OLD GOA: The mortal remains of Fr Lourenco Mascarenhas, rector of Cruz dos Milagres Church, Old Goa, was laid to rest at Katem Baina, Vasco, Sunday evening after the Eucharistic celebration. He passed away in the wee hours of Wednesday, after a massive heart attack.
Before the body of Fr Mascarenhas was carried to Baina, Vasco, a thanksgiving mass was offered at Cruz dos Milagres church in the morning on Easter Sunday, with the bishop of Sindhudurg Diocese, Allwyn Barreto as the main celebrant. Several priests, nuns and people from different walks of life participated in the celebration and bade farewell to the departed soul. In his homily, the Episcopal Vicar of South Goa, Fr Lucio Dias said that life and death comes from God and mentioned that life is more secured in the mother’s womb. “But if it is to be lived to the fullest,” he said, “it cannot continue existing in the womb. It has to come out from the mother’s womb to begin life in the outside world.”
Fr Dias informed that after death life does not end, instead it gets transformed. “The Risen Lord, whose feast we celebrate today, is the witness to this truth,” he added.
The preacher reminded the congregation that death is certain for everyone, but nobody knows about its arrival. Reflecting on the eternal call that Fr Lourenco received on Wednesday, Fr Dias said that many who were close and dear to him would be wondering why he received it at a young age, but through death we all have a share in Christ’s resurrection.
