ADIOS FRAY GODWIN LOBO - OFM CAP - REST IN PEACE

ADIOS FRAY GODWIN LOBO

Birthdate: January 30, 1947
Birthplace: Candolim, India 
Death: Died July 9, 2013 in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico

'Friar of our times'

Requiescat in Pace

I am deeply saddened to hear this tragic news about the premature passing away of my friend Fr. Godwin Lobo, OFM Cap, my classmate of long ago at St. Anthony's High School, Monte de Guirim, Bardez, Goa, with a kind, friendly and humble nature and a heart of gold. Being a very bright student, a true scholar and one who always stood first in class, he was an inspiration to many students.

Whenever I visited my Alma Mater at Monte de Guirm while on a holiday to Goa, I often went to meet him. At times he used to visit me at my place in Parra - Bardez, during the early 1990's. 

After my coming to Canada we corresponded via email once in a while, but we lost touch after he left for Mexico, till until recently when we got in contact back again on Facebook. He often asked me to come to visit him in Yecora, Mexico.

There are some remarkable and outstanding qualities of Fr. Godwin. I first knew him in the late 1950's. I found that for someone who did not speak much Konkani, after arriving from Africa to study as a boarder at Monte de Guirim, and who after some years, to be able to deliver a powerful sermon in the Konkani language, was astounding.

Born in the same year as mine - 1947 in Goa - and younger to me by a shy of 21 days, he went on to be a priest, subsequently rising to be the Headmaster of the School he studied at, and was at Monte till 31st January 2005. Active with Indian Red Cross Society, Goa, he traveled to Rome, Netherlands, France and U.A.E. Retiring on 31st January 2005 he was the first cyber Goan to get on the super cyber highway from Camorlim!

I'm very deeply grieved by the news of his death, more so because he was one of us - a very intelligent student who we looked up to, a brilliant preacher who we listened to, and above all an adventurous Friar of our times. His mastered diction and delivery in English, Portuguese and Konkani was superb. I haven't had the chance of hearing him speak in Italian and recently in Spanish, but I'm sure he had mastered that language too in just a short while.

During all this years that have gone by, I thought only the old Friars of Monte who taught us - like Fr. Ambrose, Fr. Pacificus, Fr. Ireneus, Fr. Ephrem - pass away, but not one so young and dedicated like Fr. Godwin. I am sure his passing away will definitely leave a void in the hearts of the people of Yecora in Sonora, Mexico. 

We'll miss you Fray Godwin. Rest in Eternal Peace. Keeping riding high on your horse to greater heights of glory and dedication to God.

Most heartfelt sympathies to all family members, relatives, students, Teachers and Fathers of Monte, and all those who knew him.

'He was a kind and loving Father - when will come such another'.

Here's a excerpt from a poem in my book 'GOA - Memories of My Homeland' published in the year 2005, and incidentally, as if by premonition, it goes as follows:

Will I get a chance to play

With my buddies in the rain

Will they run with me once more

As an encore

Or will I hear

Behind my ear

Someone whisper

That they are no more?

To read the Ode to Monte de Guirim on this blog
in its entirety please click on the following link:

http://tonferns.blogspot.ca/2008/03/misty-hills-of-monte-de-guirim.html

Pleas click on the following interesting links pertaining to Fr. Godwin,
for an insight into his chosen mission, especially in Mexico.

http://godwin-lobo.tripod.com/blog/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=nq4IGiXHmD8#at=33

http://www.capuchinosnormex.com/actualidad/331-igracias-fray-vicente-ya-ganas-la-corona-merecida.html