Malaysia’s first permanent deacon passes away

May 10, 2020

KLANG: Rev A.P. Thomas, the first permanent deacon in Malaysia, passed away at the age of 87.

He died on Friday (May 1) at 1.15pm at the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital due to heart failure after suffering breathing difficulties.

Deacon Thomas leaves behind his wife Daisy Thomas, five children and eight grandchildren.

The third of four siblings, Thomas was born in 1933 in Vettukad, a fishing village eight miles from Trivandrum in Kerala, India.

As a young altar boy, he was inspired to follow in the footsteps of his parish priest and harboured a desire to join the priesthood. However, he had to cast aside this dream when his older brother passed away from pneumonia and he had to take on the role of breadwinner for the family.

In 1953, at the age of 20, he came to Port Swettenham (now Port Klang) where he took up vari-ous jobs, including acting and bookkeeping at several private companies.

He received his Malayan citizenship in 1957, and in 1961, he was employed as a government servant with the Education Ministry in Kuala Lumpur before being transferred to Kuantan where he was active with the St Thomas parish.

He married Daisy D’Cruz, who was from the same village in Kerala in February 1962.

In 1967, when the Permanent Diaconate was restored through Vatican II, he saw a chance to fulfil his dream of being a member of the clergy, and he put in his application to the then Archbishop Dominic Vendargon. After a three-year course covering several subjects in cluding Scripture, Canon Law and Liturgy, he was ordained as Permanent Deacon on April 16, 1974, at the Church of St Thomas, Kuantan, where he served from 1974 to 1996.

Upon his retirement from the civil service, he moved to Klang where he served the parishes of Our Lady of Lourdes, St Anne and the Church of the Holy Redeemer.

Deacon Thomas actively served the Archdiocese for 46 years before retiring.

Having a family and working full-time was never an obstacle for Reverend Permanent Deacon A.P. Thomas in serving the Catholic Church.

Gentle, kind and caring, Thomas was admired for his wisdom, words and commitment to the Catholic Church and his keenness to serve  the people.

His responsibilities as a deacon included baptism, preparing couples for marriage, visiting the sick in hospitals, counselling couples, and guiding teenagers.

“It has been a very rich spiritual experience and I still keep myself busy with church work,” he said in an interview a few years back.

“One of the most memorable experiences is probably watching children who I baptised grow up to be successful adults,” he added.

Due to the Movement Control Order, the funeral service on May 5 was open only to members of his family and some clergy.

“Today I would like to focus on faithfulness – how Deacon Thomas has been faithful to his vows as a husband, father, grandfather and  a deacon,” said Archbishop Julian Leow.

“It is not easy to be a full time husband and a full time member of the clergy. Even being in one is stressful. Yet Deacon Thomas was able to juggle both with great responsibility. To have been faithful to the church, to come to do the will of the Father.

“I am sure the words, ‘Welcome into the kingdom prepared for you my good and faithful servant,’ are the words that he will hear today.

“He has been a faithful servant of the Church. We too, can reflect on our own vocation as clergy,  spouses and lay faithful, continue to listen and discern what God wants of us.

“We know that death is not the end. Our faith tells us that if we have died with Christ, we shall also rise with him.

“Let us pray today, not only for  Deacon Thomas, his family and all those who mourn his loss, but also for faithfulness in our lives to the vows and the promises that we have made.”

Archbishop Leow then thanked God for the gift of Deacon Thomas (his steadfastness, his service and dedication) to the Archdiocese of Kuala Lumpur in particular and to the Malaysian Church in general.

He then assured Daisy and her family of their thoughts and prayer to them especially in the time of their loss.

At the beginning of the service, Archbishop Emeritus Murphy Pakiam shared that Deacon Thomas was filled with joy when he received the news of his appointment as Malaysia’s first permanent deacon. Over the years, he always maintained his smile even in the face of opposition to his role.