"To be with him and to be sent out"

Fr Alwyn "Sibusiso" Zothansanga MSFS
1982 – 2021

Homily at the Requiem Mass
28 January 2021

 

Diocese of Manzini · Zothansanga MSFS, Fr Alwyn

(Listen to the homily on Sound Cloud"

 

When the COVID19 pandemic started, for some of us it was a matter of statistics. We followed daily the number of new cases and deaths. In fact, if I remember well, reaching 1000 cases made us feel the “strength” of the pandemic. Still, it was just a number!

The second wave of the pandemic changed us. It was no longer just numbers. It became names. We know the people been found positive and, much worse, those who died.

Our parishes began to celebrate funerals much often than before but, thank God, none of our priests had become infected. That changed with the new year. Two of our priests found themselves to be COVID19 positive. Both missionaries who had arrived from India to serve in our diocese.

Suddenly the virus was among us, among the diocesan body of our priests.

While Fr Francis was out of it pretty quickly, it was clear that Fr Alwyn had been more affected but the signs were good. We had all the support and advice we needed. We knew he was in good hands and was improving. We surrounded him and the health team with our prayers.

Suddenly things changed. He was admitted in hospital where he was cared 24/7 and, again, the signs were good. We hoped it was just a matter of days to have him back among us.

Next – though - things changed in a short space of time and there was nothing that could be done. The Father of mercies had called Fr Alwyn home and we were not ready.

We had not prepared ourselves for this possibility. We never thought it could happen.

We also felt more vulnerable. Now it is one of us. We had heard it happening in other countries, like in South Africa: Catholic bishops, priests, religious sisters, seminarians... but not here.

We also felt more vulnerable because the one called home was one of the youngest among us: in age, in ordination, in the time of his missionary service, in the time he had spent among us...

It brought home the experience of so many people all over the world: Fr Alwyn's family is far away (in India) and cannot be physically here today, the members of his own community are not that far as some serve in South Africa but going through a lockdown they have been unable to cross the border and be with us today as they wished they could. We are grateful that Fr Augustine was able to arrive and be with Fr Francis Huwn these days.

The one who prayed for so many at their funerals is the one who is now being prayed. Our priests who are God's tender hands of consolation to so many families, are the ones asking to be consoled. 

For Fr Alwyn, Eswatini was his first missionary appointment. He settled down nicely among us. Everyone remembers him as a smiling, gentle priest with a lovely singing voice. He never sang to show off but to pray and to lead others in prayer.

After being at St Phillip's, he became the first priest in charge of the new parish of St Ignatius of Loyola at Siphofaneni and, as such, he was entrusted with the difficult taks of building this new community which would gather people coming from St Phillip's, St Joseph's and Good Shepherd parishes. He probably felt small in front of this task but he accepted it in faith.

Some months' ago, he shared his wish that I would bless the new parish house at Siphofaneni. I honestly forgot to ask him what he had in mind for that day but accepted to do it as I had to be on my way to a function at St Phillip's.

Arriving there I found everything nicely prepared: an altar outside the house, a ribbon on the door and people representing the community and their sodalities. I had thought it would be him and me. It was a community event carefully prepared aware of the presence of COVID19 among us.

As someone reminded me last week, many times we count the years in our life when we are supposed to count the life of our years. His years, certainly, did not lack life!

• Mr William Kelly, the national director of Caritas Swaziland, wrote sharing his condolences and spoke of Fr Alwyn as a regular visitor of Caritas seriously committed on one of our projects that supports the poorest in this country. 
  

• St Joseph's sodality visited him at Siphofaneni and having been welcomed so warmly they decided to donate a sign indicating the way to St Ignatius Parish. Every time you see the sign, remember the gentleness and care of Fr Alwyn. 
  

• His own community and those who met him at Mass remember him as a good preacher, who had clearly prepared what he wanted to say helping everyone to know, understand and live their Catholic faith in Jesus.

I believe that Fr Alwyn, with Paul, could now say:

• “what I am now, I am through the grace of God, and the grace which was given to me has not been wasted” (1 Cor 15:10) as he has been a channel of God's grace among us; or as I heard in the first reading 
  

• “I have fought the good fight to the end; I have run the race to the finish; I have kept the faith” (2 Tim)

When he was ordained priest in 2015, the theme of his ordination was: “to be with him and to be sent out”. Those are words from the Gospel of Mark that we read today. Those were also the words of the Gospel on Friday, the day the Father of mercies called home. The words he probably heard at his ordination were the ones that closed his missionary service among us. 

 

 

To all of us, more than ever before, the words of the gospel: “you must stand ready because the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect...” (Mt 24: 44) have taken flesh. Being ready is not only about preparing ourselves for the final trip. It is a call to treasure much more the little details of our daily lives: seeing each other, caring for each other, praying together, building together, reconciling with each other when needed... and to avoid postponing things until some tomorrow when we know – much more now than ever – that tomorrow is not in our hands. In the words of the Psalm: “Teach us to count up our days, and we shall come to the heart of wisdom.” (Psalm 90: 12)

Fr Alwyn speaks to us both with his life and in his death. We are grateful to his family who gave him to us as a missionary in our land and to the Missionaries of St Francis de Sales who appointed him to our diocese. May the God of all consolation give you and all of us His peace! 

+ José Luis Ponce de León IMC
Bishop of Manzini