with doctors, nurses, hospital staff, and other
chaplains. Indeed, his skills as servant leader led to his
election as president of the National Catholic Hospital
Chaplains’ Association in the 1970 s .
Later, his listening heart served him well as
provincial, pastor, and preacher. Tom loved to study
Scripture, to break open the Word with parishioners
and community members, to listen to the stories of
those with whom he journeyed, and then to preach
with passion that connected the people in the pew.
“Were not our hearts burning within us while he spoke
to us on the way and opened the scriptures to us?”
On the road to Emmaus, the ears and hearts of the
disciples were burning as Jesus broke open the word.
But it wasn’t until they sat down at table with Jesus
that their eyes were opened when Jesus “took bread,
said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them.” This
ritual of remembrance, of memory and hope, which he
celebrated with his friends on the night before he died,
we celebrate at every Eucharist and it captures the
essence of what priesthood meant to Tom.
For 51 years as a priest, Fr. Tom loved the
Eucharist and presided with great dignity and
devotion. He loved to sing the Eucharistic prayers,
and in this mingling of melody and memory—
whether it was with five around that table at the
college formation house at Rockhurst University or
five hundred around the altars at St. James, Sacred
Heart or St. Patrick—Tom prayerfully served all who
gathered around the table.
A New Creation Groaning
As we commend Fr. Tom to the Lord today, we
do so we gratitude to God for the many gifts the
Divine One bestowed on him in this life, starting
with his family, his parents, his beloved sister, Janet,
and his nieces Kay, Chris, and Susan. We are grateful
to you for sharing your brother and uncle with the
Missionaries of the Precious Blood all these years.
Tom’s identity as priest and missionary was shaped
first in the faith and love of his family.
St. Paul in his letter to the Romans reminds us
today of our true identity: “Those who are led by the
Spirit of God are children of God.” As God’s children,
we form a family of faith who seek to live in a holy
communion with one another and all of creation. As
our congregation is engaged in the process of becoming
a new creation in the United States and throughout
the world as we seek to respond to the signs of these
times—a process Tom was keenly interested in and
offered his ideas and insights to me several times—we
are aware, as Paul says, that this new creation will not
happen without significant labor pains.
This theme of identity was the focus of the eight
years Tom served as provincial of the Kansas City
Province in the late 1980 s through the mid-1990 s .
For our community’s bicentennial three years ago,
which was also the 50 th anniversary of the provinces
in the United States, Tom reflected on those years.
“A continuing theme for the membership revolved
around identity, a theme common to religious orders
following a call to renewal of religious life,” he wrote.
“For that purpose, the province called an Assembly
every year, instead of every other year as previously
practiced. Themes of the Assemblies generally
centered around identity issues.”
An annual Assembly to strengthen the bonds of
our community life was just one of the many new
initiatives that planted the seeds of the new creation
we are seeking to become today. During Tom’s tenure
as servant leader,
the Companions
movement
began with
our Moderator
General, Fr. Bill
Nordenbrock,
as the first
director. “This
has proved to be
a major factor in
Fr. Tom at the 2012 Provincial Assembly
reassessing our
identity,” Father Tom wrote. More than 25 years later,
the Companions are actively engaged in the life of our
community in becoming a new creation.
Among the other lasting legacies that occurred
with Tom’s unwavering support as provincial was
the ongoing development and deepening of our
understanding of Precious Blood spirituality through
various publications like the New Wine Press and
the Wine Cellar; the Precious Blood Congresses
that brought together members, Companions, and
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November 2018 • The New Wine Press • 5