|
|
| Eulogy delivered by Monsignor Brian G. Sheehan |
My Dear Friends;
This familiar Gospel – which is read every Ash Wednesday – at the beginning of Lent – has Our Lord recommending the three traditional forms of penance: – almsgiving, prayer, and fasting – but he adds his own manner of practising them in recommending them to his followers: “Don’t do these things to attract notice – or parade the habits before people – but practice them discretely – privately – self-effacingly.
It is more than an Ash Wednesday Gospel, or a Lenten suggestion – it has to do with Christian living, with a way of life – patterned on the life of the Lord...it has to do with self-effacingness, a lack of ostentatiousness, a certain reserve...
It has a long history as a way of acting – well articulated as early as in the prophet Micah: “This is what the Lord asks of you – only this, to act justly, to love tenderly, and to walk humbly with your God.
“Act justly”...act in a way that is just for all, just for you, just for others...having right relationships – an ordering of relationships between yourself and God, between yourself and other people...respecting their rights, their place, allowing them their rightful freedoms, their basic rights as persons – or peoples.
“Love tenderly”...love in the way of the gentle Master – not aggressively, possessively, jealously – but with tenderness...gently – “Come to me, all you who labour...learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart...this is my new commandment...love one another as I have loved you...” (John 15)
Finally, “walk humbly with your God”...walk with God...walk into the future, “stand up”...“get up”...“he raised him up”...“he took her by the hand and said: stand up and walk” these are the words of Jesus’ healings! Christian life is a journey – but it is not a journey alone...we walk with the Lord, and his companions...as he walked with them picking corn in the fields – he taught them...as he walked...and the disciples recognized the Lord on the way to Emmaus after he taught them and walked with them...
“Act justly, love tenderly, walk humbly with your God...this is what the Lord asks of you only this...and do it quietly, unobtrusively, and your light will shine before all.”
The man whose life we come to celebrate this morning, William Creaghan, lived many of these scriptural admonitions...they were the fabric of his life and demeanor – they became part of his personality.
Bill was a just man, a tender man – a gentle man – a gentleman – and a humble man. He was many other things as well.
Bill, as is well known, had a great love for his country, his province – the cities of his birth and adoption...Newcastle, Moncton and Fredericton, and his great love for these places issued out into service for them...his love and passion for these places and the people who inhabited them was not disinterested...it found expression in serving them...that is what he seemingly always wanted to do.
Firstly, as enlisting in the defence of his country, in the Second World War, and then secondly after obtaining his law degree, in serving people in municipal and federal politics.
Politics interested Bill Creaghan, because it was the place of doing something for people...and especially the great learning school for all politicians, municipal politics...the closest of all political arenas being involved in people’s everyday lives...it became the beginning of a long standing trademark of his life allowing his God-given gifts to be available and at the service – and for the well-being of people...for the common good.
There was another trademark – which coloured his career – both in politics and later on the bench – and far later even in retirement – that is, concern for the rights and protection of the vulnerable...or those most in need of support – police, children, orphans, students...university students...
Looking back on the life of this singularly dedicated public servant, you can discern the pattern – it was always there...the committees, the inquiries, the boards...and his years on the bench...the protection and furthering of rights of those most in need.
And what did he bring to all of these – his sense of fairness, attention to detail, but especially his compassion and always, his great love for people.
No one embarks on such a journey of public service alone...you need companionship; your love for people usually narrows to finding one to accompany you along the way...to be there with you in the ups and downs of working with people, for people...you need someone to affirm you, to encourage you, to always be there for you...
Bill found all that in the companion, and friend, and love of his life...Thérèse LeBlanc...To any who knew them as a couple, and later as a family, they all knew that the mainstay and strength in Bill’s life, was the affection and comfort, and abiding support and delight that Bill received from Thérèse ....
And while we in New Brunswick, and in the city of Moncton, or on the Miramichi, or the North Shore, or in Fredericton – or priests, or lawyers, or politicians – or students – all of whom he loved and served...we all mourn...it is, as always, a widow, and children, and grandchildren, who carry the burden of the greater loss and absence...still it is they who have received most...that quiet presence and inner strength, that affirming encouragement, that lighthearted spirit of wonderment...but above all tender love and goodness...all of these will live on in his children for generations...
Let us be grateful for this wonderful New Brunswicker who gave so much of himself...and who gave of it in the way and manner of New Brunswickers, quietly, humbly, self-effacingly...
Thérèse told me that Bill was a great believer in prayer...and often prayed privately...this in no surprise to us...may our prayer for Bill be that he be amply rewarded for all the good he has done...and that we shall see him again...and that all of us try to live in keeping with the prophet Micah’s monition as Bill did so beautifully:
“This is what the Lord asks of you, only this:
to act justly,
to love tenderly,
and to walk humbly
with your God.”
Rest in peace, dear Bill.