{"id":2273,"date":"2008-02-04T20:46:00","date_gmt":"2008-02-04T20:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/deaconsbench\/2008\/02\/the-death-of-a-young-priest.html"},"modified":"2008-02-04T20:46:00","modified_gmt":"2008-02-04T20:46:00","slug":"the-death-of-a-young-priest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/02\/the-death-of-a-young-priest.html","title":{"rendered":"The death of a young priest"},"content":{"rendered":"

I checked in at Cardinal Sean’s blog<\/a> late today, and was stunned to read the news of the death of a newly ordained priest:<\/p>\n

<\/a>This week it was quite a shock for all of us that a young priest ordained last May, Father Daniel Kennedy, died suddenly of a heart attack in his brother’s home. <\/p>\n

I had seen Father Dan recently and asked him, “How are things going?” He replied, “Cardinal, it’s wonderful to be a priest.” I could see how enthusiastic he was… <\/p>\n

Because he was a young man who was apparently so healthy, and who had participated so many times in the Boston Marathon, of course there was no warning of his imminent death. As a result, the surprise and grief at his passing was very, very great. <\/p>\n

Our sympathy goes out to his parents and family. Dan was very close to his family — a beautiful family… <\/i> <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

+++<\/p>\n

It’s astonishing to think of someone so young, and so new to his ministry, being taken so soon. <\/p>\n

Father Daniel Kennedy was 34 years old. <\/p>\n

This young priest was an avid runner, and the Boston paper, The Pilot<\/a>, notes that he once wrote: <\/p>\n

\u201cRunning a marathon is a journey that parallels, in many ways, discovering a vocation to the priesthood. For me marathon training is a time to be alone, a time to discern God\u2019s will, a time to think and a time to pray.\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You can discover more about his life by reading his obituary from the Boston Herald<\/a>. <\/p>\n

There’s also more about him at Cardinal Sean’s blog. At this link<\/a>, Fr. Dan took over the blog to write about the first few weeks of his priesthood last summer, including the joy of celebrating his Mass of Thanksgiving. <\/p>\n

There are many more pictures at the link from the first great moments of his priesthood. Take a few minutes to see his ordination and first mass. Share the joy and pride of his parents and family. (You can also visit the parish he left behind right here.<\/a>)<\/p>\n

And after you’ve checked them out, whisper up a prayer for him, and for his family, and for the Church, which so desperately needs more young Daniel Kennedys.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I checked in at Cardinal Sean’s blog late today, and was stunned to read the news of the death of a newly ordained priest: This week it was quite a shock for all of us that a young priest ordained last May, Father Daniel Kennedy, died suddenly of a heart attack in his brother’s home.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":365,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-vocations"],"yoast_head":"\nThe death of a young priest - The Deacon's Bench<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2008\/02\/the-death-of-a-young-priest.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The death of a young priest - 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