Homily

"He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood, lives in me and I live in him" (Jn.6:56)

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

As we gather in this Season of Paschal Joy with the Risen Christ we are all too conscious of the fact that the Resurrection event was preceded by the Crucible of the Cross. The merits of that Cross and Resurrection have been passed on to each one of us through our being baptised in Christ. (cf. Rom. 6:3). By virtue of those merits of the Risen Christ we can say: "The sadness of death gives way to the bright promise of immortality" (Preface of Christian Death 1). Indeed we can proclaim with certainty and trust: "Lord, for your faithful people life is changed, not ended" (Preface of Christian Death1).

It is with these convictions of faith that we gather this afternoon around the mortal remains of one who lived his baptismal calling to the full, one who truly believed that when the moment of death would come to him his life would merely be changed, not ended. Monsignor St. John Thornhill lives for ever in the Lord he loved and served.

Born in the Parish of Kildorrery on the 8th of January 1929 he was soon brought to the Baptismal font by his faith-filled parents, from where he emerged with the new life in Christ. He was indeed fortunate to be formed into the Christian way of life in the heart of a truly Christian home. Indeed, one could say that he was a member of a truly levitical family. He had four uncles who were Priests, three of whom served in the Diocese of Cloyne; St. John Thornhill, President of St. Colman's College, Fermoy, Richard Thornhill, Parish Priest of Mourneabbey who died as Parish Priest of Conna and Michael O'Keeffe, Parish Priest of Glantane. Edward O'Keeffe, Michael's brother, served as a priest in the Diocese of Newark, USA, and is buried in Ballynoe. Furthermore, at the very beginning of the last century, his grand-uncle Fr. Francis Flannery was the first Diocesan Inspector of Schools in the Diocese of Cloyne. With such a Christian and priestly heritage in his blood it was no great surprise when the young St. John Thornhill, at the early age of eighteen after his second level studies in St. Colman's College, Fermoy entered St. Patrick's College, Maynooth to pursue his course of formation to priesthood. His commitment to his vocation was very evident from the beginning of his studies in Maynooth and he would have been considered a model student. No one would ever have questioned the authenticity of his vocation to Priesthood. The pattern of his spiritual life, which later on as a priest became for him a norm, was firmly laid and made his own while in the Seminary. His early morning prayer and Eucharist, his dedication to spiritual reading and the prayer of the Church in the Breviary and his deep devotion to Mary, the Mother of Jesus, all laid a firm foundation for a life of dedication and service in the Priesthood. St. John applied himself assiduously to his course of studies taking his primary degree in Arts and following his theological studies with enthusiasm as he prepared himself for the great day of his priestly ordination. This came on the 20th of June 1954 at the hands of Archbishop John McQuaid and St. John Thornhill emerged from the College Chapel in Maynooth a priest of God forever.

Following on his ordination St. John was appointed Chaplain to the Loreto Sisters here in Youghal, a post he held for one year. The then Bishop of Cloyne, James Roche, used to invite a young priest to preach the homily on Good Friday in the Cathedral and it fell to the young St. John Thornhill to preach, in the presence of the Bishop, on Good Friday 1955. The Bishop was so impressed that he decided to bring him into the Cathedral team and so Father Thornhill became a curate in the Cathedral Parish in August 1955, where he was to live out the most of his priestly life with absolute dedication to ministering to the people. For thirty three years John was a priest to the people of Cobh and became a household name. He was loved and respected by them as he did not spare himself in attending to their needs and witnessing in their midst to the love of Christ for each one. His programme of house visitation and his closeness to every event, be it of joy or sorrow, in every home made of him a true father of souls. In 1975 Bishop Ahern appointed him Administrator of the Cathedral Parish and it was in that capacity that he travelled to Rome in March 1987 with the Chapter of the Cathedral for my own Episcopal Ordination. It was on that occasion that I first came to know Father St. John Thornhill, a priest who would play an enormous role in my own life as Bishop of the Diocese for the next sixteen years. While in Rome he sought out the members of my own family to assure them that their brother would receive a very warm welcome in Cloyne and he himself was foremost in giving me that welcome. It was truly typical of the man. I am deeply indebted to him.

In November 1988 he was appointed Parish Priest of this Parish of Youghal and he returned to the parish where he had begun his priestly ministry some thirty four years previously. In that same month he was appointed a member of the Cathedral Chapter and in 1993 became its Dean. His total dedication to ministry and to service of the diocesan Church of Cloyne was unique. John Thornhill breathed the air of Church, he was one who truly loved the Church, defended the Church and suffered with the Church in times of trials. The people to whom he was Pastor were his pastoral priority. Shortly after my appointing him to this parish he wrote to me out of concern for the people of the Parish who were, in a sense, cut off from the Parish Church of St. Mary by the enormous hill they had to climb. In writing to me he said: "Bishop, we have missionary territory in this Parish. We need to bring the Church closer to the people". Thus, he began the project for the building of this new Church and complex dedicated to the Holy Family but affectionately known as the Dean's Church. It is most significant that he was following in the footsteps of his own uncle, Father Richard Thornhill, who as Curate in this Parish had been responsible for the project of the building of Our Lady of Lourdes Church, affectionately know as the Strand Church. It is most appropriate that this great Pastor of souls has his funeral Mass celebrated here in the Church he planned and built with the generosity of the people of Youghal and that he will be laid to rest, at his own request, by the side of Our Lady of Lourdes Church at the Strand, a Church to which he was affectionately attached.

As he had done in the thirty three years of pastoral ministry in Cobh so John Thornhill did here in Youghal. He cared for the spiritual welfare of his people with extraordinary dedication. His interest in the lives of people and in the Community in which they live lead him to be always to the fore in ensuring the provision of services in the fields of education and medicine. He believed sincerely in the need for people to come together as a Community, God's people, as a family and so when he was in Cobh he saw to it that a Parish Centre be provided and a Day Care Centre be made available for the senior citizens of the Community. Here in Youghal his insistence on providing the Holy Family Complex was in keeping with his vision of a Community coming together to share with and provide for the needs of the people. He was most at home among his people. He was a peoples' priest. The League of the Cross Hall here in Youghal is testimony to the great vision of this extraordinary Pastor. His was a vocation to serve and he did not spare himself in giving service. The Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, in his message this week for Vocations, the theme of which is Vocation to Service, epitomises everything that Dean St. John Thornhill was to his people: "Service shows that we are free from the intrusiveness of our ego. It shows that we have a responsibility to other people. And service is possible for everyone, through gestures that seem small, but which are, in reality, great if they are animated by a sincere love. True servants are humble and know how to be 'useless' (cf.Lk 17:10). They do not seek egotistic benefits but expend themselves for others, experiencing in the gift of themselves the joy of working for free" (Message for Vocations Sunday 2003). This is exactly how John Thornhill served God's People. It was most appropriate then that the Holy Father conferred on Dean Thornhill the title of Monsignor, on the 11th of March last, as he made him one of his own Chaplains. The great pity is that when I received the news from the Holy See John has already entered into that deep sleep which would lead to his awakening in the presence of the Lord.

Monsignor Thornhill, as well as caring assiduously for the people to whom he was pastorally committed, was a great priest of the Diocese of Cloyne. His concern for his fellow priests, whether they were in the team with which he worked or throughout the Diocese, and for the wellbeing of the Diocese of Cloyne, was always a priority for him. He had a good listening ear always for his fellow priests and he was always in demand as a source of accurate information and sound advice on all church matters. He had an extraordinary knowledge of the anecdotes of the Diocesan family and his memory for facts about dates and places was phenomenal. He was a trusted advisor to me in matters relating to Diocesan policy and administration and I will miss him greatly. He was always available with sound advice to priests in regard to issues which affected them in life and ministry, to religious communities in planning for the future and in meeting current crises. He will be sorely missed in the Diocese. Monsignor John participated at every level in the Diocesan Administration. He was Chairman of the Diocesan Council of Priests and a member of the Diocesan College of Consultors. His contribution as a member of the Diocesan Finance Council and Education Commission was invaluable and he was always noted as having the best interests of the Diocese at heart. Indeed, he was an authority on what was happening in other Irish Dioceses as well and was constantly in communication with his classmates and others who helped keep him informed. His links with the Diocesan Church in Ireland meant that he always had an up-to-date picture of the Church and the challenges it faces. Being an Executive member of the Maynooth Union of Priests he was always at home with priests from all over the country as they gathered each year for their annual meeting. Many are those who would have enjoyed their encounter with him.

Monsignor Thornhill had another side to him in which he excelled. He was an outstanding sportsman - more recently on the golf course but in his younger days on the hurling and football fields. He counted among his closest friends the late Jack Lynch and Christy Ring. Indeed it was noted that whenever he would be at a gathering, be it on a sports field or in a meeting hall, where Jack Lynch, the Taoiseach was also present, the Taoiseach would always make a point of going to John to greet him. He played at junior and senior levels in hurling with Cork County. He won a Cork Senior County medal with Avondhu and played with the Cork Senior hurling team in 1950. His memories of those sporting days remained with him and his interest in every aspect of sport never diminished.

One would ask, where did Monsignor Thornhill get all the energy and time to give himself so generously in forty nine years of priestly service. The answer can only lie in his personal and intimate relationship with the Lord he loved and served. Each day of those forty nine years he would stand at the altar and "in the person of Christ" would offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for the needs of his people and for his own needs. That encounter with his Eucharistic Lord would be preceded by his daily holy hour which, at six-thirty every morning, gave tone and life to his every day. The Adoration Chapel was for him a heavenly haven and it was most appropriate that, for two days after his death, his mortal remains reposed in the presence of the Lord he loved and served so well. He was schooled by Eucharistic Devotion and became for all who met him one who exuded the presence and surety of God. His love for and devotion to the Mother of Jesus, Mary, was noted in his fidelity to the recitation of the Rosary. May the Mother of such a great priest now welcome him home.

Monsignor John was one who loved his family. His moments of relaxation and rest on his annual vacation were always spent with his family and he took a just pride in them. The manner in which they kept watch by his bedside as he travelled from his Good Friday to his Easter Sunday was exemplary. To Dick, Nora, Susan and Catherine and to the wider family of nieces, nephews, grandnieces and grandnephews go our deepest sympathy and the assurance of our prayers at this sad time. Let us all take comfort with you in knowing that Monsignor John lived and died as a faithful priest and servant of Jesus. He was nourished every day by the Lord who has brought him home, for He has said: "Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood has eternal life and I shall raise him up on the last day" (Jn. 6:54).

Monsignor John, thank you for the witness to priesthood you have given to the Diocese of Cloyne, thank you for making yourself so available to the Lord for truly "He has done great things in you and Holy is His Name" (cf. Lk. 1:49).

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