Homily for Br Ron's Funeral
Mass Celebrating the Life of Br Ronald Fogarty FMS
Homily by Dom David Tomlins
Dear Brothers and Sisters, Friends of Br Ron,
I know I can speak confidently on behalf of all of you this morning in assuring the Marist Brothers that we most certainly gather to celebrate the life of an extraordinary man. We rejoice in having shared some small part in this very rich life. We thank God for all the blessings given to Br. Ronald in his long life, and for all that each of us, and communities all over Australia and the English-speaking world have received through his tireless and generous service to his sisters and brothers. Ron made a wonderful contribution to my community at Tarrawarra over many years, beginning around 1970. Until just a couple of years ago he was still enthusiastically assisting us for a fortnight annually, sharing our life and prayer during his time among us. Cistercian communities in other countries have also expressed their admiration and gratitude for his willingness to undertake the long journeys to them. He invariably stepped off a jet and was into a session. What a man! And while we lesser mortals were taking a siesta Ron was out in his shorts, tee-shirt and boots for what he called his jogging. As a voice for all who have benefited from Ron’s various ministries, I say to his brothers in the Marists: thank you, thank you from the bottom of our hearts for sharing him with us. Until you join him in eternal life, you will never know how many lives he touched, healed and enriched. God does, and has already welcomed him, we can be sure, with “well done, good and faithful servant” (Mt.25:14-30). Ron’s life gave flesh to the words of the psalm we used so recently:
The just will flourish like the palm-tree
and grow like a Lebanon cedar.
Planted in the house of the Lord,
they will flourish in the courts of our God,
still bearing fruit when they are old,
still full of sap, still green,
to proclaim that the Lord is just (Psalm 92)
There is a text from Vatican 2 which I always hear in Ron’s voice. Maybe it will ring bells for you too. It occurs in number 38 of Gaudium et Spes/The Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World:
Constituted Lord by his resurrection and given all authority in heaven and on earth, Christ is now at work in human hearts by the power of his Spirit; not only does he arouse in them a desire for the world to come, but he quickens, purifies and strengthens the generous aspirations of humankind to make life more humane and conquer the earth for this purpose.
In some fashion these words seem to me to be a key to Ron’s life and activity. He believed firmly that “Christ is now at work in human hearts by the power of the Spirit”. This presence and activity of Christ, of his Spirit, gave Ron an optimism, an openness, an energy in his educative mission in the Church. Ron was “led by the Spirit”, knew himself as one of the “children of God” already possessing “the first fruits of the Spirit”, and was totally committed to playing his part in sharing in Christ’s paschal mystery of setting creation free from slavery to enjoy “the glorious freedom of the children of God”, to use the words of Paul in the second reading (Rom 8:14-23). Ron knew the “desire for the world to come”, and we would like to think that his involvement with so many contemplative communities gave him opportunities along the way to deepen this dimension of the Spirit’s arousal of his own heart.
But the same Spirit quickened his generous aspirations to make life more humane, to bring vitality to his brothers and sisters. This was the spring of his indefatigable work with individuals and communities towards “emotional literacy” and rich interpersonal living freed from the destructive forces that impoverish the mutuality and communion we are meant to enjoy. A favourite scriptural quote in his repertoire was: “I set before you life or death, blessing or curse. Choose life…” (Deut 30:19). Often we know the desire to “choose life”, but have that desire subverted by the dark things within ourselves that we don’t understand. Ron’s training gave him so much that he knew would help us to “choose life”. His appreciation of the freedom which Christ came to gain for us, the life Christ willed should be ours to the full (Jn 10:10), made him a servant of that choice of life. His talents as a teacher were put to the service of others in the spirit of today’s gospel reading (Mt 23:1-12). Ron was definitely one of those who were committed to “lifting heavy burdens”, rather than imposing them; to educating us all how to struggle free of our own heavy burdens, self-inflicted, inherited, or unjustly imposed by others; to assisting us to cooperate with that work which Christ is seeking to forward in human hearts now by the power of his Spirit.
Ron’s voice comes to me today in the words of Deuteronomy, and I hope I will hear them for the rest of my days: “I set before you life or death… Choose life”. I thank him for persevering with me so patiently when I was so slow to learn. Perhaps I am not alone in wanting to continue to hear that good news calling us to “choose life”, and not alone too in saying a heartfelt “thank you, Ron” for the message and the help. We celebrate the life that we glimpsed in Ron. Let us also repay something of the debt we owe him by praying for his full enjoyment now of the Trinitarian life which is his and ours as “joint heirs with Christ”. As an honorary Cistercian I think he might like me to end with words from St. Benedict: “Let us prefer nothing to Christ, and may he bring us all together to everlasting life” (RB 72:11-12).
