Text: Homily at Requiem Mass of Fr John Kearns CP

Fr John Kearns CP

Fr Mark White CP gave the following homily at the Requiem Mass of Fr John Kearns CP on Friday 7th May 2021

The virtuous man, though he dies before his time, will find rest. Length of days is not what makes age honourable, nor number of years the true measure of life; understanding, this is man's grey hair, untarnished life, this is ripe old age….

Brothers and sisters these words from the Book of Wisdom have a special poignant resonance for us here today. Here is a young man with so much to give, so much more calm wisdom to share, so much more delight in the simple things of life and who knows what contribution to come for the life of our Province and for the Congregation as a whole worldwide. And so we are saddened…, heavy-hearted, not unlike, perhaps, those two disciples of Jesus on their sad walk from Jerusalem to Emmaus….

And yet, as Christian people, the orientation of our lives is not to be on the passing things of this world, even the friendships, the shared vision, the high moments of joy and celebration, however precious they may be. We are a Eucharistic people, our compass set firm in the direction of gratitude, of thanksgiving, even in the midst of sorrow. We are followers of Jesus who accepted the reality, the inevitability of suffering in this world and who, nevertheless, on the very night he was betrayed took bread, broke it and, giving thanks and praise, shared it with his friends…

And so it is right that we should give thanks for John and recognise in his life the goodness of God towards us. Having worked for several years in the world of banking he felt the stirrings to do more with his life and this led him to the Passionists in the person of Fr Timothy Cullen CP and thus started a relationship, a friendship which lasted until Timothy's death two years ago even though, to the best of my knowledge, they never actually lived in community for an significant length of time. The power and importance of human relationships, the love and friendship between the brethren which was close to the heart of our Holy Founder, St Paul of the Cross, marked not only the beginning, but the whole length of John's time as a member of the Congregation of the Passion. Always approachable, never assuming an attitude of superiority, ever ready to go the extra mile…that was John. I remember one night in London after several of us had concluded a heavy day of discussions and meetings the end of which we had celebrated with an Italian meal together in a hostelry on Highgate Hill, as the rest of us trudged up the hill to the monastery tired and ready for bed, John turned his steps downwards and crossed to the Whittington Hospital, to visit and pray with Timothy, who had been admitted the day before.

Our Gospel reading today speaks of Mary who stood at the Cross of Jesus and remained there with him in his unimaginable suffering. For John, the Passion of Jesus was the guiding principle of his life. It was the subject of frequent, daily meditation but it did not remain at the level of the meditational or even the purely spiritual, essential though these may be to anyone who embraces a spirituality at whose core is the call to keep alive and promote the memory of the Passion of Jesus. It was something he lived out and put into practice in his daily life.

Early on in his life as a priest, in the community of Sutton, St Helens, he was invited by a Cross and Passion Sister, Sr Brigid Murphy, to offer Mass in a Young Offenders institution in Hindley, near Wigan. This would have been quite a challenge, I would imagine, yet the young John accepted it and as his visits increased in number, he began to discover an ability to relates to these young and often volatile young men, still coping with the extremes of adolescence. He eventually became a permanent chaplain and ministered as such for 20 years. I remember him telling me that he really loved the work and indeed, when elected as Provincial 8 years ago, chose to remain in prison ministry until the demands of Province leadership eventually meant that he had to leave it. He had worked with great fruitfulness and had established numerous good relationships with prisoners, prison staff and the multi-faith chaplaincy members. Prison chaplaincy is very raw work and the young men take no time in weighing up the genuineness of the people who deal with them. They soon saw that in John they had someone in whom they could confide safely, someone they could trust who would defend their corner if they faced unjust treatment. In many cases he got to know their parents or girlfriends and was able to offer them support too.

Mary's standing at the foot of the Cross is in many ways a perfect metaphor for the work of the prison chaplain: she could not take away the pain of her Son; she had to accept the reality of the situation and the infinite frustration of not being able what was inevitable: but she STOOD there: note the word "Stood"- whatever the burden of sorrow her heart was carrying she stood there, unbowed, as a sign that evil would not have the last word. Whereas so many had deserted him, Mary remained standing with Him. Those young men in Hindley knew that in John they had someone who was not condemning them but always ready to stand by them when they called for his help. He stood by them. He was there for them.

When John's time at Hindley came to an end, he moved back to his home city of Birmingham to take up a new form of ministry. This was another way in which his vocation as a Passionist was to lived: to use a term current in our Province since the time of our much-missed former Provincial, John Sherrington: to be present at sites of suffering. With Martin, they opened a house of hospitality for destitute asylum seekers. This meant a major change for both men, but particularly for John, having lived on his own for a good number of years, to move to a house in a run-down area and live alongside men of different faiths and none from many different parts of the world who were struggling to obtain permission to stay in the UK. Many of these men had known life on the streets and were having to face an inflexible and often incomprehensible bureaucracy and labyrinthine asylum process. What an adjustment that required! The relative seclusion and comfort of his life up till that point gave way to a new and in many ways challenging style of community life. But it proved to have its own richness and John soon settled and played his part in making the house a home for people whose experience of home had often been of violence and despair. And let's not forget at the same time carrying out his duties as Provincial, an extremely demanding role in its own right - and him the second-youngest man in the Province!!

As Provincial, John's role might be described as "primus inter pares" or "servus servorum Dei". His exercise of authority was never in the slightest an authoritarian rule. Far from it - he exuded an air of calmness, was always a good attentive listener and had a great ability to grasp the essentials of any question or dilemma and could always find something constructive and positive to say. At every level the administration of the Province was in safe hands and the gradual inclusion of John Thornhill and Paschal Somers at ever more central areas of the Province's life has been achieved with great smoothness and admirably worthwhile effect. John was a great team-player, always giving of his best and never overshadowing others; always to be relied on both to keep to the essentials of any matter of debate and rarely if ever to overlook the small details. To me he will forever be "that good and faithful steward whom the Master placed over his household."

When the pandemic struck John knew that his place was to be back in the family home, to be with his mother Eileen and take care of her needs as her fragility increased. His sphere of activity was now threefold: his mother, the Province and Austin Smith House. His devotion to his mother has always been apparent and indeed he mentioned, when at the last Provincial Chapter it became clear he would be re-elected as Provincial, that he would have to share Provincial leadership with care of his mother who was living on her own - he was always clear about his responsibilities and has been an inspiration to us all as he carried them out.

To conclude I would like to quote the French poet Paul Claudel writing about suffering: he said this: Christ did not come to abolish suffering but to make it life-bearing by his Presence." As a Passionist so faithfully true to his vocation, John knew that it is fruitless, though entirely understandable to deny the reality of suffering and try to avoid it. He was well aware of the stinging rebuke Jesus directed at Peter at Caesarea Philippi when he tried to dissuade Jesus from going up to Jerusalem and facing suffering and death. Jesus said to Peter: "Get behind me Satan". Peter was trying to deny what Paul would later describe as the "logic of the Cross". John took his lead from Mary and remained at those sites of suffering where one can be present but also powerless. In his prison ministry, in sharing life with the destitute strangers in Birmingham, in his care for his mother, in his uncomplaining shouldering of the heavy responsibilities of the office of Provincial, John proved himself to be a Passionist worthy of the name. He is profoundly missed, he will be an ongoing inspiration, his memory will be cherished amongst his brethren, family, and friends. May his good soul rest in peace.