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A gentle prophet in our midst

Catholic New Times, June 20, 2004 by Raphael Martin

Travelling Light: the Way and Life of Tony Walsh by John Buell, Toronto, Novalis 2003, 99 pp.

This succinct recounting of the life of Tony Walsh is a gem. On the surface, it is a keen distillation of the major events and personages that shaped and influenced his extraordinary life. However, readers should know from the start that beneath the retelling, there's a hidden, dynamic force, called faith, guiding and molding all 95 years of his life. Tony, or "small potatoes" as he called himself in some of his letters to friends, lived a truly hidden life. In St. Paul's terms, it would be described as one that was "hidden in Christ."

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To understand and appreciate the life of this Irishman, born in France, brought up in England, and claimed by Canada, one needs to begin by positioning it against the Gospels, particularly the passages which speak of a person losing one's life for the sake of Christ and his Gospel and finding it again, but in a new way. In Tony, the words of Christ took flesh. Buell says it this way: "... This Tony Walsh had accepted total and voluntary poverty. He put himself at the mercy of others and at the risk of utter destitution. And he did this as a Christian thing, a sort of calling, if not a vocation, and as a Catholic."

In constructing Travelling Light, John Buell draws largely on Tony's own memoirs, both written and recorded, as well as from "a wide range of sources," particularly friends, strangers, and passers-by who experienced Tony up close and personally. Readers owe each of them a debt of gratitude for having provided the "information, reminiscences, stories, and relevant documents" that help us understand who he is for us today.

Drawing from Tony's own memoirs, Buell provides his voice as he speak about some soul-shattering experiences: life in the trenches while serving as a soldier in the English army during the First World War: Not only were there rats to contend with, but also the brutality and the killing of close comrades. Walsh says: "I began to realize the horror of war. Hurt and stranded, I no longer wanted friends." After the deaths of Dan and Jess, my only memory is one of walking vast distances, day after day."

He also writes of some of the hardships, challenges, and victories that were his during the time he spent working as a teacher on a government reservation for Okanagan Indians of British Columbia.

He was a white man, living alone, and at first unfamiliar with Indian ways and traditions. Even though he had no formal training in the teaching profession, his pedagogical methods eventually proved successful. By fostering a love of art, drama, and storytelling, he won the hearts of both children and adults. In having his students' artwork exhibited nationally and internationally, he gained the respect of the people he had come to serve. In turn, they regained a sense of pride in their own history and culture, thanks to the achievements of their children.

Indisputably, what people most associate about Tony Walsh is his decision to live a life of voluntary poverty n Montreal . This calling--to live poorly among the poor, first experienced in wartime and then on the reservation, seemed to have taken hold of him more deeply at the time when Benedict Labre House was founded in 1953. This "house of hospitality" for poor and homeless people who lived in some of the depressed sections of downtown Montreal came into existence through the efforts of a group of Tony's friends--all of whom were committed to a vision of social justice for the poor. To this day, Benedict Labre House continues to reach out to the homeless and needy who come there.

Paradoxically, Tony, who lived at Labre House and was surrounded by people, speaks of himself as being "alone." He doesn't infer that he's lonely or that he's become a loner. It is an "alone-ness for others."

Even the epitaph on his tombstone reads: "Alone for Others"--words which also form the title of a very readable biographical work about Tony written by his friend, Lucien Miller.

With our hindsight today, we can confidently say that Tony's aloneness contributed to his greatness. To live a. detached life in order to answer God's call to be always available to the needs of others was, and is, his special charism. To maintain his alone-ness, he drew a great deal of inspiration from the writings of many of his contemporaries. They too, he sensed, were alone in order to minister to the deepest needs of other people. We recognize the names of some of them: Dan Berrigan, Thomas Merton, Henry Nouwen, Jean Vanier, Catherine De Hueck Doherty, and Dorothy Day.

Canadians--of whatever religious persuasion, have had the advantage over the past quarter century, to come to know and learn about the work of Tony Walsh, thanks to the efforts of the CBC and its radio and TV affiliates. Even to this reviewer, who knew Tony of his life, it was very clear how he especially influenced the Canadian Catholic scene. Thanks to radio and TV appearances, keynote addresses, talks in schools, retreats, and workshops, Tony was beginning to spiritually impact the Canadian public in ways few other leaders had. Then too, there was the Labre House newspaper, Unity, which continued the mission of making the voice of the poor heard both locally and nationally.

A gentle prophet in our midst

Catholic New Times, June 20, 2004 by Raphael Martin

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