What I learned from my Parish Priests – How to help people!

Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Astoria, NY known as “The Mother Church of Queens County”

         Every young person has heroes growing up – not just the ones you buy from the deli. The kind of heroes I’m referring to are those kind of people – larger than life – to whom you look up to and want to imitate and emulate. Sports heroes are perennially fashionable. For me, it was the Brooklyn Dodgers Baseball team beginning in 1955. To have great players and extraordinary human beings like Jackie Robinson, Gil Hodges, Pee Wee Reese, and other greats of that era as my boyhood heroes gave me the opportunity to fantasize about one day being a baseball player – maybe not a major leaguer, but at least, a competitive player. That was not to be my calling in life.

         Another group of heroes which influenced me more than sports figures was the parish priests assigned to my childhood parish, Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Astoria. In the same years that I became infatuated with baseball, I was also able to join the “Altar Boys” (now called Altar Servers). Serving at the altar and assisting the priests for Mass and other ceremonies became one of my most and enjoyable activities. I learned the Latin responses that were required, the ways we were to assist – and after passing the “Latin Test” and the “Movement Test” – I served my first Mass as an Altar Boy in the Lower Church at Mount Carmel on December 8, 1955, with Father John Dobbyn (who later became a good friend) as the celebrant and a kid named Ronald Chabot as my more experienced partner.

         It was the beginning of a love affair with the Priesthood – the reason being, that I came to know the Priests of the parish and they became heroes. I hung out at the schoolyard to play stickball, and the priests would stop by the games and say “hello”. The Priests would visit our classrooms to distribute report cards, and on rare occasions, to teach a lesson. I saw them not just in their ceremonial roles, but also as dedicated men who brought Holy Communion to the sick who always visited the local hospital (Astoria General Hospital); who spent countless hours in the Rectory Office preparing young couples for marriage, as well as offering counseling and encouragement to whoever needed some extra help.

         One Priest stands out in particular: the Reverend Francis (Frank) Murdoch. He was loved by all. One day, he asked me to help him deliver Christmas gifts to some struggling families in the Astoria Housing Projects. He knew where the needy people lived. He would say to me, “go up to the fourth floor, ring this family’s bell and tell them Merry Christmas from Mount Carmel Parish”. I was so impressed that he knew where the poor lived and was making sure that their kids had something for Christmas. How could I not be affected by this beautiful gesture of charity?

         I wanted to be like them – the priests of my Parish. They were great people. They were my boyhood heroes. Besides my parents, the priests and religious of Mount Carmel (Astoria) Parish had the greatest influence on my vocation to the Priesthood.