“I Arrive Home”

On this memorable date, when the TOV Family commemorates the 11th Anniversary of Father’s Ignacio Larrañaga Passover, we share passages from the homily of his Capuchin brother, Fr. Miguel Ángel Ariz, on the day of his funeral in Santiago, on November 3, 2013.

“We have just finished listening to this Sunday’s Gospel, in which Jesus encounters Zacchaeus, the publican who greets Him in his home with great joy, open to his gaze, and his Word: “Today I want to stay in your home.” He experiences the mercy of God and his life is transformed.

Our brother Ignacio Larrañaga also knew Jesus Christ, he was open to his gaze, open to his Word; Jesus Christ took possession of his heart, until He became the center of his life, the passion of his life. He experienced the mercy of God, like Zacchaeus, and he dedicated his whole life to communicating the Good News, which filled his heart, the love, the mercy of the Father: he would repeat time and again “If you only knew the Father…” That is why he went to so many places throughout the world, wrote books, spoke with that passion which characterized him. Paraphrasing Aparecida, we can say that knowing Jesus was the best thing that happened to him in his life, and making Him known to others was his greatest joy.

Ignacio wanted to be a missionary in faraway places. He had to wait 6 years, during which he dedicated himself to accompany as an organist in San Sebastián and Pamplona. Sometimes he went to hear confessions and to preach in some small villages. When he was 29 years old, in one of them he had, we could say a” mystical” experience: One night he felt inundated by the tenderness of God the Father. He told us, that this event marked his life and his way of relating to God.

In his first book “Sensing Your Hidden Presence” and after the Encounters – An Experience of God and in the Workshops, Ignacio mirrored his experience of God. Remember when he told us: “no one gets drunk speaking about wine; it is necessary to drink it.” It is not enough to speak about prayer. It is not enough to speak about God. It is necessary to speak with Him. and above all to listen to Him. I believe that is why our brother Ignacio had and has such a strong echo, because he began by living himself what later on, he invited the rest of us to experience. We well know how he always got up ever so early, and the first thing for him was to be alone with his Lord. That was the source. In reality it was not his own mission, it was God’s.

He has pointed Christ out; invited us with passion to be people of prayer, in order to live a fraternal life and work for a more human world, that suffers less. He has invited us to let God Be God of our lives.

I conclude with the words that Ignacio said in this same place when Brother Camilo died. He felt that Camilo was telling him: “You are sad because I have left as though you had lost me forever. You are wrong. I am alive, but differently... Here we do not understand each other through word, not even with thoughts. We are simply present to each other, “in God.” Here everything is transparency. You are present to me, but in a different manner, and I see you as creatures much more precious than you can imagine... What you call sadness or anxiety are unknown here. We eternally live in a sea of serenity and calm. The human heart has dreamt of this forever... You need to know another thing: there is a fast flowing river here in paradise that runs through every place, but also through the arteries of all those who live here. And the river is called Love, and the Love is called God. What can I say? I have arrived home. I have arrived in my Homeland. Forever! I am no longer in exile. You cannot begin to even imagine how, God has captivated me, infinitely fulfilled and blessed...

His sister, Mary Carmen, says it with all the simplicity of faith: “Ignacio is in heaven,” and inhabits our hearts and encourages us along the way”

From the book “Memorial of Father Ignacio Larrañaga’s Passover”, published by TOV/TOVPIL Foundation