Remembering a ‘friend of Jesus’ on St. Patrick’s Day

BISHOP KEVIN J. SWEENEY

Note: The following is an adaptation of the text of the homily that I offered at the Mass (at Assumption Church) before the Morristown St. Patrick’s Day Parade on Saturday, March 11.

He said to them, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature.”

Today we celebrate and give thanks for the preaching of the Gospel as we celebrate the great “Apostle to the Irish,” St. Patrick. So many of us here today give thanks for the way in which that Good News of the Gospel has been passed down through generations of the Irish people. We also recognize the ways in which the Irish people and missionaries have shared the Good News in many places throughout the world, all the way to Morristown, here in our beloved Diocese of Paterson, as well as in our great State of New Jersey and throughout these United States.

It is a true privilege for me to be able to celebrate this Mass with you now for the third time. While there was no parade in 2020 and 2021, we were happy to be back marching last year.

If you were at this Mass last year or the year before, you may recall that, in the homily, I referenced an Irish Song. In 2021, I shared some thoughts about “The Ballad of James Connelly,” and last year, as the terrible war in Ukraine was just beginning, I referenced the “fine old woman” who sings of her “Four Green Fields.”

So, I thought, do I use another song this year? Just as I was about to go in a different direction, it occurred to me that a story told in one of my favorite Irish Songs actually (and sadly) relates to something we have recently experienced here in our country.

Many of you are familiar with the song “The Streets of New York.” It is the story of an 18-year old, who grew up on a farm in Ireland during difficult times, and the boy’s father allows him to leave home and go to America, where the father’s brother (Benji) is living and serving as a “policeman in Brooklyn.”

The song then tells the story this way:

So I landed at Kennedy, and a Big Yellow Taxi carried me and my bags through the streets and the rain. Well, me poor heart was thumpin around with excitement, and I hardly even heard what the driver was saying.

We came in the Shore Parkway to the flat lands in Brooklyn, to my uncle’s apartment on East 53rd. I was feeling so happy, I was humming a song, and I sang, “You’re as free as a bird.” Well, to shorten the story, what I found out that day, was that Benji got shot down in an uptown foray. And while I was flying my way to New York, poor Benji was lying in a cold city morgue.

It is the scene that is described in the next few lines which has made a lasting impression on me because it describes such a difficult yet beautiful moment:

Well, I phoned up the old fella, told him the news. I could tell he could hardly stand up in his shoes. And he wept as he told me, “Go ahead with the plan,” and not to forget, “Be a proud Irish man.”

For as long as I’ve known and loved that song, I have never heard or asked if it was based on a true story. I think, in some ways, that was not so important because the story connects with thousands and thousands of real-life experiences of those who have had to leave their homes and families for various reasons and have come to this country, experienced hardships and sorrows, but somehow persevered.

The reason that “Streets of New York” came to my mind in the past week is due to a very “real life” story that occurred here in our country just three weeks ago (on Feb. 18), when an immigrant from Ireland was shot and killed. Bishop David O’Connell, as we have learned, was born in Cork, discerned a vocation to priesthood, attended All Hallows Seminary in Dublin, and in 1979, at the age of 25, was ordained in Ireland as a priest of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Calif.

In these past three weeks since the murder of Bishop O’Connell, many of us have learned about his life and ministry, his service to the poor, and as a “peace-maker” in the toughest neighborhoods of Los Angeles. I was moved to speak about Bishop O’Connell today when I heard a homily given by Bishop O’Connell’s friend, Bishop Robert Barron. Bishop Barron and Bishop O’Connell were ordained together as auxiliary bishops of Los Angeles on Sept. 12, 2015.

Bishop Barron reflected on Bishop O’Connell’s life and their friendship in his homily this past Sunday, the 2nd Sunday of Lent. It’s available online, and if you haven’t heard it, I highly recommend it. You may recall that the Gospel reading for the Second Sunday of Lent was the “Transfiguration” (Mt 17:1–9), and the First Reading was from Genesis (12:1–4a). In the reading from Genesis, God calls Abram to “Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk and from your father’s house to a land I will show you.” Bishop Barron spoke about young David O’Connell, like so many in Ireland at that time, discerning a call to a missionary priesthood and, while in the seminary, meeting the Irish-born Cardinal Archbishop of Los Angeles, Timothy Manning, and volunteering to serve in the “missions of California.”

Bishop Barron described Bishop O’Connell as “a friend of Jesus” and one of the most “Christ-like” people he had ever met. He described how Bishop O’Connell loved and served Jesus in the poor and those most in need. As we celebrate this Mass this morning, my sisters and brothers, let us pause and reflect on how many “David O’Connells” left Ireland (or left their home) and brought their faith and love for Jesus to this land. We know so many of them here in our own diocese, not only in our Irish-born priests but also in priests who have come to us from Poland, Colombia, and other countries. Yet, for every priest, there are countless thousands and hundreds of thousands of women and men, mothers and fathers, religious sisters and brothers, teachers, police officers, fire-fighters, those who serve in our military, and business and political leaders who have come to this country as immigrants and have truly blessed our land and nation.

Today and on St. Patrick’s Day, we recognize and give thanks for spiritual children and grandchildren of St. Patrick. A few days from now, on the Feast of St. Joseph, we will celebrate the husband of Mary and the patron of the Universal Church, but we will also recognize and celebrate the Italian and Italian-American community and all of their contributions to our country.

In addition to the Irish and Italian communities, we also give thanks to those who have come to our country and diocese from countless other countries, especially those who have brought with them the gift of our Catholic Faith. In so many ways, we are a Diocese of Immigrants and a Church of Immigrants. In the beautiful diversity of the 109 parishes of our diocese, Mass is celebrated in 13 different languages every Sunday. Diverse in heritage, we are one people in faith gathered together by our one Shepherd, Jesus Christ, rejoicing with one voice, “Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his people, the sheep of his pasture” (Psalm 100:3).

At the conclusion of today’s Gospel, we heard, “But they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word through accompanying signs…” Today, as we celebrate St. Patrick, we give thanks for all those, like Bishop David O’Connell, who have gone forth from Ireland (and many other countries) and “preached everywhere,” especially here in our country and diocese. Let us also pray that the Lord will inspire each of us to continue to share His Good News here at home and wherever He may send us.