Below is a poignant reflection by our Tilbury port chaplain Wojciech Holub. He writes about the death of seafarers on board ships, far away from their homelands. Time is running, infinity is waiting... Last month I received a phone call at the Seafarers Centre in Tilbury. The calm voice of an agent informed me that we had a situation - a seafarer had passed away on board. My colleague, Dover & Medway chaplain Paul Glock, and I, went to visit the crew of Arklow Rainbow. In the circumstances we did not say much. Faces say more than words. We prayed, and organised for a blessing and Mass to be said. Then, yesterday, AoS assisted in the last earthly journey of Ryszard Jecz, a Polish cook. Not many of us were present at the funeral; a Catholic priest, a sacristan, myself and Mila - my wife. There is a clock tower on the roof of Blue Bell Hill crematorium in Medway which says it all – time is running, infinity is waiting. These very words were often repeated by St. John Paul II, who used to look at a sun clock with that very sentence on the church tower from the window of his house in Wadowice. Time is running indeed… but from his last departure, may he be brought to the safe haven and may he rest in peace, Amen.
Posted on: Thu, 16 Oct 2014 11:32:11 +0000