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
CHAMBERS Phillip. Taken suddenly to be with the Lord. Beloved
husband of Fiona and cherished Dad of Rebecca, Angus, Tim and the
late Kieron.
ROBIN BOYD passed away on 4th June 2006. A Memorial Service will be
held on Wednesday, 14th June 2006 at 3.30pm at Chirst the King
Catholic Church, Cecil Avenue, Bulawayo.
Rod Clark, passed away very suddenly on 28th may.
Precious husband of Shirley, beloved father of Shane,
Debbie & Adam, Grandfather of Matthew, Brad, David & Ashley.
The light has gone out of our world.
It is with profound sadness that I learned of the passing of Fr Odilo
from Garry and Nicky this morning.
I have memories of Fr Odilo from Kumalo School forty years ago right
up to the time when he helped me deal with the issue of death at the
time of my mother's passing two years ago sharing his last
Liebschenkoeken with me in his normal unselfish way. Mum and Fr Odilo
were friends for almost sixty years. His message was that death is
something beautiful, not to be feared and, despite the fact I am
quite certain that the gates of heaven have been flung wide open for
him and that he is entirely happy, can't help feeling very sad that
his inimitable spirit, love and innate goodness will not be mine to
share until we too meet again.
He will be enormously missed by all.
It is not possible for me to pay my respects at his service this
coming week and so I would be terribly grateful if you would record
my love and respect for this special, special man as a rather
inadequate gesture to all the love he showed me and so many others
who cannot be in Bulawayo at this time. It is at times like this that
we feel terribly homesick.
Much love
Malcolm Ainscough
A woman brought a very limp duck into a vet. As she laid her pet on the
table, the vet pulled out his stethoscope and listened to the Bird's'
chest. After a moment or two, the vet shook his head sadly and said,
"I'm
so Sorry, your duck has passed away."
The distressed owner wailed, "Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm quite sure. The duck is dead," he replied.
"How can you be so sure," she protested. "I mean, you haven't done any
Testing on him or anything. He might just be in a coma or something."
The vet rolled his eyes, turned around and left the room and returned
A few
moments later with a black Labrador Retriever.
As the duck's owner looked on in amazement, the dog stood on his hind
Legs, put his front paws on the examination table and sniffed the duck
From top to bottom. He then looked at the vet with sad eyes and
shook His
head.
The vet patted the dog and took it out, and returned a few moments
later
with a cat.
The cat jumped up on the table and also sniffed delicately at the
bird. The
cat sat back on its haunches, shook its head, meowed softly And
strolled
out of the room.
The vet looked at the woman and said, "I'm sorry, but as I said, this
Is
most definitely, 100% certifiably, a dead duck."
Then the vet turned to his computer terminal, hit a few keys and
produced a
bill which he handed to the woman.
The duck's owner, still in shock, took the bill. "£150!", she cried -
"£150
just to tell me my duck is dead?"
The vet shrugged. "I'm sorry." "If you'd taken my word for it, the bill
would have been £20, but with the Lab Report and the Cat Scan, it's now
£150."
People seldom notice old clothes if you wear a big smile. --Lee Mildon
Fact of the Day:
We study twins, chimps and lottery winners, but still don't
understand happiness. In his new book, 'Happiness: The Science Behind
Your Smile', Dr. Daniel Nettle suggests that although people believe
they will be happier in the future, they in fact seldom are; that
societies don't get happier as they get richer; and that people are
consistently wrong about the impact of future life-events on their
happiness. "People may like to take a walk in the park, or play with
their kids and so on, but what they want might be to get a promotion,
earn more and buy a bigger house," Nettle says. To be happy, one must
learn to be satisfied. [ more ]
You may have tangible wealth untold; Caskets of jewels and coffers of
gold. Richer than I you can never be -- I had a mother who read to
me. --Strickland Gillilan
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