On 14 August, during the early Mass of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, our brother priest August Sparrer returned to his heavenly Father at the age of 93. His funeral took place on 24 August in the parish church of Poppenreuth (Waldershof).
He was born on March 12, 1931, in Weiden, Upper Pfalz, Germany. After graduating from high school, he entered the St. Wolfgang Seminary in Regensburg, where he was ordained a priest in the cathedral on June 29, 1957. He encountered the Charismatic Renewal during a trip to the United States in the 1970s.
During a parish mission of the Emmanuel School of Mission (ESM, today “Rejoice”) in his former parish in Kösching, where he worked from 1996 to 2002, he got to know the Emmanuel Community, fell in love with it and later joined it.
His last parish mission was in Poppenreuth (Waldershof), where the Community had a large parish mission and organized musicals with smaller missions. As an enthusiastic and energetic disciple and missionary, he was intensively involved in Mercy Evenings and Faith Formation Courses and was also especially committed to children’s and youth work. He also organized meetings between the local youth and the ESM and trips to the Easter Forum and the Summer Forum in Altötting.
He retired at the age of 79 and came to St. Rupert’s Abbey in Altötting as a canon in 2010. Franz Kinsky tells how he was involved in various missionary projects there, such as Alpha courses or “Beta courses” (follow-up courses to Alpha). In addition to a Bible study group for adults, he also led a weekly catechesis for young people, which in 2013 became Nightfire, a kind of Mercy Night, which is still offered to young people every month. He lived with great fidelity to the Church, to priestly ministry, to his spirituality, and above all to daily prayer as a priest and as a member of the Emmanuel Community. This made him a model and a pillar for the many young priests who came and went with him, writes Franz.
He often presided or co-celebrated Masses in Josefsburg and was a popular confessor in Altötting and a great blessing to the brothers and sisters there. Martin Siodmok, who was Rejoice director there for four years and celebrated Mass with him almost every day, talks about his confession experiences with August in a video on Instagram. He spiritually accompanied many people in Altötting, all in the background and in secret. He was a man filled with joy and humor, who remained young to the end because his bond with Jesus allowed him to retain his youthful freshness into old age, reports Martin Siodmok.
August worked for many years in different areas of faith sharing and, in the book, “Evangelizing Concretely: Analyses, Experiences, Helps and Perspectives” he compiled valuable analyses, experiences, helps and perspectives that can help to reach people with the Gospel again. At the center of his spiritual life was the desire to give people an experience of faith: A relationship with Jesus is never stagnant. Faith is a process that must always be pushed forward, he once said.
THANK YOU, THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart, dear August, for your tireless commitment to the brothers and sisters in so many ways, writes Otto Neubauer, who organized the church mission in Kösching at that time and knew him during his time as ESM director.
Rosalinde Meusburger, director of Josefsburg, writes: August was a man of prayer and a missionary through and through. He had a special heart and charisma for the youth. Since 2010 he was the pastor and confessor of the ESM students. They loved him! His motto was: “Lead people to Jesus with love”. August lived the Word of God, especially the Gospel of John. He was very determined in everything. He longed for holiness, not only for himself, but also for the many people for whom he was confessor and companion.
