A WITNESS TO LIFE:
BESSIE O'MEARA
by Fr Jim Whalen
2002, Issue 1
"The one who makes himself as little as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven" (Mt 18:14). We celebrate the awesome life and death of Bessie O’Meara, one such little one, a child of Mary, a woman of fervent faith, boundless hope and unlimited charity. She was above all a witness to life.
A WITNESS TO LIFE:
BESSIE O'MEARA
by Fr Jim Whalen
2002, Issue 1
May 26th, 1984.B. O’Meara
"The one who makes himself as little as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven" (Mt 18:14). We celebrate the awesome life and death of Bessie O’Meara, one such little one, a child of Mary, a woman of fervent faith, boundless hope and unlimited charity. She was above all a witness to life.
When Bessie was born in St Mary’s Parish, Ottawa, Ontario, in 1907, God knew this little one would be close to Him and Mary, all her life - here on earth and for eternity. She was very special. He used her again and again to witness to life and teach others humility and simplicity of lifestyle and the true meaning of faith. She would constantly amaze people by her love of life and her wit and humour. She was the life of every party with her cheerful jingles, hearty laughter and joyful impersonations. She used her talents to put people at ease and bring them together, sharing her life and experiences with us.
We never knew what she would entertain us with next: a skit about Bridget O’Flynn who would not come in, or a dream song that would conclude with a surprise ending, which she would declare most forcefully: "I ate the baloney". In one instance, Bessie was the supervisor of a young lady, Anita Pieko, who was 17 years of age at the time. Bessie was always searching for others to join her in serving Jesus through Mary, in the Legion of Mary apostolate. She recruited her for the Legion of Mary although she had only worked with her for one week. She was more concerned with her willingness to work and join the Legion than how well she worked on the job. She certainly taught many through her childlike demeanor about our need for help from God, our dependency on God and on others outside ourselves; about how we need a child’s simple faith to accept God’s saving actions. We can be sure that it was her childlike qualities that secured heaven for her. It was typical of Bessie’s wisdom to choose passover at Epiphany, the ideal time to move on to her permanent home. As the last of eleven children, she wanted to make sure all the others made it to heaven before her.
Her life pointed to and manifested Jesus as her Lord and Saviour, and Mary as the way to Jesus, following St. Louis de Montfort’s True Devotion. She honoured Mary and witnessed to Jesus in an extraordinary life of service and intense personal friendship, acquiring personal holiness through the sanctification of others, the Legion of Mary way.
In 1937, she joined the Legion of Mary Praesidium, Mary, Comforter of the Afflicted, taking part in weekly visitation to women in prison and the handicapped. She continued to visit the women when they were released from prison, helping them by bringing them to retreats. She was the heart of many a pilgrimage for the handicapped to Cap-de-la-Madeleine or St-Anne-de-Beaupré.
She worked on the Senatus, the governing body of the Legion for Northern Ontario, with Mary Brennan as secretary, for six years. Their travel experiences, as legionaries, were many and legendary. On one occasion Mary got left behind when the train pulled out of the subway station in London, with Bessie being separated from her. We were later told that Mary prayed to St. Anthony and promised him increasing amounts of donations for the poor if he would bring Bessie back. Bessie came back twenty minutes later and it cost Mary one dollar.
Her other great service to life was her apostolate to the native missions. She was a missionary par excellence, devoting hundred of hours to gathering handmade mittens and other items to raise money for the needy. This yearly event at St. George’s would gather in legionaries and Catholic Women’s League members from all over the city and countryside. No one could refuse to help Bessie as she would not take no for an answer. This was not surprising, as she never refused to help anyone in need.
Two other passages in Scripture really spoke to me about her: "In life and death we are the Lord’s" (Rom 14:9) and "God will bring those who have died in Jesus with Him" (1Thess 4:14).
Bessie belonged to a generation that had a great respect for life and a sense of death, both of which we are in danger of losing today. She had a sense of the all-pervading presence of God in good times and in bad. Her life was spent in the shadow of God’s presence. This came from a wisdom of long years lived well and a sense of what was right, true and good, from a sense that nothing could come between her and the love of God made visible in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:39) and from a sense that those who live a virtuous life are in the hands of God. No torment will ever touch them (Wis 3:1). She had a sharp sense of God’s presence that flowed into the values around which she organized her life, into the faith, hope and love she planted in the souls of her family members, friends, and many, many godchildren. This is expressed in their loyalty to the virtues she cultivated in them, faithfulness to Mass, Confession and family life.
Her goodness was evident in the everyday bits and pieces, little acts of charity and little acts of prayerful silence and her sense of the wonder of God that many of us would like to have. We thank her for her ‘witness to life’, teaching us how to live well and die well, in service to God and life, to neighbour, to the neediest, and to aboriginal people. Pro-lifers would do well to imitate her commitment.¤