With greatness comes humility

Today I attended the funeral of a truly great man, a humble, generous, compassionate, charitable, hard working, kind, wise lovely man. His funeral was a true celebration of the gifts he gave to the world. This is not a flippant expression as this man actually gave gifts across the world. His charitable donations went among other places to Uganda and Moldova and his kind acts saved people the world over. Most people won't know this man as unlike those who broadcast their achievements across the world today, he kept his activities to himself, gave without expecting recognition and sought no congratulations nor award. Thankfully he was recognised, rewarded and awarded for his immensely christian acts but his family are still only finding out how much he meant to how many, their hearts touched and warmed by the number of people who came from far and wide to share their grief, offer their condolences and pay homage to a great man, a great friend, a great father and grandfather, a great husband and a true gentleman.
His legacy will outlive all of us, his family equally charitable and kind, will continue his work but he will be missed very much by all who knew him. His funeral in it's simple dignity honoured him perfectly and the way his family held themselves upright to shake every hand, in the midst of their grief, further emphasised his gentle influence. The priest who evidently knew this man so well told the congregation that this man was a man of true faith, not the faith which arrives in church shaking beads, thanking God and walking outside ignoring those around them , but the type who came to mass, thanked God for all his gifts and then went outside and looked for opportunities to use those gifts to help others. May we all seek those opportunities, may we all seek to make that difference, so that a great mans great work will continue on as he watches on from his heavenly seat. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.