The good Lord needed him now

A friend forwarded this article about the recent tragic passing of a priest. He died trying to help others and this piece is, as my friend said in the email, a celebration of his service:

Grief for 'the Flying Priest'
By Jonathan Mummolo

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Michael C. Kelly, the pastor at St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church in Purcellville, had a number of techniques for bringing people into the flock.

There was his disarming sense of humor, reflected in the signs he put on the doors of the confessional booths, which read, "Your Name Here." There was his knack for attracting attention, such as when he'd ride his homemade airplane-style bicycles through town, earning him the nickname "the flying priest." And there were his everyday actions, parishioners said, which exemplified the message of giving and self-sacrifice ubiquitous in his sermons.

Kelly, 53, died this week doing one final good deed. While driving to the funeral of another priest, Kelly pulled over in the Hamilton area about 9 a.m. Wednesday during a fierce wind storm to remove a fallen tree from the road so no one would get hurt. That was when he was struck and killed by another falling tree, authorities said.

To the mournful congregation of more than 1,700 families, Kelly's act was the exclamation point on the end of years of devoted service.

"The angels swooped down and carried him off," said a damp-eyed parishioner, Ruth Showalter, outside the Loudoun County church yesterday. "That was him. He got out there for people."

Kelly's father, John F.J. Kelly, put it another way.

"The good Lord needed an outstanding priest," said Kelly, 80, of Foneswood, Va. "He needed him now."

. . .

He walked several paths before finding his calling, congregants and relatives said, serving in the U.S. Navy — where he attained the rank of boatswain's mate, 2nd Class — studying history at what was then Mary Washington College and later working alongside his father as a private weapons and security consultant for the military. He was ordained in 1995, but his love of the military and history never faded. He was a Civil War reenactor, playing the part of a Union soldier from a Massachusetts unit known as the "Irish Brigade."

His gift, parishioners said, was his ability to combine those experiences into a powerful message and manner. In the confessional booth, congregants said, he had a gentle demeanor, encouraging people to "be merciful on yourself." When called for, he could be firm, and he often repeated the slogan "Improvise, adapt and overcome" — a popular saying among Marines — to those facing challenges. After preaching, he implored churchgoers to "continue the march."

. . .

Kelly, who also served at St. James in Falls Church, St. Ambrose in Annandale and Sacred Heart of Jesus in Winchester, had a reach that extended beyond the walls of the church's gleaming white building. Around town, he was famous for riding bicycles that he crafted to look like World War I and II-era fighter planes and appeared with them in parades.

In the afternoons, he would often ride from his residence at the church and wait on the corner for passing school buses full of waving, giggling children who lit up when they saw the flying priest.

"All the kids would be waving, waving waving," said Janice Rees, a staff member at the church. "You'd see the occasional pickup truck full of workers heading home, looking curiously, like, 'What the heck was that?' "

. . .

In a homily last weekend, Kelly, whose funeral is Tuesday, cited a Bible passage that conveyed how giving "completes" an individual. Although they were shocked and saddened, those who knew him said the way he died was not a surprise.

"You never had to ask for help," said parishioner Sheila Cowling of Leesburg. "He was there."

Read the whole story here.