth grade and learned our lessons so well that

we outpaced our public school classmates once we movedonto Wayzata High School.

It was at home on our family farm and at events in our

small parish where I developed my love for God and the

Catholic faith. My parents worked hard, fed us well, loved

us and loved each other. Never once did I hear my parents

quarrel.

I was ordained in 1949 and have devoted the remain-

der of my life to the faith, serving Gods people, minister-

Section1

ing, presiding over baptisms, marriages and funerals,

lifting up the needy, helping the poor.

Since my ordination, I have traveled around the

globe, witnessed dramatic world events, built up

Gods church to the best of my ability, and paused

once a week to jot down my thoughts on it all. In this

rst section, I share some of my columns to give you

an idea about the early inuences that shaped me. =

Aloys and Ottilia Reiser


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127

ReiseRs Ramblings

126

Fr. Bernard reiser

Something better is coming!There was a woman who had been diagnosed with cancer and

had been given three months to live. Her doctor told her to start

making preparations to die (something we all should be doing

all of the time), so she contacted her pastor and had him come to

her house to discuss certain aspects of her nal wishes. She told

him which songs she wanted sung at the service, what Scripture

passages she would like read, and what she wanted to be wearing.

The woman also told her pastor that she wanted to be buried with

her favorite Bible.

Everything was in order and the pastor was preparing to leave

when the woman suddenly remembered something very impor-

tant to her. Theres one more thing, she said excitedly.

Whats that? came the pastors reply.

This is very important, the woman continued. I want to be

buried with a fork in my right hand.

The pastor stood looking at the woman not knowing quite

what to say.

That shocks you, doesnt it? the woman asked.

Well, to be honest, Im puzzled by the request, said the pastor.

The woman explained. In all my years of attending church

socials and functions where food was involved, my favorite part

was when whoever was clearing away the dishes of the maincourse would lean over and say, You can keep your fork. It was

my favorite part because I knew something better was coming.

When they told me to keep my fork, I knew that something great

was about to be given to me. It wasnt Jell-O or pudding but cake

or pie, something with substance. So I just want people to see me

there in that casket with a fork in my hand and I want them to

wonder, Whats with the fork? Then I want you to tell them,

Something better is coming, so keep your fork, too.

The pastors eyes welled up with tears of joy as he hugged the

woman goodbye. He knew this would be one of the last times he

would see her before her death. But he also knew that this woman

had a better grasp of Heaven than he did. She KNEW that some-

thing better was coming.

At the funeral people were walking by the womans casket,

they saw the pretty dress she was wearing, her favorite Bible,

and the fork placed in her right hand. Over and over the pastor

heard the question, Whats with the fork? and over and over he

smiled.During his short message, the pastor told the people of the

conversation he had with the woman shortly before she died. He

also told them about the fork and what it symbolized to her. The

pastor told the people how he could not stop thinking about the

fork and told them that they probably would not be able to stop

thinking about it either. He was right.

So the next time you reach down for your fork, let it remind

you, oh so gently, that there is something better coming!


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