Rev Rodney Pitts
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Born 26/11/1942.
Ordained 22/05/1971.
Archdiocese of Melbourne.
The French poet Charles Peguy says this: “When you love someone you love him as he is.”
Rod was brilliant, funny, a great cook, deeply committed and faithful to his priestly vocation, a man of integrity with a deep love for, and understanding of, scripture, nature, liturgy, theology and a hoard of other interests.
He believed totally in the right of the people of God to be involved, engaged and knowledgeable about their Church, its history, rites and rituals.
Most of all, Rod wanted us to find and know the Jesus of the Gospels; and know Jesus as a man of his time and to understand the social, political and religious context in which he lived.
Lest I present Rod as a few steps away from canonization, he could also be pedantic, stubborn, eccentric, easily offended, and was at times a complete and utter pain!
Martin Buber's statement, “One eats in holiness and the table becomes an altar”, was what many experienced when sharing meals with Rod. Here conversation centred on those who were excluded, rejected and disenfranchised. These themes ran very deep and from a very personal space within Rod himself.
Sharing meals was a form of sacrament to Rod. He would invariably comment on the origin of the various ingredients or go off into a description of meals he had cooked for himself on his many rambles and camping expeditions. Bushwalking, camping holidays and his caravan site at Cape Paterson filled Rod with joy. They took him out of his head and into beauty.
Friedrich von Hugel once wrote,
“Caring is the greatest thing. Caring matters most.”
Rod was a man who cared deeply. Many things mattered to Rod which was why he was so pedantic about particular issues. He never was the type of person for whom near enough is good enough. It is what drove him to make unpopular statements and behave in ways that did offend and alienate at times. Rod was a deeply passionate and caring individual, but one who found it impossible to compromise his position on any subject.
Rod's friend, Fr Gerry McKernan commented shortly after Rod's death, “Well you know, I think Rod will now understand things … and will also finally be understood.”
May he rest in peace.