Eulogy -The Life of Br C. J. HARRISON (19-02-1924 to 15-11-2008)

 Br Cedric Justinian Harrison  

            Cedric William Harrison was born in Cabramatta, an outer suburb of Sydney, on 20^th February 1924.  He was the second son of  Cedric and Catharine Harrison and brother to Ken, Bill, Alan, twins Eric and Ted, Ron, Stan, and Peter together with sisters Yvonne, Marie and Terry.  Cedric was known as Bill in the family and later as Brother Bill, or just Jus and even as Bro Harry to the boys. 

Cedric(Bill) went to School at St. John’s Park Primary School Cabramatta, and later  to St. Patrick’s College Strathfield, where he made his decision to join the Christian Brothers.  He entered the novitiate at Minto in  1943  under Br Patrick Harty.  His Novitiate group at the beginning of the year consisted of  fifty teenagers.  Very few remain with us now, in 2009, as withdrawals and age have thinned their ranks. 

In order to appreciate the spirit that drove Bill, it must be remembered that those were the days when, “if you kept the rule, the rule kept you”  -  before the revival of the life and charism of Edmund.  Perhaps the first time many of us had heard of the Founder was when the centenary of his death was celebrated by the Brothers in Australia in 1944.  Many Brothers of this pre-Vatican II era came through training with a mind set that was very confining.  Bill seems to have escaped this limiting mindset and his open, free spirit manifested itself in many fractious incidents in his early years on the mission.  This open, adventurous, creative spirit became a fundamental part of Bill’s makeup, forming him as an all-embracing, compassionate disciple of Jesus :  something that was evident from his first years on the mission.

His first community was in Newtown, Sydney where he developed  the technical skills which were later to lead to his selection for the Mission to India.  Then, he taught briefly in inner city Primary Schools in Melbourne where the memory of him is still very clear among his students of that period.  One such is Father Ernie Smith whose outstanding work for the poor of St. Kilda was most probably sparked off by Br. Bill.  Each of Bill’s pupils left the classroom with the idea that he was Bill’s best friend for life.  Later he left lasting impressions in St. Mary’s West Melbourne, Carlton and Yarraville

In 1954 Br. Bill was asked to go to India with two other Australian Brothers to help the Indian Province, to fill the post vacated by Queenslander Br. Raphael Maher, the initiator of the Technical department at the High School at St. Vincent’s, Asansol, West Bengal. 

Asansol is quite a large town in North West Bengal in the major coal fields of India.  It is also a major Railway Junction and home to many Anglo Indian families who virtually ran the Indian Railways at the time.  In fact the Brothers’ Indian Province established two large boarding schools in Asansol specifically for the Anglo Indian Community.  The Loreto Sisters also had a large boarding school for the girls.  It could be said, at this point, that Bill, now called Br. Jus by all the Brothers, saw the mission largely, though not exclusively, centred around care for the Anglo Indian Community  -   and that care continued for his pupils and their families long after the boys had left school and migrated around the world, to the UK,  the US, Canada and Australia .

Though the mosquitoes in Asansol did their best to bring him down with malaria, Jus experienced quite good health for most of his years in India.  Not without his share of misery, though :  Asansol, sitting on the tropic of Cancer, could in turn produce temperatures frequently over 40 C, mostly over 30 and rarely below 20C (at night !), humidity frequently 99% and worse, when the monsoons rain storms visited the area every year.  When perspiration saturated the body, the skin erupted in prickly heat, which was quite a curse.  It was not uncommon to see a Brother return to the community residence and turn on a fan in the hope of getting the air around him to move.

During much of Jus’ time in Asansol,  however, the state of West Bengal was in the throes of a Communist revolution.  Industry was badly disrupted ; strikes and lockouts were common.  For us, though in the sanctuary of the school, the numerous, uncertain power cuts during the hot and sweaty months were a constant and uncomfortable reminder of the real world outside.  Prickly heat, a pervasive irritant at the best of times, plagued us unmercifully during those turbulent years.

But those who were interested enough to look around them could be fascinated by the kaleidoscope that is India.  The religious diversity and the freedom, intensity, colour and pageantry of the people’s devotion to their beliefs, was startling.  For a foreigner to get established in India, some  significant cultural, climatic and religious adaptations are called for.  Culturally, caste would be a tremendous hurdle for one brought up in an egalitarian background, but Jus seems to have developed a way of dealing with people that stood out.  There is one incident that stands out in my mind, in this regard.

Jus and I, being cricket fanatics, wanted to put down a turf wicket on the main field in Asansol, and employed a local villager, Moti Lal,  to be special groundsman to take care of it.  We became very friendly with Moti and were on a first name basis, something unheard of at the time, because Moti was a Dalit, a  “no caste”  person.  After some 15 years of very successful cricket matches, thanks largely to Moti  -  as he was the local expert by this time  -   he came to me one day and with downcast eyes, asked me if I would come to his daughter’s wedding.  I was startled and pleased at the same time as it was “just not done” for a Sudra to ask a foreign sahib to enter his house, let alone come to such an intimate occasion.  As it turned out, every one of the Brothers he asked had responded with an immediate, “Of course I will, Moti.”   At the subsequent occasion in the crowded village hut, Moti produced a bottle of cold beer for each of us.  We were humiliated but pleased.  But what is obvious is that the caste structure in Asansol had been shaken as news of the event spread through the city.

Chapter 25 of St. Mathew’s Gospel reads in part, “ I was hungry and you gave me  food; I was thirsty and you gave me to drink, I was naked and you clothed me …”.  The life of Br. Jus can be understood best by reference to this basic message of Jesus.  So generous was Jus when confronted with all sorts of poverty that it is said, when he was later appointed Principal of St. Joseph’s College Kolkata, one of the senior Brothers said,  ‘Quick, lock up the money before Jus gets here’  -  and in St. Vincent’s the Boarders rejoiced whenever ‘Br. Harry’ had temporary control of the keys, as he immediately and substantially upped the quantity and quality of the  boarders’  food no matter what the overall  financial situation was.  Many a time he came to me and asked if I had a few spare rupees, probably for an itinerant who “needed a ticket to get to Kolkata”.  Loose change never stayed long in Jus’ pocket.  Jus was a soft touch – a man with a truly compassionate heart.

The course we were to teach was entitled JED or Junior Diploma in Engineering.  It was quite a comprehensive course and was to be the qualification for entrance to the Polytechnic Institutions that the Government was setting up.  We found that a qualification from such a local institution would make us more acceptable to those in the administration  -  and it would give us a taste of what our boys would have to face when they in their turn qualified for entrance to the Polytechnics.  Alex Ashe, an Irish Brother who was with us in the Tech.  department has a bit to say about this  :

“I think that the Polytech in Dhadka (a tortuous 30 minute drive through narrow lanes) was a fairly big feature in Jus's  Asansol time.  Jus was the pioneer of our connection with the Polytech.  He was the first of us to attend, as he had enrolled the year before Br. Al Ballantyne and I did.  Indeed, I think he was the originator of the idea of our attendance there, and I myself benefited from the experience and the qualification that I obtained there.

“Jus  was highly regarded by the principal and Senior Staff there, and was able to influence them in many ways in matters that related to our boys when they were doing their Junior Engineering Diploma with us later at St. Vincent’s.  He made it easier for our own boys, especially the Anglo-Indians, to get over the psychological barrier of accepting what was to them a totally Indian-Hindu environment. 

“It should be remembered that there was a certain reluctance among Anglo-Indians to really immerse themselves in the majority culture.  That is something that I can perfectly understand from my own background as a Catholic in a very Protestant-dominated society in N.  Ireland where anti- Irish/Catholic bigotry still prevails.  So I think that Jus played a large part in overcoming those particular obstacles.

“One of his attributes was that he spread his wings, not confining himself to our own wee tight ivory tower inside the community.  Of course ‘Spreading wings’ was not a concept favoured by higher authority in the Church at that time, and for this, we suffered.  But Jus’ forward-looking spirit was not to be denied.  It could be said that attendance by Brothers at non-Christian Institutions became, from this time on, an accepted issue.”

In a large boarding school, of 400 boarders, with workshops, storerooms, hundreds of  lockers,  etc, KEYS were always a problem and Jus was forever losing or misplacing them, to the extent that we had to appoint a “key man” who was responsible for keeping Jus in contact with his keys.  It was a great honour to be appointed Jus’ “key man”.

Jus’ handwriting was exquisite.  Not only was his own meticulous and beautiful handwriting distinctive and the object of much admiration ;  practically any pupil of Jus could be identified by his handwriting, so strict was he that one’s writing should be just so….  Everyone finished up with a nearly identical hand. 

Jus had many skills and one was his ability to drive decrepit vehicles.  Most cars that he drove frequently came back plus a few new dents and even minus a few parts but he never had a serious accident.  Jus was quite guileless and the story goes that one day when he pulled into a service station for fuel, the attendant pointed out to Jus that his rear hub cap was missing as he held up a suitable   replacement. 

Boarding school life was greatly enhanced as Jus introduced yearly concerts.  His musical ability led to the establishment of a large Brass Band.  He arranged and organised picnics for boys and staff, gave dancing lessons in preparation for Social Evenings, played the harmonica, taught the boys to play the harmonica and arranged harmonica bands.  Jus also played the piano accordion very skilfully and used it to great effect.  It could be truly said that  he was the teenagers’ “Dream Teacher”.  The classroom was not the be-all and end-all of life; school became a happy place under his skilful and innovative teaching and management methods. 

For Boarders the evening games were the high point of most days.  Br Jus was out every evening, coaching, umpiring or actually playing with the seniors, except on those days when he had band practice.  Regular in-season pick-up cricket matches against local men’s teams saw Jus and the other Brothers frequently playing with the boys to bolster their confidence against stronger teams from among the locals.  Jus was an accomplished middle order batsman and tantalising spinner as he used his height to great advantage.  Personal time, for a game of tennis or a quiet swim,  was rare.

Br. Len Noronha spent a few months in the community at St. Vincent’s.  He has this to say :   “It was quite fascinating to watch Jus play cricket.  He wielded the bat with consummate ease :  a gentle-looking stroke would propel the ball like a rocket towards the boundary.  He often fielded at a “silly” position  -  up close to the batsman.  Once I watched, dumbfounded, as the batsman hit a powerful shot in his direction :  he lifted his arm (nonchalantly, I thought)  -  and caught it.

“But this easy grace epitomised Jus.  He faced up to some pretty contentious issues within community, and without, and often defused them with humour.  At the wheel of the Army-disposal truck (then over  40  years old!)  he might encounter a fellow sojourner who lifted his fist at him from the tarmac with imprecations that needed no translation.  Jus’ face would respond in a broad grin, and he would call out, “Same to you, fella !”  (Sometimes the Tower of Babel seemed like a blessing.)  In fact, his fellow Aussie, Cal Whiting, in one of his “black” moods, often accused Jus of  “going around like a split watermelon” while he, Cal,  was trying to cope with the miseries of real life.  Of course, there was a powerful sense of humour and self-awareness behind the silly grins.  Invariably, Jus would find some self-deprecatory comment, especially when you tried to compliment him.

“His cheerfulness was one (only one) reason why he was universally popular with all the boys in our school, and all the girls in Loreto across the way.  In fact, many of the Seniors confided that they wished Br. Harry could be elsewhere during the ‘Socials’  -  so that they could get some of the attention that Jus was hogging !”  But the truth is that his door was always open to the worried young person and many an adult came to him to be sorted out.

            The relationships that were established while at School were carried on during Jus’ trips home on leave.  A large part of each holiday in Australia was spent in looking up past pupils and their families.  Bill was an extraordinary letter writer and kept in contact with many through personal correspondence and later in life the Internet, with a general Net-wide ‘Newsletter’.  So it was easy to tell so many of Jus’s passing.  It also meant that many could tell us what they thought of Jus. 

Most of their responses spoke of “those great days”.  He was described by them as  “a devoted Christian Brother”,  “a great sportsman”, “a great teacher”, “a very good role model”, “a versatile musician”,  “a leader that led by example”; “ I remember him vividly even though I was a small boy at the time”,  …  

Many, instead of talking about his talents, spoke about the relationships they had enjoyed over the years : “The Anglo-Indian Community and particularly our family are very privileged to have known Br. Bill, such a wonderful scholar and dear friend” ; “a friend to everybody”, “a breath of fresh air and rejuvenation for St. Vincent’s when he arrived”, “large hearted”,“ a pillar of strength and hope for our (Anglo Indian) community”,“ a beacon of light” ;   “ Bro Harry was our friend, brother, teacher, helper, mentor and I will always remember this good, caring wonderful man” ;  “He was a true blessing from God for us.  Apart from growing up with his guidance and inspiration, I had the honour of working for him as his secretary in SVTS for a number of years” ;  “ A Brother with a deep Faith, cheerful countenance, learned but humble, friendly and noble, a tall figure. ” 

Others were more effusive.  “What a great guy ! When my family met him in 2006, they were impressed by his genuine caring, happy, fun loving disposition and his humility.  He was the same Bro. Harry, consistently classy, right to the end.  We boys loved him and he loved us right back” ;   “Br. Harry was a colossus among giants.  He gave people hope and helped them to dream the impossible.  He was a visionary that will live on in the hearts of many” ;  “What a great teacher he was, with his multiple skills, always warm, understanding and his unforgettable Aussie smile” ;  “On behalf of the Miranda Family our sincerest sympathies, we all knew him from our days back in Asansol.  He was such a dear person who touched our lives in a very special way.  He will always be remembered by us all.”

It is not surprising that so many considered Jus to be a member of their respective families.  “Bro Harrison came into my life when I was 15 and became an integral part of our family.  He was always very lively with a twinkle in his eye” ;  “We have known Br Bill since he came out to St. Vincent’s and consider him family” ;   “Br Jus, in St. Vincent’s  was simply awesome : his whole being was so  remarkable.  He came across as an authentic pilgrim, firm and resolute, to carry faltering pilgrims along with him, thus enabling them to have a taste of the divine in his own inimitable and meek style” …

Godfrey Phillips was a student at St. Vincent’s from1954 to 1965.  He and his parents were among the first Anglo-Indian families to emigrate to Australia, thanks to Br Harrison’s mother who took the family in.  Godfrey was in constant communication with Jus from 1966 till the time he passed away, and in point of fact had visited him in Shanti Nivas shortly before his death. 

Below is Godfrey’s reflection on his old master and friend.

“This charismatic, entrepreneurial missionary changed the face of St. Vincent’s forever.  He developed a culture of excellence in the classroom and on the sports field.  Mediocrity was not tolerated.

“Besides his school responsibilities he took charge of the Brass Band, the School Choir and the Harmonica Band.  Together with Irish Brother Dinny O’Donoghue he choreographed concert extravaganzas such as the “Mikado” and other musical classics.  He had a great singing voice and could play most musical instruments.

 “He was special ;  and a teenager’s ideal teacher.  School became a happy place under his skilful and innovative teaching methods.  He never used the cane, but his tongue was feared and highly respected.  (What a legacy.)  He was especially proud of the many Anglo Indian boys who excelled in the sporting arena, and proudly boasted of two Anglo Indian Old Boys that went on to represent their respective National Hockey teams : Robert Claudius for India , and Godfrey Phillips for Australia.

“Brother Bill invited such interesting celebrities as Len Hutton (English cricket Captain), Leslie Claudius (Indian Olympic Hockey Captain) and Mother Teresa (who for a short time  lived next to St. Vincent’s and was a regular at our School Chapel for morning Mass).  Bill had us do lots of things for her sisters at the newly established Leper Colony at Shanti Nagar.  Many other notable people came to St. Vincent’s at Brother’s invitation thus exposing us to the larger life ‘out there’.

“Our School motto “Consilio Et Animo”  “Consider wisely and act with courage” lived in us.  Brother Harrison  carried out this ethos with vigour and enthusiastic care for all his students.  “Be the best you can be”, he would encourage us.  “Do what you fear most and you will conquer fear”.

“Because of the plight of many Anglo Indian families after Independence, he took a special interest   in their families  and the community at large.  This special bond remained with him to the very end.

 “Brother Bill was joined by two other Aussie Brothers; in 1958 by Br. Bob Whiting to commence the Carpentry workshop and in 1959 by Br Rod Parton to take on the Fitting and Machining department.  These three Brothers were the brains trust that set up classrooms, workshops, staff quarters, a swimming pool, chapel and Library as part of the expansion of the Technical Section of St. Vincent’s.

“How proud the Brothers were when the very first Junior Technical Diploma class of 1964 saw Sou Thing Leong come first in the State and next year Clarry Serrao repeat the feat.  This standard has been repeated many times.”

Jus’ giftedness made him an invaluable person for the Indian Province and he was called upon to perform many other tasks outside his original Technical mission; but I believe the work he did with the boys and girls during his 20 or so years in Asansol will live on in the minds and hearts of many young men and women today; witness the hundreds of calls and emails, received, as the news of his passing circled the planet.  They speak warmly of his “down to earth style”, “the ability to encourage and mould talent”, that he generally “gave confidence” ;  “Because of his influence good decisions were made” ;  “Jus will be missed sadly, but there will be wonderful memories of the great things he did in Australia and India; he was always the optimist and enthusiast” ;  “I was a pupil of Br Harry in St. Peter’s in West Melbourne in 1950.  I was no scholar, but what a genuine humane teacher and outstanding teacher, gentleman and inspiration to us all” ..

In 1977 Jus was posted from St, Vincent’s to help start a Juvenate for Aspirants to the Brothers’ life at Bajpe, a small town on the Indian West Coast. His ability to interact with young men and women was one of his greatest gifts, and in Bajpe he was very active and successful in nurturing young people aspiring to the religious life. 

Brother Baptist  Finn ( one of the Irish Brothers of the Indian Province) has this to say about Jus’ time on the West Coast :   “Over the years I had met Jus on numerous occasions and we hit it off very well together.  Our relationship was cordial and polite.  He was in the first community at St. Joseph’s, Bajpe, from 1975.  I was asked to substitute for Brother Adrian D’Souza for a month every term while Adrian was studying at Aligarh University for his M.  Ed.  It was during those months together in Bajpe that my relationship with Jus deepened.

“He shared that his move to Bajpe had been an eye-opener for him.  In comparison he thought that his life in Asansol for so many years had been  rather superficial.  Now he was challenged to be a Christian Brother in a society which was essentially very simple, very Indian and quite traditional.  He associated with many priests and religious and this intensified his concern with the institutional church.  Very little English was spoken, so Jus strove hard to respond in the vernacular at Mass.  His singing of the bhajans (religious songs) at prayer services impressed many.  All the exercises of piety in community were meticulously followed.  The Rosary we recited together on our walks, mentioning particular intentions before each decade.  These walks developed into deep sharing sessions when we spoke about things which really mattered.

“School work was very demanding.  Thomas, brother of the Principal Father Bernard, ran the hand-operated Providence Press in the school premises.  Jus spent long hours preparing English lessons with plenty of practical exercises and enlisted Thomas’s help in printing them in booklet form.  These booklets formed the basis for instruction in the school, where the medium of instruction was the vernacular language.  He regularly composed circular letters, describing all his activities, to be sent to his numerous friends in India and abroad.  These were also printed in the Providence Press and kept Thomas very busy.  Jus was very good at chronicling,  as the recipients of his Newsletter will corroborate.

“There were cultural differences between life in Bajpe and life in Asansol.  Father Bernard and Thomas and a few others would be present during meals, not to mention the dogs which waited for crumbs to fall from the master’s table!  The food was highly spiced and went right through Jus.  He never complained.  The not-often-enough outing on the scooter to a virgin beach was a welcome break.  On the way home there was a halt at Devi Prasad’s restaurant for coffee and dry bread served without butter or jam.  Occasionally omelettes were ordered.  We discovered that “without chillies” meant “not more than 18 pieces of chilli!”

“Locally Jus became involved in many organisations, including Lions International.  He helped the fledgling English Medium School at the airport.  He took an active role in diocesan meetings and in Vocation Promotion Camps.  Soon he established himself as a very zealous, religious and generous man who was greatly respected by one and all.  He once told me how fulfilled he now felt in Bajpe, and he resolved never to get caught in the trap of superficiality again.  How he kept that resolve is best told by those who were subsequently associated with Jus in St. Joseph’s College, Calcutta, and in St. Mary’s Orphanage, Dum Dum.

“Close beside the school in Bajpe there was a convent of Handmaids.  They were somewhat different to the traditional nuns normally encountered.  The aspirants attended St. Joseph's and used our premises for recreational activities.  Soon Jus found himself in the role of Spiritual Guide to many of them.  Other girls in the Junior College joined religious congregations also and were greatly influenced by Jus.  Over the years many of them kept in contact and came to see him when they could.”

In fact, the eulogies that poured in from places like Bajpe seemed to indicate that there was now something different about the way people saw Jus, and the way they missed him was different : 

“Heaven can only be a better place because he is there”, “He will live in our hearts forever”, “All the people in and around Bajpe loved you and will miss you”, “We thank God for his presence in our lives” ;  “For me the loss of Br Harrison is very personal.  I owe him everything.  He was my mentor, my inspiration and I owe my priesthood to him (Fr.  Dominic)” ;   “He was a beautiful person who was an icon in our family” ;  “It is with great love that I remember Br Harry.  I was a student in the convent (school)  when I met him and he became like an uncle to me.  I will miss him and keep a place for him in my heart”, “He was a wonderful and holy person” ;  “Brother Harrison was a wonderful human being, talented and full of compassion, always approachable, he saved many young people from despair with his timely and friendly advice and made a difference to each and every life he touched” ;  , “Bro Harry was one of a kind.  He had my utmost respect and admiration as a person, as a teacher and as a mentor.  So here we are, many of us senior citizens ourselves and we still recall and revere the man who influenced our lives  so richly so many years ago He was a gentleman, caring, ever ready to help anyone, a remarkable teacher, director and above all a good friend.”

In 1984 Jus was asked to become Principal of St. Joseph’s College in Kolkata.  This was a very onerous post in the Communist political quagmire of the day.  He charmed the local authorities and was able to get all sorts of permissions with relative ease.  He may have nearly bankrupted the College but he left it a better place in high standing before heading for his next posting, to St Mary’s Orphanage Dum Dum, where he looked after the orphans with great care before being posted to Bajpe again in 1992.

When the Brothers of the Indian Province wanted to start a Newsletter, there had never been any doubt about who should be asked to do it.  Jus, then in Asansol, was publishing the  “Techlite”, which purported to be an account of life in “The Tech”, as St. Vincent’s was generally called.  In actual fact it was chock-full of tongue-in-cheek references to Brothers and their foibles.  There was a letter supposedly written by a tyke in the kindergarten to his parents, where he gushes about the visit of “Tubby Minar” who “wore his camera on his tummy” and declared,  “what you need here is more terrazzo”.  There wasn’t a  Brother in the Province who did not recognize the pontificating style of the portly Brother.  And then there was a letter to the Editor from “Humph”, suitably patronizing ;  and the Editor had a note at the end which asked simply, “Humph ?  Is that a name or an exclamation ?” 

But the Letter to the Editor that could have passed unnoticed by those not in the know simply wished, “Laurels to you, Laurel.  Hardy”  Anyone who had been in “The Tech” on that famous occasion could not have failed to be convulsed with laughter all over again.  On one of the monsoon evenings, when rain made it impossible for the usual games to be played, an impromptu Musical Evening was announced.  Jus and Christy Murphy emerged on the stage, dressed in baggy and tight suits respectively, topped with bowler hats and carrying tightly furled umbrellas.  Now Jus always gave new meaning to the term “gaunt”.  He had often been advised by friendly Brothers to be tied down during the high March winds.  Christy, on the other hand, was as wide as he was tall.  He had a way of filling the stage.

They had a couple of lines prepared.  They never got a chance.  The entire audience, seated in the Quonset hut that passed for an auditorium, erupted in mirth.  All Jus had to do was to gesture, and it exploded again.  There were boys rolling on the floor, some writhing in the throes of laughter.  Full twenty minutes elapsed before the boys staggered away.  For weeks afterward, if Jus or Christy hove within sight of the boarders, they would start laughing again.  And again.

Throughout his travels, Jus had continued to keep the Indian Province Newsletter going.  As was his wont, he was regular with each edition, and spiced it with hilarious comments and exhortations to “write in”.  Suffice it to say that not every community made the same effort to contribute.  By  1992 he was glad to hand over the editorial duties to a successor

Jus had eight moves during his 54 years in India, not actually a record, but an indication of his amazing ability to adapt to different and challenging situations with constant success.

In 1995 he was moved to Vasai (south of Bombay on the west coast) to take charge of the senior Juvenate  ...  and then in 2002, Jus, now in his late 70s, was asked to take charge of the Brothers’ retirement home at Shanti Nivas (Home of Peace) Goa.  His gentle care of the aged Brothers touched everyone and when his time came to lay down life’s calls, his final days were filled with the loving care that characterised his whole life. 

The Regina Mundi School next to Shanti Nivas was staffed by local teachers and young Indian Brothers also from the West Coast areas.  Many were, initially, put off by Jus’ openness, sometimes bruising banter and startling honesty.  However this did not last long as they came to appreciate the man behind the facade.  Jus created a new dimension of community for the West Coast Province.

We will leave the description of his final days in the hands of Br, William D’Souza, Superior of the Brothers’ Community, Regina Mundi High School, Goa.

‘Br. C.J. Harrison has shaped my personality.  He was my principal, mentor and above all a very good friend.  He had played a great role in my life  -  be it in finding my vocation, teaching me English and handwriting, or walking with me in my initial formation days.  He was a good friend of all the members of my family It was in 1977 that we the students of St. Joseph Junior College named him "Kemppanna", meaning red brother.

‘C.J.  was the director of Shanti Niwas, when I was transferred to Regina Mundi community as the superior.  It was the 29th April, 2005.  C.J.  was one of the brothers who welcomed me and he later read me in as the Superior of the community during evening prayer.  I was delighted to have my mentor, spiritual guide and friend near me and I used to take advantage of this fact.

‘C.J.  had the responsibility of waking the brothers in the morning.  He rang the bell six days of the week (Sundays, we had a long sleep) at 5:45a.m.  After waking the brothers, he used to open all the windows and doors of the house, prepare the chapel for the daily mass (because he was in charge of the chapel)  -   and he enjoyed doing this duty with passion.  He kept the community room neat and tidy,  arranging the newspapers and the magazines.  I used to go to him for help with regard to teaching  of subjects, especially catechism, or to discuss any other finer qualities of life.  He never said 'no' to anyone or to any requests.  He even trained my class in Cricket Drill for the Annual Sports and Drill Display.  The next year he wanted to teach the students 'Club drill', which I declined.

‘At Shanti Niwas, every one was welcomed by him.  He used to have small prayer services, community rosary and bible sharing with Paul Bela and Louisa the nurse.  He was a great follower of the daily time-table.  He also spent time in solving  crosswords, teaching English to the young candidates of the brothers and helping the Brothers on the first mission with their lesson plans.  He had time to write his journal and a scrapbook.  He used to show his scrapbook to all his friends and visitors.  The members of the supporting staff  loved his company and they admired his willingness to learn the language, and his generosity with regard to the poor.  He loved and took care of all the visitors and guests of the brothers both in Shanti Niwas and Regina Mundi.  His sister-in-law (aunty Fay), her sister and her husband visited him, and many of his ex pupils and friends from all over the world visited  at Shanti Niwas .  He made a difference in the lives of all who knew him.

‘He never complained about his health -  even in the last days of his life -  he used to say ‘I offer it up to Jesus’.  One of his famous hymns was "I am only human"- one day at a time sweet Jesus...  he and I used to sing together in his room.  He used to be in terrible pain -  I saw him applying balm on his hands and legs to ease the pain.  In August, he was introduced to morphine, his pain had become unbearable.  He used to have sleepless nights.  Even in pain, he used to rise early in the  morning to do his duties, as he did before.  We told him not do any more duties; after school, I used to spend my time with him, walk with him, wheel  him up and down for prayers and meals and stay in his room at night.  I still remember telling him, “Jus, be a good boy and please don't get up very early in the morning".  He replied, "With the help of Jesus and Mary I will try my best".  Those were our last words.  The next morning we found him unconscious in his bed and we admitted him to the  ICU  of the local specialty hospital.  I was one of the brothers who spent time with him in the ICU till he breathed his last. R.I.P. 

‘He still lives for me.  He has made a difference in my life.’

Nobody was surprised when the parish in Bajpe made an appeal that Jus be buried among them.  It was a very moving ceremony as Jus was buried in Bajpe on 19^th November 2008.

And there he awaits the resurrection. 

Shabash, well done Bill.

Br. Rod Parton cfc 

For his funeral news, click

http://brhectorsworld.blogspot.in/2008/12/br-c-j-harrisons-funeral.html