Remembering Rev. Canon. John & Mrs Kamala Isaac

Life is God's gift to this world. First to a family, then to a community and then to the world. Today we are gathered as family, friends and community to remember, celebrate and give thanks to God who gives life. Today we remember with gratitude and thank God for lives of Rev. Canon John Isaac & Mrs. Kamala Isaac and their service. The two of them were God's gift to the church, the Diocese of Kurunegala and to Mowbray College respectively.

It is 25 years but it is as though it was just yesterday. That’s what memories do, they keep people living in our hearts long, long after they have returned to their maker. Very specially when they are good people, when they impact our lives, when they leave their mark, in people's lives, in communities and in what they have been doing. That is because they were true and committed to their calling and vocation. Fr. John and Mrs. Isaac, or to me John Isaac uncle and aunty kamala, never disappointed the one who called them.

Fr. John, was called to be a teacher and then answered the call to become a priest. A priest who was loud, honest, firm yet very jovial. He always enjoyed a laugh. His laugh was unique and loud. I remember the smile on his face when he lay at rest. Some were wondering his last joke was. Aunty Kamala soft, calm, yet firm in her own ways as Principal of Mowbray.

Keeping these two people of God, their life and service in mind I want to turn our focus to the scriptures.

In our first reading, Paul is writing to the Thessalonians for the second time to set the record straight about the second coming of Jesus. And the first chapter is Paul’s prayer for the Church in Thessalonica, “that our God may make you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith”.

This evening let us reflect on three points of this prayer.

Firstly calling. In our part of vocation, we are so used to the word calling. Calling is an invitation. An invitation by God, to receive salvation, to a specific vocation, a ministry. And all God’s blessing go with God's call. And Paul writing to the Romans, says that God’s calling is irrevocable. Paul prays that God will make these Christians to be worthy of their calling. Writing to Timothy, Paul says he counts it worthy that God called a person like him to God's service.

We know from the lives of Fr. John and Mrs. Kamala Isaac that they were true to God’s calling.

Uncle John from being a teacher to a priest and aunty Kamala as Principal of Mowbray College. Many an old girl in the upcountry treasure their days at Mowbray and attribute their lives today to “Mrs. Isaac” as she was fondly called and remembered. And the same goes with the clergy and laity of church.

Secondly bring to fruition your every desire for goodness. Paul's prayer is that the goodness that comes from God will translate and show itself in spiritual and moral excellence. He is praying for goodness to become a virtue, in the life of Christians. A virtue that is lacking in vocations today. In Fr. Isaac and Mrs. Isaac the goodness that comes from God was very much visible in life and work.

Thirdly, every deed prompted by faith. Like a worker who in the confidence he has in his master accomplishes his or her work. These are the actions that carry out an inner desire or a purpose in a person. Sometimes people disliked Fr. John Isaac. But his actions his deeds were the desire of the inner person and his faith in his Master. The desire to see a high standard set out in the church, to see honesty and integrity instilled in persons, because people always look up to the clergy and the church.  

Family and friends, both these servants of God have touched our lives and have left their mark and legacy. We have to follow them and for the coming generations too. Their qualities are seen in their children and grandchildren too. That’s why I suppose some fear them. 

I remember the long conversations my father and uncle John would have either at Mowbray or Nuwara Eliya. In this same way Kamalini akka and I continue the same today. We share the memories and feel sad that not much things in today's day and time have not changed from the more than 25 years ago.

Memories should always helps us to keep moving on. It should help us to pick out the good virtues  in people and practice them in our own life in the light of the scriptures. 

Mememories of wonderful people gone before us will be meagre words if we cannot practice them in our own lives in the light of the scriptures. And that is what we who have experienced and learned from their lives ought to do.

As Jesus has promised, may uncle John and aunty Kamala experience eternal live and perpetual light, rest and refreshment. 

May God continue to bless all of us as we keep journeying on towards the life Jesus has promised us.

(Sermon preached at the virtual service of remembrance of Rev. Canon John and Kamal Isaac, on the 17th July 2021)