By Shalini Mulackal
Varanasi, July 29, 2020: I got the news about Father George Gispert Sauch’s final going home around 12 noon on July 29. I was taking class to a group of students at IMS (Indian Missionary Society) theologate in Varanasi. When I got back to class I told them the sad news about Father Gispert’s death. I could not control my tears for a few minutes.
Father Gispert, as we called him, was not only my professor and my colleague at Vidyajyoti but much more to me personally. He was my Guru, my mentor, my spiritual accompanier, and a helper close at hand at any time. I was free to approach him at any time and get whatever help I needed.
Sometimes it was asking him to find a book in the library because he knew each and every book in the library. Sometimes it was to clear my doubt about some aspects of theology. At other times it was just to share with him some lighter moments of life or even those things that trouble you.
He was a sympathetic listener and he was ever ready to attend to your need. He will keep aside whatever he would be doing and sit down and make you feel comfortable. I missed his presence in Vidyajyoti ever since he had to leave Vidyajyoti on health grounds way back in 2015. I had the opportunity of meeting him once more in Mumbai and had a long chat.
Today I cherish all my memories of this great man and the way he lived his life in the true spirit of Jesus and Ignatius of Loyola. I am happy that this year he would be celebrating the feast of Ignatius together with all the saints in heaven!!
I knew Father Gispert from 1989 when I first joined Vidyajyoti to do my B.Th. He taught me different subjects. What I remember very clearly is that he taught Faith and Revelation when we were doing the first year of our studies.
I still remember struggling to understand the Christian perspective on other religions and the uniqueness of Christianity. Thanks to Father Gispert today I have a reasonable grasp of holding the uniqueness of Christianity in the context of other religions while understanding other religions too are salvific for the adherents of those religions.
I enjoyed his class on Narad Bhakti Sudras so much so that I wanted to make a retreat with all that I learnt in his class. During my M Th studies he helped us with our Greek language. He used to take us for reading the Greek Bible.
I still have a Greek Bible which he had generously given me to practice reading Greek daily. Later on when I expressed my desire to learn Spanish he readily accepted me as his student and began to teach me Spanish starting with the Our Father and Hail Mary in Spanish.
Father Gispert was a scholar not only in Indology but also in Theology. I enjoyed my conversations with him on theological topics and learnt quite a lot from those interactions. He was a very approachable person. He never made me feel that I am ignorant or stupid to ask certain questions.
He was simple in his life style and in his attitude. He ate whatever was available and never looked for any special dishes. He was more Indian than many of us in the way he acculturated himself to our Indian ways of thought, spirituality, philosophy, dress, and food habits.
Father Gispert was also a man of humor. I remember a few occasions where his ability to see the lighter side of life came alive. Once he invited me for lunch at Vidyajyoti residence. We were a bit late. Most of the students and staff had already finished serving. So while serving he noticed that there were no fish pieces in the dish but only the gravy. He turned to me and said, ‘Sorry Shalini, only the essence is available …’ There were times he would take my plate to wash. Initially I used to feel embarrassed about it. Then I learnt to accept his hospitality and be comfortable with it.
When he left Vidyajyoti in 2015, it was difficult for me think of Vidyajyoti without his presence. For me Vidyajyoti and Father Gispert were synonymous! Vidyajyoti as an institution benefited immensely through his contribution.
I thank God for the gift of him to our world, to his dear and near ones, to the Society of Jesus, to Vidyajyoti College of Theology and to me personally. May he find rest and happiness in the loving embrace of God. Goodbye Father Gispert… Thanks for all that you have been to me. I am grateful to you and to God for the wonderful person you have been to many.
(Presentation Sister Shalini Mulackal is a Delhi-based woman theologian and former president of the Indian Theological Association. She is a faculty of Vidyajyoti College of Theology and a visiting professor for many seminaries in India.)