0
0
Karunapuram, 28 November 2015: The Province of Hyderabad celebrated the first death anniversary of Fr. John Lens sdb who passionately worked in the province. We celebrated the memory of this Salesian Legend with a memorial mass which was presided over by Fr. Balaraju, the Provincial of Hyderabad. Many fathers, sisters from different Salesian communities were present for the memorial mass. Fr. Mathew sdb the Novice Master briefly narrated the simplicity of Fr. Lens by saying, he was jovial, friendly, prayerful above all a good dedicated Salesian.
At the end of the mass, Fr. John Sebastian and Br. Prasanna payed homage through their speech, espressing their experience with Fr. Lens. Soon after the mass all moved towards the cemetery for the blessing of the tomb. There was a short prayer service for the repose of his soul. The beautiful words which are inscribed on the tomb are
A man of abundant generosity, Unshakable fidelity and outstanding holiness, You will live in our hearts for ever.
He was truly human, a product of his time, very orthodox, convinced and inflexible about what he considered to be essentials. The memory of the 2nd world war left a deep scar on him and he could not tolerate the sound of a cracker for Deepavali celebrations. He had his own health problems and suffered silently with great patience. He wouldn’t, undergo a surgery saying it was too expensive for a poor religious.
During the Eucharist celebration we have thanked God for the gift of this noble person; to his family, to the congregation and to our Province. For the family he was the only son and the eldest of the 4 children. His parents generously offered him to the service of the Lord, that too to be a missionary in India. He reached the shores of our country in 1949 and landed in Bombay. After his ordination in 1953 he served for a number of years in Madras Province as a formator. He came over to Hyderabad in 1975 to be one of the pioneers of this province.
He was the first Salesian Parish Priest of Sanathnagar St.Theresa’s Parish. In the typical Salesian style with the language of the heart he moved close to the people scattered over a large area and gave shape to the present flourishing parish. He was also instrumental in acquiring the land and putting up the buildings for the
Motinagar Don Bosco School premises.
After retirement from active life, the last years were spent in the Novitiate House. During this period, he translated some important books in to English and made a very valuable contribution to the Salesian literature of the English speaking world. Let us continue to remember and pray for his soul.
