Today we assemble to take our
leave of Josef Pavelka, a man we all knew, in one way or another, and a man
whom we will always remember.
Normally, when a person passes
away, a wide of range of emotions will be exhibited. One will see pain, loss,
anxiety, anger etched on the faces of the bereaved.
The people left behind are
the people who are left to wonder where is our loved one now, what if we had
one more week, could we have helped?
With Josef, it is not as clear nor is the procedure as normal. Because in his passing, as he was over the last month of his life, Joseph has become almost an enigma.
Many people recall fond and happy memories of Joseph standing outside the church, or across from the hotel here with Peter.
Many remember him wandering up and down O’Connell Street asking maybe for one euro or two euro. However, many more remember a man who had a lot of opportunities to improve, and did not capitalise.
However, I believe we must now take a new road.
Because ultimately, it is not important if Josef wanted one euro, nor is it important that he was an alcoholic. What is important is Joseph’s humanity.
Like us here, like everyone, he was made in the image and likeness of the Father in heaven.
And in his humanity, weakness and even in his
brokenness, Joseph was loved by Jesus.
When I met Joseph, I had only
just literally arrived and he was standing with Peter outside the Church. It
was like an alien had landed. The two of them were looking at me and wondering
who I was.
As I unloaded all my clothes and luggage, Joseph walked, well, half walked, half rambled, over to me and in his wonderful take on the English language he said to me “And me help”?
And so, he helped me unload all my
bits and pieces and as I thanked him, he said to me a line which I will always
remember him for… “Very important problem… maybe 2 euro…”
Joseph was no Holy Joe, and I am not here to canonize him, because there were times when he would absolutely drive me nuts.
Yet Joseph taught me it is in the hearts of the poor where Jesus is to be found. Because it is in the heart of the poor the weakness and reliability of our own innate humanity is to be located.
Like I mentioned earlier, it would be very easy to be up here and moan about the State Sponsored bodies, to lament what I have interestingly heard called killing Joseph with generosity, and to whinge about the denial of the two lads sleeping in the public toilets, even though I was there with them one night.
But, we must all now remove that attitude.
Because behind all of that is the tragic truth of a human life being lost here in Ennis and the worse tragedy is that it is happening everywhere.
Joseph’s passing was a tragedy and has brought much publicity to our town not all of which has been positive.
Yet, it is not a time to be angry, nor looking to play one-ups-man-ship. It is a time to unite, to take action. We need to work with each other to improve on the wonderful work already happening. We need to unite to ensure what happened Joseph will not happen to others.
Now more than ever, we need to live out our Christian calling, not just in the four walls of the Church but outside too.
The Spirit of the Lord is a living spirit, one which promises new life, new hope and resurrection. Yet, it can only be loosed in the working of the church which is all of us. And it is up to all of us, to ensure in our own small way we help as much as we are able to.
To those in power in Ennis and in Ireland, I ask you, I plead with you, on my knees to you as a representative of Jesus here in Ennis, I ask you to please review the policies we have towards the homeless and the vulnerable in our society.
I ask you to continue to work with the poorest of the poor always in mind and we will work with you, if you let us, to ensure what happened to Joseph never happens again. We are all in the same boat, we are all human beings. We must work with each other to build up the promise of new hope in the resurrection.
Lastly, to Joseph… No euro today. I am very poor… however, Joseph Pavelka, Czech Republic Army number 6667, I do want to tell you… I love you, I will miss you and when we meet in Heaven, we will have our wrestling match which we always promised each other!!