An Elegy to Fr. Mahesh D’Souza

Why did you jump the queue?

This question haunts us all the time now.
Some questions will never be answered,
Or find an answer that’s good enough.
You have left such a question, Fr Mahesh.

You sure are safe in the bosom of the Lord
For you lived such a glorious life, unselfish, unblemished.
We are unworthy to speak about you, your call.
Nevertheless we need to mumble our regrets.

Relentless in your mission, self-less in your pursuits,
You were indeed a gentle soul, with no speck of evil,
No wonder the world didn’t understand you fully.
The world understands only the mundane, the ordinary.
It cannot understand the celestial, the ethereal, the divine.

We don’t know who are guilty, who have blood on their hands
We may not know, but those will bow down with shame
For ‘all the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten their hands’.

What a radiance youspread around, a smile was so sweet
And innocent, such an enlivening, inspiring smile
Manners so winsome, words so caring, and love so genuine.

You lived a glorious life, called it a day at your will.
The Lord will surely have received you with outstretched arms
For you did his bidding till the last breath, faithfully and well.
You lived Christ-like, died a martyr, saint-like
Leaving everyone small, insignificant in front of
Your magnificence, your present glory.

Adieu, Fr. Mahesh. I wish I knew your mind’s working,
I’d never have left you unguarded, helpless, or defenceless.
Lots of us, who miss you sorely would have stood sentinel
For you, sleepless so no harm would come to you.

All was not to be. You chose not to trouble us anymore.
You went away silently, when you thought silence was the best option,
the only answer to your agony.

In that eternal silence, there is a faint voice
The voice that will softly whisper in every mind,
That there lived a man who lived selflessly,
Who loved everyone, was kind-hearted, guileless,
Too good for us, and for this world.

Father, we will miss you.
Your face will never fade in the minds of anyone
Anyone who has met you even once.
You were so radiant, so bright, so calm and beatific.
God grant thee eternal peace and solace,
Which is what you sought, and finally found.

Loving tribute from

Mathew C. Ninan