A tribute

The end of the 30 day period of mourning for Fr Michele Piccirillo was marked by a Mass yesterday afternoon at St. Saviour's monastery.

The church was packed. Besides the numerous religious and priests and the Apostolic Nuncio, there were also Muslim and Jewish friends who joined in this memorial. The Custos presided the Mass but the Dean gave the homily. It was very touching - I don't believe there was a dry eye in the church. He recounted Fr Piccirillo's childhood, his formation years and his eventual work; his passion for art, literature and archaeology; his successes and failures; and the faith and dignity during his last days on earth. The dean spoke of Fr Piccirillo's quick temper and apparent obstinancy that often offended; but he also said something which I always held to be a truism in great people: such obstinancy, after time and usually after death, will be recognised as conviction, passion, perseverance and tenacity in keeping what great people know to be true, workable, indeed the will of God. So convinced and passionate are they to these works/mission/apostolates/dreams, they hang on to it tenaciously, fighting off opposition, because they know God will bring it to fruition. And they are always proven right in due time. This is the making of a hero; but people around will always see the worse of it, calling it obstinancy, strong-willed, unco-operative, selfish, loner, stubborn. What it all boils down is that these critics are filled with fear: fear of failure, fear of stepping into the unknown, fear of leaving the comfort zone, and above all, fear of trusting in God's providence, fear of conviction, fear of having an ideal. These are the sad people who make mediocrity a virtue. How often these few months have I seen this in Mother Teresa, Pope John Paul II, Fr Allegra, St John Bosco .... all some time or other were punished for their "stubbornness" by colourless/faceless people but only later flourished to sainthood through their tenacity and perseverance.

After Mass everyone went down to the Hall of the Immaculate where the last film shot with Fr Piccirillo was shown. it was done by RAI cinema (the italian media) and is not yet public: we got a preview. The hall was packed - standing capacity only. It was strange watching Fr Piccirillo talking in the film, we recognised his voice, his gestures, his jokes ..... but he is no longer here with us. In the darkness of the hall, you could hear people sniffling, wiping their eyes as they saw again this great man who gave his life to bring peace through archaeology, explaining with passion the discoveries and ongoing work of mosaics discovered in Israel, Jordan, Syria and Egypt. Today his disciples continue his work there.

And I think the greatest tribute we can give to him is to continue working. Working with conviction and passion, with total trust in God that it is His will, with a tenacity that will draw criticism from those who hold nothing but fear as their virtue, mediocrity as their dream and comfort as their ideal.