final wordblk2

Chapter 2
T
he challenge of privacy for well loved public figures is a daunting one and certainly Leo’s life fell into that
category. Since his death was inevitable as a result of a terminal diagnosis, he needed time to process it. He
needed to be with his biological family, yet not remain too distant from the spiritual family which had grown
to be such a big part of his life and his nearly forty nine years of Catholic priesthood. He needed sacred space
to wrestle with God over his own mortality, yet he still needed the comfort of friends and family in the
process, whose stories and memories would help him to reaffirm his vocation. The problem was: how can he
have both? This was the dilemma he had shared with me by phone.
Knowing what was ahead, I had already begun to draft and idea for a website to honor his life and allow the
many people who knew him to come and share their sorrow, their prayers and their memories and find
healing. Playing on his lifelong affinity for frogs, the “Lily Pad of Prayer” was born. My next challenge
would be to convince this very private man to put his dying days on display.
I was scheduled to visit him in the hospital the next day. So with paper drafts in hand I had prepared myself
to tenderly broach the subject. My fears were allayed when he brought the predicament back up again on his
own. “ My family and I need the privacy but I need to be connected to my Church family Carol, any ideas?” I
said, ”Well as a matter of fact I do have one.” I sat on the bed next to him and shared the plan for the website,
treading lightly and gauging his reactions as we went along. Having completed my pitch, I was not surprised
by the silence that would follow. Through our many years of personal interactions I recognized the
look which signaled his careful consideration of the topic at hand before responding. “How can I be sure I
am reaching all the people that I have ministered to, like Notre Dame, Pittsfield for example? It’s important
that all people are included not just St. Rose and not just people with computers. I don't want to leave anyone
out.“ Notre Dame was Leo’s first assignment, his first love as he fondly called it, and St. Rose, nearly sixty
miles away, was the parish where he and I met, his last assignment, his last love. I thought for a moment and
uttered the words I had carefully prepared, “you can draft messages to them directly as your health allows
and I will post them on the website and e-mail copies to the parishes for inclusion into the bulletins for people
without computer access. This will be one place where they can get accurate information that they know
is coming only from you. I have already contacted all the pastors, they are standing by to help in any way