GOOD WORKS HE DID MUST GO ON

Lehotsky Cared For The Forgotten; So Should Others

I'm going to spare you all the Jesus talk.

Harry Lehotsky was more sinner than saint. It is tempting to deify
him, to laud him for his exalted ministry. That would be a mistake and
a blight on his memory.

He did what many of us would not, walking among the poor, the
disenfranchised, the hungry and the diseased.

His ministry was with those society forgets, but God never does.

He did not heal the lame, but he did give hope to the hungry and the
forgotten.

Amen and amen, brother. But Harry Lehotsky was no saint.

Oh, it's tempting, isn't it? Ever since that awful day he announced
what was clear to those who knew him -- that pancreatic cancer was
wasting his already slender form, that he would not survive this plague.

We hurried to slap up a mural, to hold fundraisers for New Life
Ministries and to launch a scholarship in his name.

We paid tribute to a man who was relatively easy to ignore when he was
healthy. But a dying priest who fights for inner-city residents?

We were all over that one.

We want to make martyrs of those who die too soon and if they were --
as Harry was -- a person of spoken faith, then it's all the easier.
That bearded face, that white collar -- well, it would have been a sin
not to acknowledge him, wouldn't it?

Let's remember now it's a sin not to acknowledge those Harry gave
voice to. He died yesterday, but the real transgression will lie in
not continuing his work.

I am writing these words on the evening after Harry's death. It's late
and I am tired and distraught. I fear for those quiet, invisible
people, the ones who live in tiny and terrible boardinghouse rooms,
those who line up for a bonus to their weekly food supplement, those
who were blessed by Harry's efforts, quietly and sincerely. I fear
they will be forgotten.

We'll pray in church for Harry this morning, but that isn't nearly
enough. It's never enough if we are going to forget after a day, a
Sunday service, a week. If our religious leaders and our civic leaders
and our provincial government make sad noises and then turn their
backs, what was the point?

Harry Lehotsky made people uncomfortable. That was his ministry. He
talked about street prostitution and children and drugs and the need
for safer communities. He was the burr under the saddle of those who
would look the other way or who would pretend a $5,000 grant would
solve a generational problem.

It's time. He's dead. This is our wake-up call.

We knew each other, Harry and I -- not well, but in those profound
ways that need only a wink and a nod to understand. Both Christians,
both committed to the betterment of this city even when those in power
hold their noses and look away, both able to believe there is a better
day coming.

Amen and amen, Harry.

He was visible in the way those who are less courageous are not. Harry
was loud and political. He was committed to living his faith. His
grace lay less in the delivery of his message than in the message itself.

Pray to whomever you believe. Worship or don't, ignore or acknowledge
his message. Know only that we lost a good man yesterday but we don't
need to lose his ministry. Light a candle and vow that you will hold
our leaders -- all of them -- accountable for the souls of all those
for whom Harry ministered.

My prayers are with Harry's wife, Virginia, and their three sons. It
may be cold comfort today, but they survive a man who gave solace to
hundreds and inspiration to thousands more. Harry Lehotsky was no
saint -- but he was a beacon to all of us sinners.

Rest in peace, Harry.