By Fr Adolf Washington

Bengaluru, Jul 30: It was a tearful farewell to 64-year old Bengaluru archdiocesan priest Fr S Thomiar with at least a thousand people from Tumkuru, Kolar Gold Fields (KGF) and various parts of Bengaluru attending the funeral service at Sacred Heart Church, here on July 29, 11.30 am. 

The mass was presided over by Archbishop Dr Bernard Moras together with bishop Singaroyan (Salem diocese) and over a hundred priests. 

The mortal remains of the deceased priest (who died of stroke) reached Bengaluru from Burma at midnight July 28 and driven straight to Holy Family Church, Ramamurthy Nagar where he had served as parish priest.  Archbishop Moras presided over the funeral mass at 8 am and then at Sacred Heart Church.

Bishop Singaroyan (a classmate of Fr Thomiar) said, “Fr Thomiar was a very jovial person from his early seminary days and was always good company to be with.  He was simple and knew how to turn a serious or tense situation into a humorous one to lighten someone’s burden.  We would meet up as batchmates almost every year.”

Fr Thomiar who died on Friday July 24 at 8.43 pm in Yangon, Myanmar, was born on July 11, 1951 at Muthuvijayapuram, Ramanathapuram district (Tamil Nadu) but chose to serve in Bengaluru archdiocese. He was ordained as priest on June 5, 1978. He served the archdiocese for 37 years. He was on retreat in Burma on July 24 having the desert experience according to St Charles de Foucaulds spirituality.

Fr Sagayanathan, parish priest of Christu Prabhalaya Church, in the eulogy mentioned, “Fr Thomiar was a priest known to be simple, adaptable to any situation and loved by people from all strata of society.  He never took tension upon himself and would turn a stressful situation into a humorous one.   He did not like to possess many things and had only a couple of clothes and simple belongings with him and was very generous to the poor.”

Archbishop Moras in his homily said, “Death comes like a thief.  Death is inescapable. When anyone dies of old age, we wish they could have lived longer.  We all wish to live long, but death is in the hands of the maker. We should constantly pray and prepare for a happy death and live a life pleasing to God.  Fr Thomiar lived a life pleasing to God.  I see this in the massive crowd of priests and lay faithful who have gathered here to bid adieu to him.  He has certainly received his reward of eternal life.  May his soul rest in peace.”