Homily by Revd Canon Christopher Tuckwell

Homily preached at the Funeral Mass, by Canon Christopher Tuckwell, Administrator of Westminster Cathedral, 20 October 2017

She said to her husband, “Look, I am sure the man who is constantly passing our way must be a holy man of God.” 2 Kgs 4:9

 

Back in February I received a letter from Augustine in which he told me that he was attending to some of his funeral arrangements, and that he would like me to preach at his Funeral Mass, if I were willing to do so. My heart sank on receiving this request, and I immediately began to think of excuses, but then I reflected that this was really a very modest request from someone who had been my spiritual mentor and guide for over thirty years, someone who, month by month, had heard my various tales of woe.

 

The lady from Shunem could see a very special quality in the prophet Elisha, the spirit of holiness, and this was the same quality that many could see in our dear friend, Augustine. He didn’t have to do anything, or say anything – it was just something which seemed to flow out from his presence, and as he grew older, and more venerable in appearance, so he seemed more and more to be a holy man of God. I am not here today to canonise him, and he would be appalled at any attempt to do so, but from soon after our first meeting, when he was back in residence at the Royal Foundation of St.Katharine in Stepney, I became aware of this singular quality of holiness, and it has not surprised me to hear so many different people say something similar.

 

This quality came from a living relationship with God. Quite literally, he had God on his mind, and in his heart, and this became apparent to those who got to know him, and sometimes to those who just saw him passing by. One of our regular Big Issue sellers said to me about him, “He looks a holy old bloke”. Yes, I replied he is. This closeness to God, which is surely what holiness is, showed itself in a variety of different ways, but chiefly in his devotion to prayer. From early in his life, Augustine had followed a daily pattern of prayer. Rising well before dawn, he loved to sit in a darkened church for an hour or more of communion with God, before joining in the Daily Office of the Church, and there were frequent other times for prayer throughout the day. Later in life, when age prevented him from a more active apostolate, he was content to be “a praying presence”and we saw this at Westminster, at Vauxhall and at Walsingham.

 

Earlier in his life he had established several Houses of Prayer, notably at Manchester and at Sunderland. His particular love was intercessory prayer, and he had long lists of people, of parishes, and of activities to pray for. He once said to me “I pray for you every day, you know, yes, every day.” I have no doubt that he is praying for me still, and not just for me, but for all those whom he saw for direction or for confession. How many, over the years, have benefited from his wisdom and his clarity of spiritual awareness? Like St.Padre Pio he had the gift of discernment and of seeing through any feeble attempts at self-justification. His observations were kindly, but often embarrassingly accurate.

 

A hugely significant part of his spiritual journey was the influence of Mirfield. This was the Anglican community for men that he joined in 1945, the Community of the Resurrection, and despite his becoming a Catholic, he never really left it. In the 50s, 60s and 70s, Mirfield was a huge influence in the life of the Church of England, and there were some spiritual giants among their ranks – men of faith, of discipline, of inspiring lives of service, and Augustine Hoey CR was numbered among them. When Cardinal Hume ordained him as a Catholic priest, he knew how important the monastic way of life was for him, and not surprising given his own Benedictine background, and so he attached him to the community at Cockfosters, where he became an Oblate and continued to wear the monastic habit. The spiritual formation he had received at Mirfield undoubtedly contributed to his disciplined life of prayer which he followed for the rest of his life.

 

One of the fruits of this life of prayer, which he combined with his own enthusiasm for theatrical productions, he would loathe the term amateur dramatics, blossomed in his Parish Missions. These were very serious undertakings, and he received far more requests from parishes, than he was ever able to follow through. He would visit the parish first, walking the streets, and looking for places to stage the processions, the outdoor talks, the Stations of the Cross, then he would issue the parish with a long list of requirements, and then he would assemble his team. To witness one of Augustine’s Missions was a great thing in itself, but to be chosen to be on the mission team was a real feather in one’s cap. But it was very hard work, three weeks of intensive activity, and no slacking accepted – he could be a stern taskmaster. Later in life, when someone mentioned a certain place, he would say “Oh, I led a Mission there in 1958.” Being born in Leeds, he really loved the cities of the north, and the more smokey or industrial or Coronation Street-like, the better.

 

Augustine was devoted to the service of his Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, but close on the heels of that came his devotion to Mary, the Mother of the Lord. His love for Our Lady was tender and yet robust. His homilies on Mary were electric – he could speak of her in a very personal way, without being affected or fussily sentimental. As a young man he had visited, by train he was pleased to say, the Anglican Shrine at Walsingham, and there he had sensed a call from Our Lady to come to that place for some particular reason. For years he had hoped to fulfil this call, and then, at the age of 98 it became possible, largely through the generosity of an old friend. He went to live in Walsingham and found that his call was once more to be “a praying presence” but this time to intercede for the unity of Christians, and in particular for that unity to be expressed at Walsingham. Those of us who attended his 100th Birthday lunch, cannot forget the fervour and passion with which he spoke about the urgent need for harmony and reconciliation, particularly between the Anglican and the Catholic Shrines.

 

Truly, a holy man of God has passed among us, but the Master has called and now he is with Him. We shall certainly miss him but it’s hard to grieve for someone of his age and for someone who was so eager to experience eternity. As a friend of his remarked “the lamentations here on earth will be drowned out by the rejoicing in Heaven.” Yes he leaves many good friends here, but just picture the huge crowd that are gathered to greet him on the far side. How shall we remember him? Perhaps, We shall honour his memory best by doing what he has asked us to do – to pray, and to pray most earnestly for that unity of Christians that he so longed to see – May he rest in peace.H