KINDLING OTHER FIRES: LIFE AND TIMES OF FR. CECIL McGARRY, SJ

Abstract

The recently concluded General Congregation of Jesuits came up with a new definition of a Jesuit. It described a Jesuit as “a fire that kindles other fires.” Cecil McGarry could be described as such. He lived as a fire, and spent his lifetime kindling the Christian fire in many people. Till his last moments, one can say that the embers of the fire that once flared without control kept the hearth warm. This tribute cum presentation of the person of Cecil McGarry is aimed at putting out a portrait of a recent Jesuit priest who lived his life as a priest and as a Jesuit. This article presents a man: his life and work. In doing this, the article intends to show that the lofty ideals of priesthood are livable in our day and time. As one of the Africanists who lived and appreciated the genius of African life, this article points out that contemporary priests need to think outside their frontiers; and be committed to live out the priestly vocation with joy. To be a missionary and to appreciate the people with whom one is working is irreplaceable in the life of a priest. By presenting Fr. McGarry, it shall become obvious that the qualities of a priest described by Vatican II document on priesthood can be lived gracefully: “The purpose, therefore, which priests pursue in their ministry and by their life is to procure the glory of God the Father in Christ. That glory consists in this — that men working freely and with a grateful spirit receive the work of God made perfect in Christ and then manifest it in their whole lives. Hence, priests, while engaging in prayer and adoration, or preaching the Word, or offering the Eucharistic Sacrifice and administering the other sacraments, or performing other works of the ministry for men and women, devote all this energy to the increase of the glory of God and to man’s progress in the divine life. All of this, since it comes from the Pasch of Christ, will be crowned by the glorious coming of the same Lord, when he hands over the Kingdom to God the Father” (Presbyterorum Ordinis, #3).