There are many places where we could reasonably gather to celebrate the funeral Mass, his final Eucharist for Canon Lorenzo Cleary. It could have been his beloved Murrintown or Piercestown where he will be laid to rest after this Mass. But this place, this church of the Annunciation was a place close to his heart over the years of his retirement. He concelebrated the Saturday evening Mass for many years and used it as his place of quiet prayer each evening. The circular shape of this church is the appropriate shape – a welcoming and inclusive shape for a man who lived his life in communion with others.
In keeping with his view of life, and his sense of his own vocation, Lorenzo wanted a simple funeral and no eulogy, and we can honour that request but the effect that Lorenzo had on the lives of so many people, his family and his parishioners and priest colleagues was so significant that our grief and sadness at his passing can only be truly eased by reflecting on what we have lost. There is no person in this church who needs me to list the things we admired about Lorenzo. And even if I offer no eulogy, there have been a thousand eulogies already in the exchanged conversations between people, between us all when we realised that a long life had found its natural end and for Lorenzo, a new beginning in the Kingdom of God.
I think that as I reflected on Lorenzo’s life that I came to understand that his life was the answer to the question – what is it that makes a priest a happy priest? It is a question for each of us who is in ministry, it is a question for those who are preparing people for ministry in the church and it is a question for anyone who has the care of priests as part of their own role. The answer is happiness lies in the assurance that we are simple tools in the hand of God, that if we understand and come to terms with our insignificance, then we will discover a God who leads us to a deep place of happiness. When Aodhán asked me during the week, what Gospel would I chose, I had many that reminded me of Lorenzo. But my heart said, the Gospel where Jesus singled out the small, the humble, the simple, the trusting was one that matched Lorenzo’s life.
But this day is also when people say goodbye to a loved brother, uncle, granduncle, colleague and friend. It is a day when we acknowledge our human grief and loss and where we acknowledge as a community that our loss is a shared loss. We exchange stories and memories and remember the man as well as the priest. Today we stand in loss with Canon Lorenzo’s family and the people in Screen, Barntown, Glenbrien and Clongeen, where he built up the community in faith and in human experience and where he above all brought to them the great gift of the Eucharist. We know how special he was to the people of Piercestown, Murrintown and Clonard and to the Hit and Miss Club in Johnstown Castle and the lunchtime gathering in Whitford. He will be missed by you Brendan, his sidekick in adventures in many parts of the world and by you Aodhán who were so supportive and welcoming to him since you came to Piercestown and Murrintown.
Every vocation is not just the moment of saying Yes at the Altar on the great day when a vocation is sealed, either in marriage or priesthood or religious life. For everyone who enters into the depth of their vocation, it is a lifetime of saying yes to the call of the moment, the call of the day
For priests there were several significant days that we could call “vocation days”. These might include – the day we told our family or our friends, about what we were thinking. For most people this was not a bolt of lightning moment but a steady realisation that God was prompting a particular path in life. The prompts came from many sources – family, friends, school, community and like all vocations in life, modelled on somebody who was known to us who was a good example of somebody who was finding meaning in life. There were also vocation moments when a happy priest already in ministry, affirmed our choice and presented a welcoming and happy face to the ministry for which we were called. Lorenzo’s encouragement to seminarians throughout his life, his welcome for them and his visits to them no doubt gave certainty in times of doubt to many who are priests today. To do what Lorenzo Cleary did as a priest does not require either high office or great talents. It simply requires the insight to know that God loves people and when we are gently present to people that we are mirroring God’s love.
It’s true to say that most of those who influenced Fr Lorenzo’s call to ministry in the Diocese of Ferns have long gone to their eternal reward. We can suggest some of them – his parents Matthew and Mary, his teachers in Murrintown N.S or in St Peters and when we remember those who we pray that Lorenzo will be re united with, we include his brothers, Aban, Fr Declan and Fergus and his sisters, Colette and Mona.
Fr Lorenzo began his journey through seminary in St Peters College where he was ordained in 1956 and where 70 years of ministry would begin. His vocation no doubt continued to be nourished by family and friends and he in turn was a signpost to eternal truths.
Vocation is recognising that we are called by God each moment to be as present as we can to the person or situation in front of us. Our vocations are given to us by God, but they are sustained by the support of colleagues, parishioners and friends and by the love of family. Lorenzo would want those who miss him to know that his ministry also got meaning from your support and love.
Throughout all these years of ministry, Lorenzo celebrated the Eucharist for the people in his pastoral care, For many days Lorenzo stood at the Great Crossroads where Heaven meets Earth, the altar where Christ is made present. He broke open the Word of God in preaching and broke the Bread of Life for people at Communion. These actions brought hope and comfort in times of sorrow at funerals and emphasised the God of Joy at weddings and other joyous occasions. May his gentle and kind soul rest in peace.