Thank you, Fr. Rogelio Bustos Juárez

THANK YOU

“I am indeed happy to have this time to share
what God can do in each and all of us.
This fills me with joy”
(taken from what Fr. Rogelio wrote while in hospital)

My dear confreres, greetings and prayers from Rome. Our General Council wishes to thank all of you with feelings of gratitude for your closeness and solidarity during these days of deep sorrow for the loss of our confrere Fr. Rogelio Bustos Juárez, Assistant General, who left us on 27 January last. With this message I wish to thank all of you confreres, the Comboni Missionary Sisters, the Secular Comboni Missionaries, the Comboni Lay Missionaries and the many others who have been close to our Institute. I thank you for accompanying us in these days of mourning, of faith and of prayer. May God console all of us, listen to Rogelio’s prayer and give us the grace to live as Rogelio did, thanking God for his young life and the good example and teachings he has left us.

Our thanks to Fr. Rogelio’s family

Thank you, dearest mother of Fr. Rogelio, María de la Luz, dearest brothers and sisters of Fr. Rogelio, Blanca, Alejandro, José de Jesús, Patricia, Efraín, Juan Manuel, Gabriela and Fernando, especially Paty and Jaime, Gabi and the entire family of our Fr. Rogelio, THANK YOU FOR YOUR WITNESS of a life of faith, that faith with which you accepted the tragic event of the death of Fr. Rogelio. We Combonis who were with you during those days of mourning saw the great faith and the spirit of abandonment to the Lord which you have in your family. Thank you. May God comfort you all and be your strength. On behalf of the General Council, of which our beloved Rogelio was a member, and on behalf of our Institute, I wish to thank you for all the love you have shown for your brother and our confrere Rogelio, with such hope, patience, generosity and devotion. You did everything possible. Thank you for this great love for Rogelio, Mamma María de la Luz – Lucita – and the entire family; may the Lord console you and give you the strength to carry on.

Thanks to the Confreres of the Province of Mexico

My dear Fr. Enrique, Provincial Superior of the Province of Mexico, all the confreres of the Mexican province and especially the members of the Seminary - Postulancy community of San Francisco del Rincón; thank you for having followed and been close to Fr. Rogelio and his family. Thank you for the solidarity, fraternity and closeness among you in these trying days when both you and we have lost a most dear confrere who gave himself to God, St. Daniel Comboni and the people of God in the mission.

Thanks to the members of the Comboni Family and confreres, to the Novices of Xochimilco, the Postulants of San Francisco del Rincón, the Comboni Missionary Sisters in Mexico, the Comboni Lay Missionaries, and the men and women friends of the Comboni Missionaries who accompanied Fr. Rogelio and his family while he was ill and at the tragic moment of his passing from this world and for the liturgical services carried out to say a final farewell to Fr. Rogelio. Thank you for your friendship, solidarity and closeness and thank you for taking part in the great celebrations, with such great faith and testimony.

Thanks to the Christian community, the friends of the Combonis in San Francisco del Rincón and to the Mexico City collaborators; thank you for your love for Fr. Rogelio who worked among you for many years; thank you for your love for the Comboni Family; thank you for having hoped and mourned with Fr. Rogelio’s family and with us Combonis. Thanks to our collaborators in our communities, especially those in Mexico City, to our very dear friends and CAM collaborators in Mexico City and elsewhere; thank you for having been at our side.

THANK YOU Fr. Rogelio (from the funeral oration)

My dear Rogelio, do you remember when Fr. Jeremias and I took you to the airport, how we laughed and also spoke of serious matters, working up to the last minute when you left Rome. Rogelio, we were waiting for you, hoping you would return to continue your service, after the tragic accident and the medical treatment that gave us much hope. Did you decide to go? Does the Lord want you in Heaven to pray and work even more for us? We accept this with faith.

My dear Rogelio, thank you. You have been a great man of faith, prayer and spirituality. Thank you for the witness you gave and for having passed on to so many confreres and others such great spirituality, such faith and such love and enthusiasm for Jesus, for St. Daniel Comboni, for his Comboni Family and for the mission. Thank you for your generous Christian witness during your many years of service to Basic Formation, to teaching and to On-going Formation in Mexico and Peru.

My dear Rogelio, you served as Formator, Local Superior, Provincial and Assistant General. You have been a man of gentleness, optimism and Comboni enthusiasm. You were always patient and smiling. Thank you for this virtue-filled witness to be imitated by all of us. We, the members of the General Council learned much from you. You understood how to work with the confreres; you led us a coordinator of the Pre-Capitular Commission and you did the great work of coordinating the Commission for the celebration of the 150^th Anniversary of the Institute. THANK YOU, for your ability to work and to get the confreres to work, with your usual smile. Thank you.

My dear Fr. Rogelio, thank you for your appreciation of the beauty of the liturgy, the beauty of nature, of art and culture; thank you for your deep knowledge: all this gave you joy and enthusiasm; thank you for your way of living life to the full. My dear Fr. Rogelio, do you remember how we went together to the Pontifical Mexican College in Rome for the great feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe and how, on 12 December, you presided at Holy Mass and preached a beautiful homily in her honour? May Our Lady of Guadalupe be with you to ask for your family and for all of us, the gift of that consolation that comes from God. May God console us all and MAY YOU REST IN PEACE. AMEN.
Fr. Tesfaye Tadesse G. on behalf of the General Council