Father Jim Schmitmeyer's Homily At Father Ken Keller's Funeral Mass

It was a quiet night in the lakeside village of Santiago Atitlán. Sounds travel far in that isolated region of Guatemala where the only night time noise is that of animals. No AC units. No sound of cars or highways. No planes flying overhead or trains nearby.
 
The sound of three men breaking into the rectory of St. James the Apostle Church at 1:30 AM must have echoed well beyond the village square. The assailants had come to kidnap, then torture, Father Stanley Rother. They had come to turned him into one of the desaparecidos (the missing).
 
They stormed his room. There were muffled noises of a struggle. Bodies crashing into furniture and against the walls. There was a gunshot. Then another. Then silence, followed by the sound of feet scrambling away.
 
Father Rother never called for helped.
 
This except I just read
is from a book entitled, The Shepherd Who Did Not Run.
It is the story about a priest from Oklahoma named Father Stanley Rother.
An ordinary guy who grew up on a farm,
became a priest
and died in Guatemala in 1981.
 
Last September, Father Rother was beatified in Oklahoma City.
The first American born martyr to the faith.
 
Around the time that Father Rother was beatified,
a small group of priests here in our diocese
gathered on a Sunday evening
to discuss this biography
and the life of Stanley Rother.
        
 
I was a part of that group
and so was Father Ken.
I remember Ken talking about much enjoyed reading the book
and how deeply it moved him.
        
I remember him saying that, several times,
he had to stop reading and put it aside.
The tears in his eyes made impossible to continue.
 
______
 
Today, there are tears in our eyes for a similar reason.
 
Not because of anything particularly heroic.
        
But simply for the fact
that an ordinary man,
a man whom we ourselves knew,
chose to follow an extraordinary call.
 
The call to be a priest.
 
In the case of Father Ken,
that call took shape in a lifetime of tireless service.
His ministry among us was nothing less than a life time
of heartfelt compassion.
 
There is not person in this church
who did not experience something of Father Ken’s
boundless energy,
his ready smile,
his genuine concern,
his bottomless faith…
his faith
in the essential goodness of humanity
and the profound mercy of a God
who loves His people without a hint of restraint.
 
Last week, a man stopped by my office.
Years ago, this individual had sought Father Ken’s help
during a tough dark time.
 
At one point in our conversation, he looked at me and said,
“How many people do you think Father Ken helped in his life?”
He shook his head and said,
“Just think it,
the marriages he rescued,
the young people he inspired,
the babies he baptized,
the homeless people he fed…
you could never count them,” he said.
“You could not begin to count them.”
        
He’s right.
And it makes you wonder
what causes people to live their lives in such a way?
These saints who live among us.
Not just courageous martyrs like Father Stanley Rother.
Not just compassionate pastors like Father Ken Keller.
 
I’m thinking of all those people we encounter in life
whose witness to love and service to others
impresses us,
and, at times, overwhelms us.
 
Like the coach at the high school
who helped your daughter discover her talents and grow in confidence.
 
Or a certain nurse at the facility where your mother is receiving rehab
who gives your mother tenderness and attention well beyond
the call of duty.
        
Or your grandfather whose wisdom taught you to be a man.
        
Or the brother who went off to war and never home.
 
Or the wife whose tough love carried you through years of addiction.
 
What it is, at the heart of this life,
that makes some people so good at living this life
with all our heart?
        
Most folks would say that it comes down to the word love.
After all, love is what we live for.
Life is nothing without love.
 
This is true.
And because it is true,
most of us would agree that the words, “I love you,”
are the most important words that a person can say.
 
“I love you.”
 
We long to speak those words.
We long to hear those words.
Again and again.
 
This is true.
It is true for most people,
but it is not true for everyone.
 
This is not true, for instance, in the life of priest.
 
A priest does not live to hear the words, “I love you.”
 
Rather, the words that a priest longs to hear
are words
that he once heard
in some mysterious way
in the deepest part of his soul…
 
They are not the words, “I love you.”
 
No.
The words he that he longs to hear
on the whisper of the wind,
in the silence of his prayers…
the words that spends his entire life
straining to hear again and again.
are the words:  
 
“Come, follow me.”
 
Come, follow me.
_______
 
One morning, in the early light of dawn,
the Risen Christ looked into the eyes of Peter and said,
“Peter, do you love me?”
 
Peter replied, “Yes, Lord, I love you.”
Jesus responded. “Then feed my lambs.”
 
In the same conversation,
Jesus asked Peter a second time, “Do you love me?”
Then, again in the same conversation,
 he asked him a third time, “Do you love me?”.
 
But then, after the third time,
Jesus spoke the last words that he would ever speak to Peter.
 
The last words that the Gospel records Jesus saying to Peter,
are not the words, “Do you love me?”
 
Rather, the final words that Jesus spoke to St. Peter
are the very same words
as the very first words
that Peter heard fall from the lips of Christ:
 
“Come, follow me.”
 
______
 
Ken…
come, follow me.
 
Follow me
to the streets and overpasses
where the homeless are lying.
 
Follow me to the hospices
where gay people are dying.
 
Follow me to Ground Zero on 9/11
where families
and a city
and an entire nation are crying!
 
Come, follow me.
 
Follow me to St. Mary’s where
where eager young people
are waiting to be led.
 
Follow me to Lubbock
and learn how to heal
marriages that are hurting
and need to be fed.
 
Come, follow me.
 
Follow me to St. Joseph.
Follow me to Bovina.
Follow me to Nazareth.
 
Feed my sheep!
Tend my lambs!
Shepherd my flock!
 
Come, follow me.
 
I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.
 
Do not fear, Ken.
Do not let your heart be troubled.
I will show you the Way.
The Way of the Cross!
 
The way of giving
all that you have to give.
 
The true way,
the only way
that leads to that Kingdom where, finally,
all is made new
and all is made right!
 
Where the hungry will be fed.
And the wounded will be bandaged.
 
And every tear wiped away.
 
And death itself is nothing more than a bad dream!
 
Come, follow me!
          
_______
 
Last fall,
Father Ken reflected on the witness of a priest
who gave his life to Christ and His people,
and was moved to tears.
 
Today,
you and I reflect on the witness of Father Ken.
And we can’t help but do the same.
 
______
 
Come! says the Lord.
Come, follow me!