FATHER ODILO
- 17/ 6/ 2006 <--Prev : Next-->
Father Odilo Weeger CMM has died.
Our city of Bulawayo is much the poorer without the strength of this
Great Man.
He touched all of our lives with no thought of race, colour or creed.
He remembered everyone, he remembered our names, our family members,
our hobbies and our friends.
He sought only to spread his love and the love of the Lord to each
and every person in the Matabeleland community.
His life spanned many decades, his strength, his devotion to Christ,
his devotion to this City and this province, will be remembered by
everyone who came in contact with this remarkable man.
Catholics, Anglicans, Protestants, Baptists, the Jewish Community,
every single person of every single religion, was encompassed by his
extraordinary aura of love for his fellow man.
We will miss you father Odilo, our hearts and minds are heavy at your
passing, but will always be filled with your light and your love.
"Together, we see new leaves glowing against the sun, green hillsides
shimmering with the breeze, the bright purple bursts of lupine. And
it's okay if there is nothing beyond this, because there is this:
life, everlasting, in the bloom of every flower." --Jamaica Ritcher
M.K.
AN EXTRAORDINARY MAN - FATHER ODILO
Father Odilo was born in the historic farming village of Arberg, in
Franken, Germany on 14th October 1912. He died on Thursday 8th June
2006, in Mater Dei Hospital, with his nephew Max Weeger there from
Germany and the comfort of the last sacraments and prayers going up
from there and all over the world.
He learned the dignity and values of honest hard work and the finest
of moral and religious traditions from his modest but very good
family. He was in the last group of missionaries that was allowed to
leave Germany in 1938 and he gave his whole life to mission work in
Matabeleland.
He was a wonderful man who committed his life fully to God, and to
serving the many peoples of Zimbabwe. One of his sermons, especially
at baptisms, was about living our lives like candles. He certainly
did exactly that - giving light and warmth and consuming himself in
the process.
He had a genuine love for and interest in people, across a most
surprising and wide range. He maintained contact personally with so
many people whom he considered his personal friends and those of us
fortunate to be included knew his concern and felt his prayers.
He had a deep reservoir of natural and acquired wisdom and human
understanding and he appreciated God's loving provision for us all in
the beauty and complexity of creation, the earth and all life on it
and the stars and all of the ever-more revealed universe.
He appreciated the finer things in life, like art, music and
etiquette and supported many community presentations and efforts with
his presence.
His strong sense of justice suffered greatly from the absurd removal
of his own rights as a Zimbabwean resident for over 65 years, as well
as the growing culture of impunity and disregard for basic rights
that has done so much in our country.
He made friends from all races religions and was especially committed
to reaching out to non-Catholic Christians and many Jewish friends
and his memory for names and details was extraordinary. He was a self-
disciplined and totally dedicated Catholic priest, but he found an
amazing amount of time to attend to sick visits and the pastoral
needs of innumerable people, irrespective of race or creed.
Although we all feel his loss personally and keenly, we can be
confident that he himself will be granted his heavenly reward and
that we have an unique ally who will intercede for our many needs.
May his dear soul rest in peace.
John L. Sullivan
