Vigil Service at the Wake
of Fr. Robert Savage
May 27, 2014
Rev 14: 13
John 12 : 23-26
“Let
them find rest from their labors,” the Spirit says to John the Visionary in
Revelation.
Fr.
Bob Savage certainly did labor as a teacher, a preacher, a caretaker of the
sick, an archivist.
He
also certainly enjoyed life—his walks with Fr. Phil Pascucci; his afternoon
refreshments with Fr. Vince Duffy; his Irish coffee on birthdays; Notre Dame
and Don Bosco football (when they won); a good joke.
After
he went to the nursing home, he’d often fall asleep in the chapel while making
the Stations of the Cross or in his room with his rosary. And he’d always be apologetic about it, as if
he were letting God or someone else down—no matter how often we’d reassure him,
“Fr. Bob, after 95 years, you’re entitled to sleep a little.”
All
those labors were for the Lord. Those
are the works that accompany him (Rev 14:13); or more properly, the souls he
touched thru those works accompany him.
So, despite whatever faults and foibles Fr. Bob had (like the rest of
us), we say confidently of him with that voice from heaven, “Blessed are the
dead who die in the Lord” (14:13).
In
the gospel that we read, Jesus spoke of the grain of wheat that dies and so
produces much fruit (John 12:24); of someone losing his life to save it (12:25);
of the servant who follows Jesus faithfully (12:26). Very fitting description of Fr. Bob
Savage. He was fierce in his preaching,
in his teaching religion (probably also algebra), sometimes even in friendly
conversation. But that was always to put
Jesus Christ forward: Christ yesterday,
today, and forever (cf. Heb 13:8). It
was never, ever, about Bob Savage but always about Jesus. He truly was the servant who lost
himself: in the Scriptures, in the
teaching of the Church, in Jesus our Savior.
Now
we trust that, as Jesus said, the Father will honor Fr. Bob (12:26). May he enjoy eternal rest with Don Bosco and
all the saints!
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