Msgr. Robert Guste remembered at Kenner chapel

    Many remember Msgr. Robert Guste for his faithful prayer life, reading his breviary while walking the south Kenner neighborhood where he lived or even giving his last dime to someone in need.

    His priestly life will be forever commemorated at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Kenner with the dedication of its perpetual adoration chapel in his honor.

    The dedication ceremony was scheduled Aug. 7, but the plaque with his likeness wasn’t ready, so it will occur at a later date.
    

That didn’t stop those who loved him, including several Guste family members, from attending a Mass at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Kenner on the first anniversary of his burial.
    Father Richard Miles, pastor and Msgr. Guste’s friend and rectory mate, mentioned how Msgr. Guste’s memory is cherished in the parish. While celebrating the Mass, he pointed to a portrait of his likeness painted by Regina Champagne Babin that was displayed prominently on the altar.
He was a Katrina hero
    

Father Miles reminisced about Msgr. Guste, telling a Katrina story of how he brought the Eucharist to Catholics stranded at the New Orleans International Airport. He laughed when he recalled Msgr. Guste taking what little water and blankets they had at the rectory to the airport, and questioning Msgr. Guste about what they would do if they ran out of water. Msgr. Guste’s simple reply to him was, “God would provide,” and he did.”

“He was a man of great prayer,” Father Miles said. “He spent hours every day before the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. I also think of him as a man of great love and concern for other people.”
    Father Miles mentioned Mgsr. Guste’s lack of concern about his tattered clothing or his finances because there “were more important things like caring for others.”
Never counted the cost
    

He joked about an instance when Msgr. Guste asked him for $5. Father Miles asked out loud at Mass why he didn’t have money, and he and the congregants answered, “He gave it away.”
     “We miss him,” Father Miles said. “He was a model in many ways for us. … Let us pray for him and pray to him. He’s in heaven.”
    

Teresa Martin, Msgr. Guste’s long-time secretary, helped coordinate the Mass and permanent plaque to honor Msgr. Guste that will be installed in the perpetual adoration chapel when completed. His name, his years as a priest from 1950-2010 and date of birth Oct. 14, 1926 and death Aug. 3, 2010, will be engraved on it, she said. The plaque will probably be made of granite.
    Martin, her husband Buddy and daughter Liza had this to say about their friend.
    

“‘You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek’ (Hebrews 7:17),” Martin said. “These words resonate in my mind and heart as I attempt to relate.”
Guste family is thrilled
    

His nephew Billy Guste and members of his family said they miss Msgr. Guste greatly. They are happy that their cherished relative’s memory will be perpetuated with a plaque.
    “It’s a great honor,” Guste said. “He was a powerful influence in our family. I thought he was a priests’ priest.”
    Babin, who painted the portrait of Msgr. Guste for the Martin family, said she met Msgr. Guste at age 12 when he was serving at St. Anthony of Padua in Luling. He told her that her name, Regina, meant queen.
    

“You never forget that,” she said. “He was a dear friend of our family.”
    Others gave accounts of their relationship with Msgr. Guste.
    Debra Bourgeois remembered Msgr. Guste’s reverence in celebrating Mass as well as his trumpet playing at Mass on All Saints’ Day.
    

“This frail little man never seemed to run out of energy working for God,” Bourgeois said. “His last priestly acts of love and mercy were performed in the emergency room while waiting to be attended after his fateful fall. What a kind and faithful servant of Our Lord.”
    

Our Lady of Perpetual Help Deacon Jeff Fariss of Kenner often served with Msgr. Guste at 9 a.m. Mass and remembered him as a holy priest filled with joy.
    “He prayed about absolutely everything, would buy someone a meal, fill up their car with gas and sit and listen even to those who wanted his time over and over,” Deacon Fariss said. “He was so patient. He was pro-life and always encouraged others to go pray outside the ‘abortion mill,’ as he called it. And, in spite of his age and health, he would go himself.”
$100 handshake saved lives
    

Deacon Fariss gave an anecdote about Msgr. Guste saving a life at the clinic in Metairie where abortions are performed.
    “He saw a man bringing a young woman to the clinic,” Deacon Fariss said. “Father Guste called him over and said if he brought her to the (Woman’s) New Life Center to have an ultrasound, he would give him $100. The guy took the deal and a life was saved! He told others, and they gave him $100 and he made more deals.”
  

 “He was fearless in the work of the Lord, a man of prayer and was willing to give his time to any who needed it,” Deacon Fariss added. “Many times, we would hear he got a 2 a.m. call to visit a hospital, but, of course, we’d never hear it from him. He was humble and virtuous, like Jesus, always looking to do the will of his Father. Missing him, praying for him as he always asked us to do and counting on him praying for all of us.”
    

Read more remembrances about Msgr. Guste on the new Clarion Herald blog at www. clarionheraldblog.wordpress.com.
    Christine Bordelon can be reached at cbordelon@clarion herald.org.