Fr Eddie Burns spent the last 8 years of his ministry here in Maudabawn and it was his wish that, when he died, he would be brought to repose in this church and that his funeral Mass would be celebrated here. And we are carrying out his wishes today.When he first came to the parish of Drumgoon in 1978, to be curate in Cootehill, Fr Eddie was nearing his silver jubilee as a priest. He wasn’t a very big man, but he was strong and healthy, and he revelled in the pastoral work of a busy town parish. He was involved in very public projects like the building of the new school but his real achievements were done quietly and without any fanfare. He did simple things that made a difference – like walking to Mass in the morning when he could have taken the car. By walking he could have a chance to meet people and get a bit of exercise as well. He visited homes regularly and got to know his parishioners and they got to know him. They found a man who was humble, unassuming, kind and courteous and quietly humorous as well.

Fr Eddie had all those qualities, and more that were born of the years, when he returned to the parish in 2003 to be curate in Maudabawn. He had retired as parish priest of Denn, where he had been parish priest for 16 years. He no longer had the energy of youth, but he retained the gentle manner and the quiet ways that endeared him to the people of every parish he served in. He was very happy here and he found a community who understood the limitations age imposed on him, valued his ministry and cared for him.

That determination to stick at it until the job was done was very much a feature of Fr Eddie’s long life as a priest. He served the diocese for 55 years and he served it generously and whole-heartedly. He was faithful to the anointing with the Spirit that he received, the commission to “bring the good news to the poor, to bind up hearts that are broken, to proclaim liberty to captives, to comfort the mourners.”He was ordained for the diocese of Kilmore in 1956. Like most newly ordained priests at the time he got his first experience of priestly ministry in the Archdiocese of Birmingham, in the city of Coventry. From there he went to Killargue and then to Killinkere where he was to spend sixteen years as curate in Clanaphilip. He was then in the prime of life with energy and enthusiasm to burn. He oversaw major building projects in Killinkere – the construction of a new church and a new parochial house. He found time to get involved in farming and, in this he was something of an innovator. I’m told he was one of the first to introduce Friesan cattle into his herd before that became the preferred breed for dairy farming. But, as always, the heart of his ministry was celebrating the sacraments, visiting homes and schools and caring for the sick and the needy, in short, bringing the Good News to the poor. And he did all that quietly with great dedication and commitment.

While he was in Killinkere, Fr Eddie was fortunate to find a housekeeper – Goretti – who became a lifelong friend. She has been a constant support to him in his ministry down the years and in recent years she has cared for him with extraordinary devotion and love. He was fortunate too in having a family who were close to him and nieces and nephews who cared deeply for him. But I know that you, Goretti, are the one who will miss him most and will feel his loss most keenly. Your attention to him over the past couple of years and particularly the last very difficult weeks has been nothing short of heroic. I am sure I am speaking for Fr Eddie’s family and for all of us when I say thank you for your constant love and care for him and may God reward your goodness.The other great anchor of Fr Eddie’s life was his brother, Fr Bennie, who was a priest of the diocese of Sacramento. Fr Bennie was ordained in 1953 and despite the distance between Sacramento and Kilmore they were extremely close. Fr Eddie would holiday in Sacramento with Fr Bennie and when Fr Bennie took holidays it was with Fr Eddie. When Fr Bennie retired and made his home in Swellan I know Fr Eddie looked forward to joining him in his retirement there. But that was not to be. The sudden death of Fr Bennie seven years ago was a terrible blow – untimely and unexpected – and one from which Fr Eddie never fully recovered. As well as the grief of that loss, his health deteriorated and he suffered a lot of pain in his last years. But he bore it with patience and dignity and above all with faith.
Fr Eddie believed in the promises of God’s word that we have heard in the readings of the Mass today. His faith gave him the confidence expressed by St Paul that no pain, no trial can separate us from Christ: “For I am certain of this: neither death nor life…nothing that exists, not any power…nor any created thing can come between us and the love of God made visible in Christ Jesus our Lord.” 

The decline of physical powers that comes with age, the   limitations of illness and the diminishment independence are a sore trial. The words of Jesus in the Gospel help to put them in a new light and to make sense of them: “Unless the grain of wheat falls on the ground and dies it remains only a single grain; but if it dies it yields a rich harvest.” As we prepare to commit Fr Eddie’s body to the earth, we know his earthly suffering is over. The grain of wheat has died. Our sorrow is tempered by our faith in the resurrection. We believe that God will raise Fr Eddie to new and more abundant life. The grain of wheat will yield a rich harvest and Fr Eddie will be reunited with his brothers, Fr Benny and JP and all who have gone before him in the glory of life eternal. May he rest in peace.