In Memory of a Good and Faithful Shepherd

I literally gasped for breath and fell off my chair when I saw the text that informed me that the beloved Father Kiernan passed away suddenly from a heart attack yesterday: Pentecost Sunday. Over the past year, he has been a very special part of our program, assisting Father Harris with our monthly reconciliation evenings with our Religious Education classes. I will never forget what he told the kids they must do EVERYDAY (pray), or his sweet, gravelly voice singing with a group of boys, "Jesus, Jesus come to me, all my lovin' is for thee..." He was an incredible father-figure, and I'm so grateful that I got to know him over the past year. I've decided to reprint this article from last November about just one of the many lessons I learned from him. I only had to change the last line...


Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let the perpetual light shine upon him.

What's for Dinner, LORD?
(reprinted from November 2015)

I remember being told to say my prayers as a child. Pray, pray, pray, pray, pray. I thought it meant to pray my nightly prayers, or pray before meals. I thought it meant to ask God for things, and to take care of people. I thought it meant to say thank you to God when He answers my prayers. I didn't realize I could pray just by saying His name!

Our family was able to attend noon first Friday mass at the Basilica of St. John last week, and the homily was given by Fr. Jim Kiernan. If you know Father Kiernan, a retired priest in this diocese, you know that he always wants to know if you are praying to God each day.

His homily hammered that point home: you not only need to be talking to God every day, you need to talk to God ALL day!

If we're honest, most of us would admit that the one person we talk to ALL day is ourselves. We might say to ourselves, "I wonder if so-and-so is going to call today" or "It looks like it's going to rain today" or maybe "I wonder what we're going to have for dinner today."

Fr. Kiernan didn't suggest that we stop talking to ourselves, but that we just add one word to the end of the sentence: LORD.
"I wonder if so-and-so is going to call today, LORD" or "It looks like it's going to rain today, LORD" or even "I wonder what we're going to have for dinner today, LORD."

"It's like magic!" Father Jim explained, "You were having a conversation with yourself and you let God listen in! That's praying!" Before long, he promised, we would be talking to God all day long.

St. Paul tells us to "Pray without ceasing." I've already been trying this for a few days, and let me tell you what a change it brings!

Now that You have welcomed your good and faithful servant home, please thank Father Jim for sharing this beautiful idea and his incredible life with us, LORD.