"THE AUGUSTINIAN" August 2002

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EXCERPTS FROM THE FUNERAL HOMILY GIVEN BY THE AUGUSTINIAN PROVINCIAL FR. PAT FAHEY OSA

Maurice O'Connor osa 22 February 1921 to 10 May 2002 RIP

We gather, this autumn morning, to celebrate the sacrifice of the Eucharist for the repose of the soul of Maurice OConnor, Brother and Priest of the Order of Saint Augustine, and to thank God for his life and love and service among us here at Manly Vale and elsewhere in the Church.

He attained his 81st birthday last February, had been an Augustinian for almost 62 years, and had already celebrated 55 years of priesthood, all of them active, with the exception of the last few years. During those 55 years, he had been a school teacher in Ireland, had served as Pastor and Assistant Pastor in Far North Queensland, Northern Victoria, the Archdiocese of Brisbane, and at Manly Vale, where he ended his days.

He had a keen intellect and was a zealous pastor. As a young priest among the Italian Catholics in Far North Queensland, he taught himself Italian that he might minister more effectively to them. He became a teacher again at Manly Vale where he began and taught the Bethel Bible course, a two year course in the fundamentals of Scripture. He did this because he realized that the post-Vatican II Church needed to have people grounded in the Word of God....Just five years ago, he branched out into literature, and published his memoirs under the title, Never a Dull Moment. Our "Mossie" was a remarkably gifted man. But behind all this was a man who loved God and people, and who, like Augustine, spent his days in preaching the word of God and celebrating the presence of Christ in the assembly by means of the sacraments.

During the last years of his life, Maurice suffered greatly from his allergy to gluten. So sensitive was he to food, that he gradually lost his strength. It was a severe blow. Yet it had the effect of making him one of the anawim, the little ones of God, who find their security in God alone. His last years, then, became a purifying fire which left him almost transparently radiant at the end.

Christ the interior teacher

"Enter then into your heart and if you have faith, you will find Christ there.
I speak in sounding words. He speaks within.
Because faith, and Christ, are in your hearts, he will teach you what I want to communicate to you through the sound of my words".

St Augustine (Sermon 102)

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