Kindness, hospitality and human sensitivity – these are the three "gifts" that Fr Richard Macdonald SJ shared with all who knew him during his years of ministry, many of which were spent as a missionary in India and among the native people in Canada. Fr Richard died peacefully on 6 August 2010 at Scarborough Centenary Hospital, Ontario. He was 83. At his funeral on 10 August at St Joseph's, Morrow Park, Fr Robert Foliot SJ described Fr Richard as a man who understood his mission, "Go and make disciples of all nations" (Mt 28:19), as "going from the altar to meet people". And as he went out on mission, Fr Richard took these three "gifts" with him.

Born in Westmount, Québec, Fr Richard entered the Society of Jesus in 1947 at Guelph, Ontario. In 1954 he moved to Ethiopia to teach English as a regency placement. From there he went to St Mary's College, Kurseong, in Darjeeling District, north-eastern India, where he studied Nepali for a year and then commenced his theology studies. After ordination in 1961, Fr Richard served as an assistant pastor at Our Lady of the Snows Parish, North Point, Darjeeling, and then at St Joseph's College, also in North Point, where he taught English and moral science. He later served in St John's Church and Hayden Hall in Darjeeling.

In Darjeeling, he set up a travel agency, Summit Tours to employ graduates of North Point who left school well educated and fluent in English but were often unable to find jobs. Tourists from all over came to the agency. At the wake of Fr Richard, a Tibetan woman who had worked in the travel agency approached the casket with a piece of gold silk. "In a brief but beautiful little ritual she gently placed this silk cloth in Fr. Macdonald's casket. It was explained to me as a sign of respect," said Fr Robert in the funeral homily. "Richard had a gentle respect for people."

In 1979 Fr Macdonald returned to Canada and in 1981 began his ministry with the native people, first from Martyrs Shrine in Midland and then in 1984 moving to Manitoulin District. With the help of the people, Fr Richard built St Bernard's Church in Little Current on Manitoulin Island, where a memorial will be held to honour him.

Fr Richard lived and worked in native and non-native parishes until 1997 when he became chaplain at St Joseph's Motherhouse, Willowdale, Ontario. He stayed there until 2010. Up until the end of his life, the people he met on his many apostolic placements, from India, from Manitoulin, from Toronto, visited him at St Joseph's.

The funeral Mass of Fr Macdonald was held at St Joseph's in Willowdale on 9 August followed by interment at the Jesuit Cemetery in Guelph.

For any additional details, please contact Canadian Jesuits International at or cji@jesuits.ca.