Fr. JC Maximilian

Life really can be filled with ups and downs.  Today was one such example, and in this case it had to do with two people who have dedicated their lives to the service of the Church.

First the sad note.  Last night we received a call that one of our permanent deacons here at the parish, Deacon Joseph Malloy, died suddenly.  To be honest, I do not know how many years Joe was a deacon, but I think it was over 25.  His sister-in-law is one of my mother’s best friends and lives just up the block from where I grew up, so I got to see Deacon Joe even when I was a kid, and before he was a deacon, when we went to the Kadelaks for birthdays and other parties.  He was an architect by trade, and often offered his talents to the Church — designing a chapel and columbarium at  one parish, and he was working on the designs for the elevator we are putting in at St. Anthony’s.  Deacon Joe was also very involved with Martin House, a diocesan charity that builds homes for the poor in Trenton, provides transitional housing, a thrift shop, and an educational center.  Each year, here at the parish, Deacon Joe ran the two clothing drives for Martin House, Giving Tree at Christmas, and a food collection at Thanksgiving for the Mount Carmel Guild, a diocesan charity I am involved with.

A few years ago Deacon Joe got very sick with cancer, and more than once people thought that he was a goner.  However, he pulled through, and the event had a profound effect on his life.  It helped him recognize that life, each day, is a gift from God so one should live each day in joyful gratitude.  He lived his last day that way.  He spent the day playing golf, and he called his wife, Judy, around 4 p.m. to say that he had a good day, and he was going to their one daughter’s house for something.  When his daughter came home around 5 p.m. she found him collapsed; apparently from a sudden heart attack.  He will be missed — for his gentleness, his kindness, the way he murdered names (he had dyslexia, so reading out loud was a challenge, but he practiced hard at it).

The joyful note today was the Jubilee celebration for Sr. Marie Olivette Weiss, OFM.  Sr. Marie celebrates her 75th anniversary of taking first vows with the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia.  She has actually been with the Order for 78 years, counting her postulancy and  novitiate.  I first met Sr. Marie Olivette nearly 30 years ago when she was my teacher my freshman year in HS.  I had her for drafting, so I always give her the credit when people say that I have very good printing, and for teaching me how to draw a straight line, with a ruler.  She still walks over to the church for Mass, and is always so cheerful.  One of my favorite memories of her happened just about a year ago.  I had the 8 a.m. Mass one Friday, and then I had a 9:30 a.m. funeral, an 11 a.m. funeral, and then I had to run over to the school for stations of the cross.  I ran into Sr. Marie as I was leaving after the 8 a.m. Mass.  She was talking with one of our daily communicants, so I said a few words of greeting to them, and then I excused myself telling them about my busy day and needing a cup of coffee to get through it.  I ran to Wawa for the coffee (I was at our St. Anthony campus and the rectory is at the Our Lady of Sorrows campus, a few miles away).  I went through my busy day, and around 3:30 p.m. went upstairs to my sitting room to put my feet up.  I was only there a few minutes when the secretary buzzed me and said that Sr. Marie was on the phone for me.  I picked up the phone and said hello to Sr. and asked her how I could help her.  She started by apologizing for not inviting me into the convent for coffee, but since it is for retired nuns, she was worried that some might be in the kitchen in their bathrobes.  She said that she was bothered by that all day, feeling that she should have invited me in.  I told her not to fret one instant more about it; that I was not fishing for an invite.  It was just one example of her simple generosity.

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