I know a saint! Amazing!

Fr Mychal Judge ofm - to be declared a saint?

Well, lo and behold, I look at Facebook this week and see that I know a man being put before the Church for canonization.  It makes me think - Am I alive that long?  Am I that well connected in this Church?

Who is he?  Mychal Judge, a Franciscan priest of New York.  I met Mychal when I had a month staying with the Franciscan community in Lower Manhattan back in 1999.  The connection was that my then Provincial, Pat Fahey, had a cousin in the community, Chris Keenan ofm.  Pat judged that it would be good for me to spend time with Chris and his community so as to get to know their varied and creative ministries which included a Franciscan brother making leather goods to raise money for Franciscan Ministries and the poor.  Creative indeed!

A must for my time there was for me to spend time with this Mychal Judge, or so advised Chris. So I did meet Mychal in his room and talked with him.  He was a chaplain to the New York Fire Department.  He talked about his work and how much he loved it.  He obviously did a lot for the men and the families of the Fire Department for whom he had a deep love and true passion.  A great man!

Then on 9/11, I saw on the news that a Catholic priest was killed at the World Trade Centre and I couldn't believe it - it was this Mychal.  I had met him and spent time with him.  He became a recognized hero who was now going to be put forward for canonization.  

I met him briefly.  He was a good man.  I do not doubt that.  I could glorify him and my meeting with him but the truth is that I hardly knew the man.  He was one of over 50 good men, Franciscans living in community, in 32nd St Manhattan. The one I did get to know was my host - Chris.  He was good to me, spent time with me, saw to my needs. He was simply a kind and dedicated man.  No one extraordinary, just someone who lives life with integrity and authenticity.  He still lives.

Now I know him to be a living saint in New York.  In place of Mychal Judge, he did take on the role of Chaplain to the NYFD and he loves it.  I see by this latest photo in the media that he remains faithful to this day to his ministry and to the good men and women he serves.  He too is a saint.  There are so many saints in our midst.  We just don't recognize them or we simply take them for granted.   For all the saints!

Chris Keenan ofm today in New York leading a memorial to Mychal Judge and others of NYFD killed in 9/11