The Passing of Bp. Donald Pelletier, M.S. – a Man of Faith, a Servant of the Lord

Editor:(The video above is the Funeral Mass for Bishop Donald in the Morondava, Madagascar Cathedral.) This is the sermon given by Fr. John (Jack) Nuelle, M.S., on the occasion of the Mass of Christian Burial for Bishop Donald Pelletier, M.S., in Attleboro, Massachusetts, who died suddenly on June 4, 2022, while visiting our Shrine in Enfield, New Hampshire.

Welcome to this celebration of God’s call to Bishop Donald Pelletier, M.S., to participate in the banquet of eternal life. Thank you all for coming to pray and celebrate with our La Salette Religious Community as we honor the life and ministry of Bishop Donald.

My name is Fr. Jack Nuelle, a La Salette Missionary who ministered alongside Bishop Donald on the western coast of Madagascar for over thirty years. It is with a heavy heart – yet one filled with hope – that I share a few words with you this morning.

Bp. Donald Pelletier, M.S. (1931-2022)

First reading: Song of Songs 4:7-8a,9-12

Taken from the Old Testament book Solomon's Song of Songs, the words of the first reading were well-known to Bishop Donald. He recognized in that Song a profound truth expressed so well in the Malagasy language with the words: Velom-panantenana izy! (He is alive with hope!) Using colorful images, the Song of Songs expresses the hope and joy of a mission fulfilled, a happy time when loving service is accomplished; “The fig tree puts forth its figs, and the vines, in bloom, give forth fragrance. Arise, my friend, my beautiful one, and come!’’ (2:13)

Bishop Donald loved the Church; he loved his ministry. He had a welcoming attitude to all who approached him and, when parting, left them with a smile that reflected joy – indeed, “The Joy of the Gospel.” Included in his mission was the hope to leave the world in a better place when his work was done. His years of service to the Church, his La Salette Community, and the world now give place to a life wherein love flourishes forever.

Second reading: Philippians 3:7-11

. . .whatever gains I had, these I have come to consider a loss because of Christ. More than that, I even consider everything as a loss because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have accepted the loss of all things and I consider them so much rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having any righteousness of my own based on the law but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God, depending on faith to know him and the power of his resurrection and [the] sharing of his sufferings by being conformed to his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Sunset at the beach in Morondava, MadagascarBishop Donald also lived each day the words of our second reading. While in Morondava, Madagascar, working together, he and I often had a custom of going to the beach in the early evening. We would sit on the dunes and watch the waves roll in as the western sun settled into them.

We shared our lives, ups and downs, hopes, and dreams for our ministry. When death touched our lives through our families who were far away or through the people who surrounded us in our mission ministry, we spoke of death – not as something to be feared, but to be welcomed, waiting for the time “When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality,” when “Death is swallowed up in victory” – a victory that comes to us through the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus the Christ. Bishop Donald had confidence, “knowing that in the Lord, [his] labor [was] not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58).

Words from Bishop Donald

Last year, Bishop Donald wrote a few words I will try to translate and share with you. They are thoughts that, without a doubt, he did not correspond to be published, but they can give us an insight into the Faith, Hope, and Love with which he lived and ministered as a Missionary, as a Shepherd. They were written words he spoke to himself in moments of meditation and prayer. In them, we get a glimpse of Bishop Donald, a humble human person seeking to live a spiritual relationship with his loving God and the people confided to his care. Here are some of his words:

Bishop Donald during his Consecration as BIshop on Feb. 13, 2000“I’m already well advanced in years. If it’s God’s will, I’ll be able to blow out ninety candles this year and celebrate seventy years of religious life. So, it's time that I took a fresh look at my life as I prepare for the time when the Lord will call me home.

“I ask pardon of the Lord and those whom I offended; some of them were the formators in my younger years of study, others were the brothers and sisters I lived with daily. Some were the people I have come to serve. Can I picture them? Yes. But if I were to name them all, it would end up being too long a list; but I want to hold them all close to my heart.

My American heritage

“I was born into an extraordinary Christian family where Faith and Love were alive and active. Along with other family members, I inherited this Faith and Love from my grandparents, my father, my mother, sister and brother, uncles, aunts, cousins, nieces, and nephews. The witness of their faith helped mine to grow.

“Over and above my family, in an extraordinary way, I want to thank the Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette. In 1944, I entered the Apostolic School in Enfield, New Hampshire, and for the next fourteen years, I underwent a formation process, followed by years of ministry. My brothers in community constantly sustained me; from Enfield, New Hampshire, to Brewster and Attleboro, Massachusetts, then to Rome, Italy, and finally to the sandy beaches of Morondava, Madagascar.

My Missionary call

“Lord, I thank you for my call to be a Missionary of Our Lady of La Salette. My brothers supported me in every way possible: spiritually, intellectually, humanly, financially, and affectively. In love, I thank my family and my community of brothers who have preceded me into eternity. May they continue to intercede for me before our loving God.

Map of Madagascar indicating
the Sakalava Menabe
region of Madagascar My years were filled with extraordinary graces:

• 25 days at Hoggar in Algeria in that desert experience with Charles de Foucault;
• my retreat at Chateauneuf-de-Galaure, the home of Venerable Marthe Robin, one of the great mystics of the 20th century;
• many months spent ministering as a Chaplain at the Shrine of La Salette in France;
• that month I lived on the Mount of Beatitudes in Galilee;
• my encounters with Padre Pio, Saint John- Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, with Pope Francis;
• add to those grace-filled moments many years spent praying and deepening my love for scripture with the Neo-catechumenate community.

“Yes, all these grace-filled experiences and encounters challenged me – indeed shocked me – into a better way of understanding my faith and experiencing God’s extraordinary love.

My call to serve the people of Madagascar

“My life would not be complete without recognizing the importance of the sixty-four years living and missioning to Christians solidly rooted in their faith and non-Christians still awaiting the Spirit of truth and love in this Sakalava Menabe region of Madagascar. It was with them that I learned the meaning of the Gospel message in the 25th chapter of Matthew.

“As often as I come among the poor and marginalized, among those who don’t have enough to eat, clothes to wear, homes to sleep in, are outcasts and downtrodden; as often as I am among them, they open their hearts and homes to me, and their Faith allows me to accept personally the Gospel message I proclaim to them.

“They were ready to forgive my misunderstanding of their lives and culture while equally accepting to walk with me as a missionary, a priest, a pastor, a bishop. Rather than look pitifully at me as I age, they redouble their love and affection for me as their brother. I hear today and hope to be attentive when the Lord Jesus calls: “Come, you who my Father blesses. Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”

Fr. Jeremy Morais (left) and Bishop Donald (center)
with the children of Andalamahitsy, MadagascarThose were some of Bishop Donald’s thoughts and words as he reflected on his life as a missionary. His memory will live long in the hearts of the people of the Menabe region of Madagascar.

Two days ago, in the wee hours of the morning, I received a phone call from Bishop Marie Fabien Raharilamboniaina, who succeeded Bishop Donald as Ordinary of the Diocese of Morondava. He asked me to express his thanks to the people of the United States and the Congregation of La Salette for nurturing in Bishop Donald the faith, which he then shared with the people of Madagascar.

I would like to conclude these reflections with a quote from the book which Bishop Donald and I published last year, honoring “One Hundred Years of Evangelization” accomplished by American La Salette Missionaries in Madagascar. Our final words in that book summarize many missionaries' life, love, and ministry. They can so easily be applied to Bishop Joseph Donald Pelletier, M.S.

Jesus said: “When you have done all you have been commanded to do, say: ‘We are simple servants; we have done no more than our duty.’” (Luke 17:10).

This is Bishop Donald Pelletier’s Coat of Arms. Its symbols include:

• the colors red, white, and blue (from the Madagascar flag);
• the hammer and pincers (a La Salette reference to Mary’s crucifix);
• the three stars (symbolizing the three central women in his life: Our Lady of La Salette; his mother, Alice; and his aunt, Anna, who raised him after his mother’s death);
• the three white lines (symbolizing the three main Malagasy rivers in the Morondava Diocese);
• the three nails (representing those used in crucifying Jesus;
• and finally, the scripture reference in Malagasy (“I have come to love and to serve”)