FOR ALL OF US WHO WERE BLESSED TO HAVE KNOWN THIS AMAZING PERSON - FR CLAVER!!! EULOGY by Geoffrey Alagaratnam Geoffrey was a Choir Member of the original St. Marys Choral Group, Bambalapitiya & an old Peterite. He remains a member of the current St. Marys Choral Group, and sings at the church on Sunday mornings, which is its primary function. Saturday 16th October 2010 at about 4:30pm, at the gravesite at General Cemetary, Kanatte. Father Claver, we are here today to say good bye to all that remains of you. You as a Peterite and as the only Peterite Rector made us proud of you. Why? Not because we had a Peterite Rector or because you were Rector. But because in us, and everyone of us who came to know you, you had the ability to change our lives in sublime ways we would not have thought possible. Father, today we have in this gathering people whose lives have been deeply touched in their interaction with you and this excerpt from a poem on death written by you expresses our thoughts: Love does not guess its depths Until the time of parting comes Deep secrets unexpressed No hint of dawn in twilights nor renewal of treasured dreams. The world is filled with silences that treasure what might have been. Most of us know that from your early teenage days your goal and objective in life was to be a priest of God. Having gone through University education, graduating with an English honours degree you did not waver. You whole heartedly committed yourself to God by going through your priestly formation both in the National Seminary of Our Lady of Lanka and at the Propaganda Fide College - the papal seminary in Rome. You are well known as one of Sri Lanka’s best singers and for having given many generations of Peterites and seminarians the love of music, the theatre, literature and the arts which impressed and motivated us and made you, if I may say so, human to us. Your artistic richness made you exacting and demanding for extreme perfection – something that made us uncomfortable at times but truly grateful for you made us realize that we should reach higher than we can grasp, if we are to achieve something meaningful. A man’s reach should be higher than his grasp otherwise what’s a heaven for. You taught us that holiness and saintliness manifests themselves in many ways. You also taught us that holiness and saintliness does not usually come overnight but by years of endeavour – years of ups and downs by striving and never giving up. You taught us that to be saintly is to be deeply human with the love, understanding and patience of God which only comes from being anchored to God. You often chose the words of Cardinal Newman: “Keep thou my feet, I do not ask to see the distant scene, one step is enough for me.” In this sentiment you always imitated your Italian professor in encouraging us take life and its challenges little by little. You taught us to love nature as Francis of Assisi did. Perhaps in you we have a modern prophet in the cause of love of the environment and its protection. Your love for plants, animals, all of nature made us say to ourselves, yes, it’s a wonderful world. Your non- compromising on standards and values, both ethical and moral, whilst yet being understandingly patient and sometimes personally troubled by our frailties confirmed to us that you were truly human and a good man. Yes, you were human and to us you were not ashamed to let us see you as a human like all of us with our own human frailties. But you showed us how you could still be a true son of God committed and unwavering in your journey in the love of God. You touched the lives of all of us. You inspired us. Many of us were never the same after we met you. In you we experienced God and his love. May we spread his love and Pass It on … And as we say good bye though memories may fade and your vibrant laugh and impish smile may become a thing of the past, deep down we will in the heart of our beings remember you by what you stood and lived for which is now a part of us. You’re strived, struggled and lived for us to be better human beings, lost in God and his love and love for our brothers and God’s creation. On the long journey of our lives towards heaven and the yearning how long will we need to get there , you said, Is the journey long or brief? The haven near or far? It doesn’t matter, though: The oarsman knows the hour … Yes, the hour has come, the oarsman has decided. Who are we to say otherwise? Farewell, Father Claver and till we meet again.
Posted on: Thu, 14 Nov 2013 21:53:14 +0000
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