.. was an incredible man and it was so touching to be part of the vigil and funeral in celebration of his life. I learned parts of his life that I never knew about, and at one point even had to stop myself from being jealous - jealous of others who were really able to get to know him as a close friend and spend time with him outside of the "church scene" and, of course, jealous of him for being so Christ-like. There are so many ways that I could be such a better person - more giving, more forgiving, spend more time in prayer and contemplation, hold less anger, face conflicts head on.
I can't even imagine the pain that he was feeling in his final weeks of life. But even in that pain and anguish, he was a servant of the Lord - saying mass daily with Fr. Daniel, and even on a rare occasion getting up and concelebrating during a full mass. We heard stories of the last Sunday mass that he concelebrating - the raspy voice that was attempting to shout exaltations to our Savior, and the altar being used not only as a table for the sacrifice of Jesus, but to support him from falling over.
Fr. Tom will be greatly missed. I think he'll make me continue to look at my life and understand how I can be more Christ-like. How privileged we all were to have been able to have a saint in our midst.
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