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Dear Fr. Abraham Panampara, you left for your heavenly abode so suddenly and in a tragic way a year ago. I do miss you a lot. I thank you for your warm friendship and penetrating criticism of my ideas and life style. I always saw in you a passionate and compassionate priest. I do cherish your simple living and high thinking.
Despite all the stress and strain, you remained energetic and charismatic throughout. You were lucid in your thoughts and tenacious in your theological convictions. You believed in consensus and not in confrontations. You were an example of effectiveness, enthusiasm and commitment. You had unflinching faith in God and connectivity to the people around you. I found in you a rare of mix of superlative achievement and modesty. You were full of humility in spite of the love and adulation you received. After Jesus, Mary and Joseph, Don Bosco was the greatest motivator in your religious life. May the noble life you led challenge the young and the old who are lazy and waste their energy in futile affairs. You had substance, language, humour and most of all love.
I am proud of you dear Fr. Abraham, because you spoke much in few words. Your life was your message. You were a person who was completely wedded to preaching the Gospel. You spoke forcefully and convincingly on the topic of mission. You never compromised on principles. To a great extent I did take advantage of your exquisite ocean of knowledge.
My meeting you first time in Ponnur (a mission you so loved) was indeed a spiritually uplifting experience. Ever since you remained my mentor, friend, philosopher and guide. I found in you a source of inspiration, warm support and wise counsel. The very fabric of your life was woven with God’s infinite goodness.
You will continue to live in the Church of Andhra Pradesh through your simple and profound writings, through the number of catechists you trained so pain-stakingly. As I had told you over and over again, your greatest contribution to the Andhra Church is the number of devotional albums you produced with the help of your friend Fr. Antony Vincent C.Ss.R, a gifted singer and an inspiring preacher. You have immortalized the words of Tagore, “God respects me when I work, but God loves me when I sing.” You will continue to live in me. I wish you dear Fr. Abraham, not ‘rest in peace' but ‘sing in heaven.’
If all the Salesians uphold the spirit of dynamism, apostolic zeal and missionary ardour that you possessed, the whole world will be transformed and won for Christ. Dear Fr. Abraham, do bestow on us a benign smile from your heavenly abode.
Fr Jose Therampil
