In Memorium: Fr. Patrick McGarrity, C.Ss.R
-
June 22, 2022“Well done, good and trustworthy servant. You have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things, enter into the joy of your master.” (Matthew 25: 21)
There are many television programs (i.e. The Voice, Master Chef, So You Think You Can Dance, America’s Got Talent) that encourage, enable, and empower ordinary people to “shine,” be discovered, and bring great joy into other people’s lives.
On these programs people share their abilities and talents, performing before a live audience and before millions of people at home, hoping to win a grand monetary prize, receive a trophy and be crowned a champion, be named the best among their peers, and hopefully obtain future fame and fortune.
I have no doubt that Fr. Patrick McGarrity could and would have been a “shining star” on any of those television shows mentioned above as he was a multi-talented Redemptorist priest, pastor, preacher, spiritual director, counselor, mentor, professor, formator, colleague, confrere, and friend who generously shared his God- given talents and gifts for God’s glory and for the betterment of God’s People. Pat lived, witnessed, proclaimed, cherished, and celebrated proudly his vocation as a Redemptorist, as a Consecrated Religious, and as a Priest.
As a professed Redemptorist for 65 years he proclaimed, lived, and witnessed to a broken and wounded world Our Holy Redeemer’s message of God’s everlasting unconditional love for all. As a devout, holy, prayerful, humble, and dedicated servant priest for 60 years, Fr. Pat prophetically and boldly proclaimed “glad tidings to the poor, liberty to the captives and justice for all.” In his meticulously well-prepared inspirational and often very long-detailed homilies, Fr. Pat eloquently shared His deep love and understanding of Holy Scripture with us. So often, his homilies reflected his desire to teach the Church’s dogma and doctrine to God’s people.
Pat had a marvelous and uncanny ability to explain the importance and significance of St. Alphonsus’ theological teaching of the “Crib, Cross, Holy Eucharist, and the Blessed Mother Mary” with his listening audience.
In his preaching of God’s Sacred Word, Fr. Pat became The Voice for the voiceless as he spoke up for the protection of the rights of the poor, the downtrodden and forgotten and the most vulnerable, particularly the Unborn. He promulgated the Church’s traditional teaching of peace and justice by boldly proclaiming and campaigning for the respect and protection of the dignity and rights of every human person from conception to natural death. He proclaimed this message of truth and hope through his reflections on St. Pope John Paul II’s Gospel of Life and his constant condemnation of our modern “Culture of Death.” Pat promoted and defended the rights of all for life, fair housing, excellent education, equal employment, and proper health care.
In celebrating the Church’s Sacraments with the People of God, like Jesus, Pat was a compassionate, loving, Good Shepherd with his beloved flock. In the confessional his kind and consoling words brought great healing, comfort, and forgiveness to God’s broken, scarred, and wounded people as he touched them with the gift of God’s unconditional grace, love, and mercy. In his great passion of reverently celebrating the Eucharist, like Jesus the Master Chef, Pat invited and welcomed all to the banquet table of life to remember, celebrate, and believe in the Real Presence of Jesus present in their midst as they consumed His Sacred Body and Precious Blood.
Fr. Pat had a great love and passion for taking care of the infirmed, the elderly, and the dying. He often referred to this passion as his special “peer ministry.” His special love and compassion for the sick, the elderly, and the dying was so evidently shown in his personal care for his mother Margaret while he pastored at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in New Holland and with our own Redemptorist confreres at St. Clement’s Residence in Ephrata.
Over the years he made countless visits to shut-in parishioners and to the suffering and dying patients at the various hospitals and nursing facilities in Lancaster County. In his visiting and anointing of the sick, elderly, and dying Pat brought great comfort and solace to those suffering physical, emotional, and spiritual ailments; reassuring them that they were not alone on their journey of suffering since God was still as they faced, carried, and embraced their cross of pain and anguish.
We all know how much Pat enjoyed dancing. He gracefully and reverently tap-danced with Jesus, Lord of the Dance, in his daily prayer, meditation, study, and worship. The Risen Jesus filled Pat’s heart with life, grace, humor, enthusiasm, and love. Pat fervently waltzed into the hearts and lives of so many people.
He shared our Redemptorist Charism and our beloved St. Alphonsus’ message of hope and plentiful redemption for all with so many students, confreres, and parishioners. He invited numerous individuals (including myself) to become his dance partner and friend as he helped choreographed our lives in Spiritual Direction and in Christian Formation. I am sure that our beloved Jesus: The Lord of the Dance has brought Pat home to His Eternal Heavenly Dance Hall for all his faithful service and ministry.
I am certain that Pat is now gloriously and joyfully Irish-jigging in God’s Kingdom. He is now Dancing with the Stars: with Jesus, Our Holy Redeemer, Our Mother of Perpetual Help, all our Redemptorist Saints, with all our deceased confreres, with his own deceased parents and siblings, and with all the faithful departed marked by the sign of faith.
We all are keenly aware that Fr. Pat “had Talent.” Pat was talented in the pulpit, on the stage, in the classroom, and in his parochial ministry. Like the good, faithful, and trustworthy servant in the Parable of the Talents, Pat cherished the gifts and talents that God graciously and generously bestowed upon him. Pat wisely used his God-given abilities for God’s glory and for the benefit of others.
Unlike the worthless servant in the parable, Pat never buried his talents, nor did he use them for his own personal glory, fame, or fortune. Rather, Pat used his abilities, gifts, and talents to fully live out his vocation and mission to love, honor and serve his God, and faithfully minister to and with God’s People.
We are grateful for Pat’s many years of Redemptorist Priestly Ministry. We do hope and pray that Pat now is experiencing the fullness and joy of eternal life as we take great comfort in the words of our Founder St. Alphonsus: “Let us not lose the beautiful crown which I see prepared for everyone who lives in observance and dies in the Congregation. I am certain that Jesus has prepared a beautiful place in Paradise for those who die in the Congregation.”
Fr. Pat, my dear brother and loving friend, may you Rest in Peace and until we see and meet you again, may Jesus, Our Most Holy Redeemer hold you in the Palm of His Hand.