Remembering two men of great faith

When I  heard that Pope Francis had died on Easter Monday I also got the news that another friend and fellow Columban, Fr Brian Gore, died on Easter Sunday. Our loving God of all creation and our wounded earth will receive these two stalwarts for justice, peace and the integrity of creation. I was looking up this word “stalwart” which kind of came to me as I was remembering these two great gentlemen. It describes one who is loyal, reliable or trustworthy and hard-working.

On April 23 the first reading from Acts 2:36-41 was about the apostle Peter speaking to his own compatriots and calling on them to repent for crucifying the One who is the fulfilment of all our ongoing hopes for a humanity that rests on respect for one another and for our deep connection to the earth. This is a message for all of us and reminds me of Francis’ deep concern for all humanity and especially the poor, the homeless, the migrants. Their cry echoes the cry of the earth as it bears the brutality of those who merely want to build their own empires.

Then, we have that wonderful reading from the Gospel of John 20:11-18 whch tells of the first witness of the Resurrection, Mary of Magdala. She stayed there by the tomb, like a reliable and loyal follower. She bore the pain of those who experience loss, loss of a friend, loss of a people, loss of land, loss of identity, loss of home. “Why are you weeping?” Jesus speaks Mary’s name. He speaks the name of Francis and Brian and the names of so many others who cry out to God for justice, the names of the many animal and plant species of our earth that have disappeared or are in danger of disappearing.

And Jesus said to her, to Francis and Brian, and to us, as we remember these two great stalwarts, “don’t cling to me, don’t cling to plastic images of me, to safe notions of me. Let go. And then go and tell others that we are entrusted with those never-ending hopes and promises of a world where all are cared for, where each and everyone can find a home, where the animals and plants are nurtured and respected for they are so essential in our efforts to ensure a sustainable future. 

Let us chersh the memory of Pope Francis, Jorge Bergoglio. Laudato Si, synodality, Jubilee of Hope, his legacy goes on. We Columbans and many others will remember Fr Brian Gore.

Fr Tom Rouse - Regional Councillor of Oceania, lives and works in Aotearoa/New Zealand.