It’s that dry Irish wit; it gets me every time!
Shortly after Fr Kilian invited me to join the pastoral team at St. Elizabeth Seton, he had Teri and I over to the rectory for a get-to-know-you dinner, which he was proud to prepare on his grill. When we arrived, he ushered us out back to the patio and asked, “How do you like your chicken – medium rare, medium?” My head started spinning, thinking “Medium rare chicken? What????” He turned to Teri and said “I don’t think he got my little joke. So how’s the weather?”
I soon became used to hearing those quick asides, like when I came to speak with him about a funeral for say, a man named Joe Brown, and he would say “Ah yes, Joe, I believe his father was a Brown too”. Or when following up about that same funeral, he might ask, “Is Joe still dead?”
Or the time he was talking about the movie “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” but couldn’t recall the name of the leading man. I said, “It was Sidney Poitier.” And he said “That’s right, Sidney Poitier. He always played the black guy.”
Fr Kilian was in rare form for his annual “Good Shepherd Sunday” homily, as he recalled in great detail how he personally knew a shepherd who would go after lost sheep with a revolver strapped to his side. Fr Kilian took on a shaky, whimpering voice as he said, “No you don’t shoot the lost sheep, you carry them home over your shoulder.” And the shepherd said, “These are lost sheep Father, these are rogue sheep. There’s only one way to deal with rogue sheep,” and he mimic’d a gun with his fingers and said “click – click.” He went on to point out that sometimes we’re not lost sheep, but with our sinfulness, we are rogue sheep. Fr. Kilian ended his homily with a simple “click-click”.
So I will miss that dry Irish wit; that twinkle he got whenever he was about to let loose with one of those quips.
I appreciate the opportunity Fr. Kilian gave me to lead the liturgical song of St. Elizabeth Seton and wish him all the best as he enters the next stage of his journey. Hopefully, his moving on from us will not be like those of a rogue sheep – “click-click”.
Steve Raml
Director of Liturgy/Music
