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Eulogy for
Brothe
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C
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opher Robe
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Weiss
(February 6, 1931 - May 7, 2002)
Brother Christopher Robert Weiss was born on February 6, 1931 and died
May 7th, 2002 at the Center for Hope Hospice3 in Elizabeth, New Jersey. He had
retired as a librarian at Roselle Catholic in 1998, but had continued living in the
Roselle Marist Community till early in 2002.
Chris had studied Library Science at Catholic university in the early 1960s
and had devoted himself to library work from 1962 to 1998 at Molloy, Bayonne,
and Roselle, as well as at the Generalate in Rome.
A classmate observed that Chris "was a great reader and observer of the
human scene."
BR. DONALD RICHARD remembered Brother Christopher during his
eulogy at the Mass of Resurrection in St. Joseph Church, Roselle, NJ on May 10,
2002.
On behalf of the Marist Brothers, I extend sincere condolences to everyone
who loved Chris but, especially to Marie, Horace, Alison and Lee.
As quiet and private as he was, Chris made no attempt to hide the strength
of his feelings for Marie and Horace and the rest of his family. He loved you very,
very dearly.
Chris' sufferings of the last several months punctuated an entire lifetime of
sacrifice and of fidelity to his vows. Chris could have been the poster boy for the
virtues that St. Marcell in Champagnat hoped would be the hallmarks of the Marist
Brothers. Humility, simplicity and modesty are synonyms for Chris
--
and, vice
versa .. So, I think, Marie and Horace, that you can take great comfort today in
knowing two things: first of all, your brother is in Heaven. Secondly, with his typical
single-mindedness, he is letting His Creator know how important you are. You and
your families have a determined and strong advocate sitting next to God.
There is no end to the number of nice things we could say about Chris at
this time. We could review fifty-four years of apostolic and community
assignments ... which were numerous and varied and interesting and generous and
valuable.
We could talk about his delightful sense of humor that was made especially
precious because it was so subtle and quiet.
We could talk about his intelligence and the breadth of his knowledge. I can
still see him listening to a discussion among some of us on a topic we knew little
about. (The kind of discussion I'm very good at!) He never interjected clarification
or corrections to our thinking but, more often than not, IF we asked him, HE KNEW
THE FACTS, whether it was in the realm of geography, or history, or
entertainment.. .. Whatever ... he was up on it!



What really stands out in my mind, though, was his instinctive and constant
gratitude. He was thankful for the smallest favor, for any little thing that was done
for him. His inability to speak for the last several months was a great source of
frustration for him. But, somehow, until his speech stopped completely, he was
always able to say "thank you" loud and clear ... and he said it often. The very last
words I heard him say: "thank you."
And so, today, WE say thank you. We say thank you to God for blessing our
lives with this wonderful, quiet man ... and we say thank you to Chris for showing
us how to live and for showing us how to die.
I offer this as a concluding thought: I don't think we should be mourning,
today. I think we should be celebrating ... celebrating a man who traveled his entire
life journey in the virtues of humility, simplicity and modesty- the hallmarks of
Champagnat's IDEAL Marist Brother. Think of it! Chris EMBODIED the virtues that
our Founder hoped we would all strive for. What a FANTASTIC accomplishment!
Chris, we celebrate you!