The first time I had the opportunity to get to know him was at a retreat called Gospel Road. This was a retreat with a theme of servant leadership, in which we all shared memories that will last a lifetime. Throughout the retreat you could assuredly find him sleeping under a tree, relaxing by a pool, or painting fences sloppily and getting reprimanded for it by old women… the classic example of a “slacker”, which became his nickname and has been passed on through the parish! But when he celebrated Mass each morning he revealed another side that was inspiring. I remember one of his homilies on the retreat was based on the word Amen. He encouraged us to share in the enthusiasm that he demonstrated.

When we were concluding the retreat we had a “Gong show”, to make the experience even more memorable. In the Gong show, we had a mock confession and I took on Fr. Dan’s role as a priest, hearing his confession as an ordinary man, the entire Gospel Road group laughed. He allowed me to use his vestments, his nametag and his ring, as I heard his “confession.” It was hysterical, as he confessed “sins” which included swearing and sneaking a big screen television to watch the Sox games. But while I was sitting there in his vestments, wearing his ring, and with a nametag around my neck saying “Fr. Dan” it all felt so right and I couldn’t stop reflecting on his words.

He did so much that influenced my life, inspiring me to pray for my personal vocation, and to listen to God, and His will for me in life. He began youth masses, on a monthly basis, and he never failed to fill the chapel. It seems like yesterday when we were shooting hoops in the gym, and sitting at the local diner eating breakfast after an intense snowball fight. That was the kind of priest he was, not only a priest but a friend.

In his last homily, he eloquently said, “We are the interchangeable parts, while Christ is the constant.” We come and go to build up God’s Kingdom on Earth. Eventually, those who live their lives according to Christ will be called to become part of a greater Kingdom, in Heaven.

-George Legner
St. John’s Youth Ministry

-Alyssa Trinidad, St. John’s Youth Group

On January 27, 2008 the Archdiocese Boston lost a fantastic young priest of only 8 months. Fr. Daniel Kennedy, 34, died of a heart attack resulting from an undiagnosed heart condition.

Dan was a wonderful well-rounded young man who brought many talents and gifts to the priesthood. He was a bright man who came to the classroom with a critical mind and always worked hard not just to know what the Church teaches but also to know why it teaches what it teaches. Dan didn’t just want to know and understand theology, he wanted to be able to teach and preach in a way that the common man and woman would understand. Dan was raised in Needham, one of the nicer suburbs of Boston, but was blessed with a personality more typical of a gritty city neighborhood. This combined with his down to earth manner, made him very compatible and effective working and ministering to working class. His personality seemed a perfect fit for South Boston where he had been named Parochial Vicar just prior to his death.

Dan was a true competitor. He had an athlete’s build and was always playing pick-up ice hockey and softball. He completed 9 marathons. He liked to pray his rosary and did his best talking to God while running. He was a competitor every hour of the day. He told us he chased a teenager for ten blocks through the streets of Winthrop, in his clerics, after the kid had thrown an icy snow ball off the school window. He said the kid kept looking back amazed that the priest continued in pursuit.

The most endearing quality about Dan was that if you were his friend he would run through a brick wall for you. He quite simply was there for his friends and his family. Family was always on the top of his list. He would often humbly ask for prayers for his brother Jack, who had Lymphoma, and for the rest of his family. He doted on his niece Ashley like a little princess. He was so proud of his dad’s fidelity to prayer for vocations. Dan would note that those prayers began to be offered years before the Lord had called him. Mr. Kennedy’s prayers for vocations continue today. During Dan’s seminary years he himself was a passionate speaker on the vocation to the priesthood. He was the first person the vocation office would call when looking for a seminarian to speak. His well-rounded personality made him the ideal spokesman for the seminary.

Fr. Kennedy is dearly missed by so many. For me, he will always be remembered as a friend that God gave me to help me through the challenges of my seminary years. He was there to welcome me my first day and was there to lend support each day through the challenging era which marked our seminary years. Though I never was able to say a Mass with him, I am proud to share in Christ’s priesthood with him today.

Father Bill Lohan
Saint Mary of the Assumption Parish
Dedham, Massachusetts

The only reason I would even get to know him later on as an adult was through knowing his sister Anne Marie and a common friend of ours, Chris Liatsis, of Needham. This would make us known to each other, but we still never got to know each other even then in our mid 20’s. Little did either of us know how much we shared a common bond, our love for the church and the inner calling to consider the priesthood.

It was only on a very sad occasion of another common friend of ours, whom had lost a family member in an accident which claimed his life while serving our country in the Armed Forces in Afghanistan, that Dan and I would begin to realize quickly what we shared. It was while with the family and many other friends trying to make the best of a sad time with some cold beers and good stories that Dan and I compared our own similarities, by chance, talking away from the crowd at one point. He was at this time away from the seminary after three years of study and pastoral work, but his heart was still in the right place even though he was not certain where his future would be.

Later that year I heard he had returned to the seminary and now knowing him just a bit I was immediately inspired in a different way than I had been before. I knew someone- my age, with many of the same feelings regarding serving the Catholic Church and feeling that call, who was at a seminary. Not only that, he was a normal, athletic, tough-as-nails kid who liked girls, yet still chose to discern a call to the priesthood. He was saddened by the clergy abuse scandal like I was, but he was at the seminary studying at that time- going as counter-culture as anyone during such a turbulent time in the Catholic Church. But like me, it may have even inspired him to be better, as the church’s need for priests was now alarming and those regularly attending mass dwindling.

Just over a year after Dan went back to the seminary, he was ordained a deacon and his ordination to the priesthood was months away. This is when I would encounter him again, unknowingly.

I was further along at this point in my own discernment and had taken an invitation to go to the Archdiocese Vocations Weekend to learn about the priesthood and live at the seminary for 3 days. I told nobody but my parish priests and my father, who was very ill at the time in a Boston hospital. So I arrive on the Friday evening, and within minutes, here comes Dan, seeking ME out. I was honored that he took the time to even bother to find me, and I wondered how he knew, but did not ask.

We talked for a few minutes- he asked about my father, told me of his experience on the same retreat I was about to go on, we had a few laughs, and then he was off to a Celtics game and then his parish in Scituate for the weekend so I knew we wouldn’t see each other again until the weekend was done. One other thing Dan mentioned was that he left some stuff in my room in case I was not enjoying my retreat weekend. I thought nothing of it until I got to my room around 10 PM to unwind before the early Saturday wakeup call. I had just returned after a night departure to visit my ailing father in a Boston hospital. I returned to the seminary with many things on my mind, including why I was there, and what significance it would all have.

There in a bag that I had opened was some comfort things we both enjoyed…Red Sox 2004 Champs DVD, some sports and religious magazines, some adult beverages, and a dvd player. It was Dan’s way of knowing me, and letting me take my mind off of anything, in an appropriate way to help me get through the weekend if I needed it! I laughed quite a bit to myself, amazed at his thinking ahead and putting himself in my shoes for the big step of staying at a seminary to discern, which he knew all too well.

I could tell many other thoughts and recollections as I look back to that point in my life and the changes I endured, to further on a few months later at Dan’s ordination to the priesthood and subsequent celebrations and excitement in the changes in the now Father Dan’s life.

Father Dan Kennedy continued from those days until now since his untimely death and will continue forward- being a great influence in my life. He was one of many who guided me to see what God was calling for me and make it to a seminary to study further, and although I am not currently there, the discernment continues in different ways for me, all with prayers often to a friend who became a priest of whom I shared a friendship and bond which neither of us got to truly begin to enjoy, or understand. But as we learn so many times in our life, it is God’s plan, not any of our plans that the path of our lives take.

Written by Mark Murray

Good evening, it is my pleasure to be with you tonight, a night which recognizes the importance of ministering to our youth. I congratulate this year’s award recipients, your dedicated efforts are both inspiring and encouraging to me as I prepare for the the Ordained Ministry.

As a child growing up in the Parish of St. Joseph in Needham, it was primarily through athletics, CYO Hockey and CYO Basketball where I first encountered youth ministry. My coaches remain to this day not just examples, but shining examples, of how the Church can become the ‘traveling companion’ for young people. As my basketball coach Mike Prinn can and will attest, my hoop days were certainly not clothed in glory. When you take a kid still sweating from the adrenaline rush of a hockey game, played across town, changing uniforms in the car, arriving at the basketball gymnasium at St. Joe’s in a cold sweat, the kid, more often than not, tends to foul out of the basketball game by half-time. Hockey and basketball do not have what you might call, ‘complimentary skill sets’. Hockey emphasizes physical contact and basketball emphasizes sophisticated scoring skills while avoiding physical contact. As I think back upon those days, what comes to mind are
the impressions that the coaches conveyed. They were men of faith, men of discipline, men of irness, men of compassion, and men of charity. I am certain that those administering programs for the young girlsT were equally impressive. Those who were in positions of authority were people who understood the truth about sport, but also the Truth about the Christian life, and….how life should be lived. Most remarkable is the fact that they seemed to excel at what may seem, the ordinary, simpler things in life. Lasting has their imprint been on me, the imprint of seeing these mentors exemplify what they believe, whether at Mass, in prayer before the Eucharist, or in simple acts of kindness to others.

The strengthening of the faith and catholic identity of our youth, helps to ensure a faithful future for our Church. RENEWING THE VISION: A FRAMEWORK FOR CATHOLIC YOUTH MINISTRY, a document put forth by the National Conference of Bishops identifies, among other things, DISCIPLESHIP as one of the main goals of effective catholic youth ministry. I ask that for a moment you consider the very first disciples, who they were, and from where they came…..Jesus gathered fishermen.

A fisherman, by nature is aggressive, spirited, willing to work in all kinds of weather, fights for survival on the high and dangerous seas. These men were tough, perhaps the most emboldened in society at that particular time. Jesus did not choose his first disciples from the priestly class or from the leisure class. Nor were they intellectuals, academics, poets, or professional athletes. Imagine how compelling a case Jesus made, to convince these men to put down the tools of their trade and to, ‘come follow Him’. This discipleship would not be easy for these men. Nor is discipleship easy for our youth in today’s world!

Christ called His first followers not only by His Word, but also by His example. ‘Our’ youth responds to ‘our’ example. Words can sometimes go in one ear and out the other, but it is what we DO, that endures! I offer tonight the suggestion that we are ALL YOUTH MINISTERS. We are all charged with providing that powerful witness to Christ, for the benefit of others. Different stations in life allow more direct opportunities for youth ministry than others, however all Christians must recognize the affect that their example can have on our most precious asset, OUR YOUTH.

The lasting affects of Youth Ministry in my own life helped set the table for the discovery of my vocation to the Priesthood of Jesus Christ. Following the path to discipleship, as best that I could, it was as a confirmation teacher that I realized some of the challenges and some of the joys with which so many here with us tonight, are so familiar. When we articulate our faith and our churches teaching, when we share what we believe and, when we live out that belief, we become the vehicles ‘through’ which Jesus dialogues with our youth!

I was also fortunate enough to be able to share my understanding of the lessons of sports and the lessons of life as a hockey coach and as a baseball coach at Catholic Memorial High School in West Roxbury, MA. It was from within this framework of witnessing, for Christ, that my vocation to the priesthood truly manifested itself to me.

With that in mind I humbly approach my Ordination to the diaconate in January and my desire is to serve Christ’s church, as a continuation of the example set for me as a youngster by those dedicated to Youth Ministry. On a night like tonight, I thank all those diedicated to Youth Ministry,for the countless hours, the valuable instruction and the powerful witness to the Lord that you so selflessly offer.

Thank You.

Fr. Dan moved in just in time for the summer. With plenty of activities planned over those few months, he immediately asked where he was needed and how he could help. Our biggest Youth Ministry activity in the summer of 2007 was Gospel Road, a week long service retreat for high school students in the Archdiocese of Boston. When the week was over he left the young people with the perfect image of the Priesthood.

The kids were drawn to his energetic and joyful personality. Always the jokester, he was able to keep everyone laughing. Through his charismatic personality he expressed his love and devotion for Jesus Christ. One of the most memorable moments of the week was when Fr. Dan led the young people in Eucharistic Adoration. It was beautiful. The image of a dimly lit chapel with Fr. Dan kneeling on the Altar before the Lord as a hundred high school students silently prayed will remain with me forever. I knew at that moment that Fr. Dan was not just an ordinary priest. He truly had a purpose on this earth. To evangelize Christ’s love.

When we returned to St. John’s it was time for a new year of Religious Education. Fr. Dan had established a bond with the members of the youth ministry over the summer, now it was time to learn even more about the young people of the parish. The Confirmation classes are held on Wednesday nights and Fr. Dan always found time to be in the school on those nights. To no one’s surprise, the Confirmation Candidates were immediately drawn to him. His actions did more for vocations than anything I have ever seen. I can honestly say that there are several members of our parish considering the priesthood, all thanks to Fr. Dan.

Whether Fr. Dan was socializing with the members of the parish, talking with the young people or randomly joining the town high school students in a game of baseball in the Church parking lot, everyone gravitated to him. Needless to say, Fr. Dan quickly went from a co-worker to a great friend of mine. When he came to my office in early January of 2008 and told me the news of his new assignment in South Boston, I was devastated. I also knew that the parishioners would be heart broken. Fr. Dan had brought new life into the parish.

During his last weekend here, Fr. Dan spoke to the congregation at the end of all the Masses. As he spoke you could hear the soft cries from the members of the Youth Ministry as well as the parishioners. He knew how sad we were but he asked the parishioners to remember that “the priests are the interchangeable parts of the parish, but Christ is the constant. Keep Christ the constant.” Those words were the last that Fr. Dan preached at St. John’s. It was such a powerful statement that he left us with, that it quickly became a mantra with our Youth Ministry.

Though Fr. Dan was only at St. John’s for 8 months, his legacy will remain with us forever. He gave young people a desire to participate in the Mass and to develop a devotion to Jesus Christ. If there is one thing that Fr. Dan would want everyone to remember about him was how he loved to celebrate Mass. He was at ‘home’ on the Altar. This love helped start a Youth Mass on Sunday nights. Attendance at this Mass was quickly growing. On one particular Sunday I remember Fr. Dan in such a cheerful mood. It was a very busy morning and there was a lot going on in the Parish and I had to stop and ask him why he was so excited. He answered me: “This morning I woke up and I was psyched. I thought to myself, I am celebrating three Masses today. That is what it’s all about. The Liturgy is so important.”

Fr. Dan was right, that’s what it is all about. The Liturgy, the celebration of our love for our Savior, Jesus Christ. Even at a young age and such a short time as a priest, Fr. Dan impacted everyone he encountered. St. John’s Youth Ministry continues to speak about him often and pray for him always. We also have a strong devotion to praying for Vocations. Something we know that Fr. Dan is very pleased about. We miss him every day, but we know we have a special angel watching over us. Reminding us to always Keep Christ the Constant.

- written by Erin Flaherty

What does running the Boston Marathon and discerning one’s vocation have in common?

Quite a lot, according to Daniel Kennedy — a seminarian at St. John’s Seminary in his third year of theology.

“Running a marathon is a journey that parallels, in many ways, discovering a vocation to the priesthood,” he declared.

On Patriot’s Day, Kennedy will be among the 20,000 runners who will test their resolve as they participate in the 110th Boston Marathon…

“Whether it’s running the course from Hopkinton to Boston, or it’s thinking about becoming a priest at age 7 or 8 and finally realizing it on ordination day, there are many curves, bumps, hills and heartbreaks along the way,” Kennedy said.

Read the full article at: Boston Pilot: Seminarian’s marathon run to raise vocation awareness

As I reflect upon my first six weeks as a priest, there are a full range of notions and emotions which come to mind. Each day seems to be a new adventure. Both the ordinary and the extraordinary have taken on a new meaning as I adjust to the new configuration of my identity.

The Ordination and Mass of thanksgiving over Memorial Day weekend were milestones in my life, unlike any other. The sight of the Cathedral of the Holy Cross teeming with people who truly love the priesthood should be in every vocations video.

You can read Father Dan’s full reflection (and see more photos) at Cardinal Sean’s Blog: The reflections of a newly ordained priest.

Evidently hospitals have a listing of religious affiliations of the patients and Catholic chaplains visit those patients on the list. One of the patients listed as a Catholic had a note written next to his name stating that he did not want to see any Catholic, priest or otherwise.

When Danny saw the notation on the listing prohibiting clergy from his room,  contrary to the instructions, he immediately went to visit the man. As anticipated he was promptly told by the patient to leave the room as he wanted nothing to do with Catholics. Danny was however able to establish a brief conversation about hospital food, etc and just when he thought he was making headway the man launched a vituperative volley of insults concluding with the remark that, “He particularly did not want to see a priest like Danny in his room and get out of here”.

Danny then told him he was not a priest, he was just a seminarian. The patient glared at him and told him that years ago he also was a seminarian. That was the basis for a discussion which culminated with Danny convincing him that at this point in his life when he was so seriously ill he might want to reconsider his unwillingness to see a priest. The patient agreed to have Danny facilitate a meeting with a priest. Danny immediately when down to the Chaplain and told him the story and urged him to visit the man. In a short time the Chaplain returned, furious. He accused Danny of setting him up to be humiliated by a patient and said, “He blasted me and threw me out of the room”.

Danny told the Chaplain to come with him as he bounded back upstairs to the patients room. He told the Chaplain to wait out in the hall while he went into the room. Speaking in a strong and determined voice, he said, “Jim, you and I had an agreement. You told me that you were willing to see a priest, why did you throw that priest out of your room?” He yelled back at Danny that he had changed his mind.

Still determined, Danny told him, “You gave me your word that you were willing to see a priest so, change your mind back again because I am going to bring in a priest with me and I expect you to honor your agreement.” Jim agreed he had given his word so Danny went out in the hall and brought in the Chaplain introduced him to Jim and left. Later that day the Chaplain told Danny he spent almost two hours with Jim and he did hear his confession.