Catholic Church will miss your work; rest thee well Mbaziira

CELEBRATING LIFE 

Grief is our natural reaction to a loss.  We feel a deep and aching pain when someone we love is no longer with us.

When someone we love is gone we feel the dozens of emotions that come with grief, sadness, anger, guilt, fear, loneliness, blame and many more.

However, the hope that we shall see them again can be of comfort, although this does not remove the pain that the person is gone.

August 8, 2020 will forever evoke bitter-sweet memories for the family and relatives of Charles Bernard Mbaziira whom God called at 83 years.

Mbaziira was a long-serving lay Christian in the Catholic Church. He served on the central organising committee at Kampala Archdiocese and the Uganda Episcopal Conference.

The acting medical director of St Francis Hospital Nsambya, Dr Peter Ssekweyama, said Mbaziira died of cardiovascular accident and was laid to rest at his parents' cemetery.

He is survived by a wife, Matilda Namutebi Mbaziira.

"I have accepted, finally, that your job here on earth is done," Namutebi, said as she looked at her husband's rose-covered coffin. "It is not a goodbye. It is time to see you later."

"My husband was a man of the people; He gave his life to God, family and Church. There was nothing more important to him than those three things. He was loved by many," she said.

"He was the epitome of a great father and husband. I never got any punishment from Charles. He was simply a great person.

I thank Charles for everything he did for me for 59 years we were together. We wedded on April 29, 1961 and we were going to celebrate 60 years in marriage." Namutebi thanked the mourners for loving her husband.

"I have been calling him Tata because he has been helping many of his relatives," she said.

The Archbishop of Kampala, Dr Cyprian Kizito Lwanga in his tribute to Mbaziira, said: "He was an old man, but respected the old and young.

He was a good time manager and was committed to his work, which led him to be on different committees, including Nsambya Hospital and schools. People loved whatever he was doing."

He was a devout Christian, loved his Church and used all his talents to motivate many.

Mbaziira was smart, humble and appreciative. He will be remembered for his humility and appreciativeness. He was a man of truth. He also had a good sense of humor and always talked to everybody.

"Personally, I will remember him being drawn to prayers," Archbishop Lwanga.

Mbaziira's legacy will be alive for a long time. "He was a good example for many God to reward him according to what he did for church and the country," Lwanga said.

Retired Bishop of Masaka John Baptist Kaggwa said he met Mbaziira in 1962, when he was still a seminarian at Nswanjere Junior Seminary.

At the time, Mbaziira was the managing director of ESSO Petrol Station on Mityana Road and that whenever he saw him on a motorcycle at his petrol station, he would tell others to hold on until he got fuel.

"He was an advisor and when I became a bishop, he called and advised me. We worked in the same committee during Pope Francis's visit and I had no idea where to get cars, but Mbaziira took me where we got all the cars we used," Kaggwa said.

He also described Mbaziira as a beloved friend and an outstanding member who had been hardworking in all his life.

"His departure is a great sorrow to us," Kaggwa said.

Bishop Paul Ssemogerere of Kasana-Luwero said he came to know Mbaziira when he the secretary of central organising committee at Kampala Archdiocese and realised that he was a good organiser, who did not rest until everything was well set. 

Ssemogerere said Mbaziira loved his religion and was proud of it.

"He was a man of the people, who loved everyone. He was a humble man, consultant and always full of happiness."

Katikiro Charles Peter Mayiga during the requiem mass at Lubaga Cathedral praised Mbaziira for the work he had done for the Church and Buganda Kingdom.

"Nakibinge clan had problems but Mbaziira solved them."  

Mayiga in his tribute said Mbaziira "always enjoyed his organisation at different Church functions. He was full of great advice and strong in his faith," he said.

Maria Bukenya, one of the daughters, said: "Daddy was a dear friend to all of us, kind, he inspired us to love our faith, he would forgive everyone who annoyed him, was a good time keeper and he taught us to share whatever little we have.  He will truly be missed in every aspect."

"Dad did not love big things and may be that is why God took him during COVID-19", she said.

Bukenya further described her father as a hero and father to many, who taught all of them a lot about family, faith and joy.

"He was a daddy of hospitality. He was a parent who would give you anything that he had," she said.

Richard Kyeyune, one of the sons, said: "He taught us how to love people of other faiths because he believed it is only through dialogue that one understands his fellow man."

Victor Kayongo, the chairperson of the central organising committee at Kampala Archdiocese, said: "We always called him father because he was a father and grandfather to many. He was our beloved member and friend."