A bishop who cooked
LECKEY, DOLORES R.
MICHAEL KENNY, R.I.P. A BISHOP WHO COOKED HE LIVED SIMPLY, AND FULLY His signature was simple: Michael, preceded by a cross. We at the Secretariat for Family, Laity, Women, and Youth of the NCCB...
...Sometimes that person is a bishop...
...After the evening presentation, driving back to his residence, Kenny recounted not only the main points of my text, but the details, the flourishes, the small touches...
...But this time he said to several people that he wanted that particular song sung at his funeral...
...He loved music and frequently sang on all kinds of occasions: in the workplace, grace before meals, during the Mass...
...One might sit in the kitchen, observing, but you entered the culinary action only if asked...
...And why not...
...During the diocesan convention, my husband and I were queried: Are you staying with the bishop...
...To be in Juneau in a setting of natural wonder (the Men-denhall glacier near at hand), where youthful optimism and adventure are woven into the atmosphere, is to see how suited the bishop and his diocese were to each other...
...A gift for you from him, for Christ in you...
...A member of Pax Christi, Kenny held positions on peace and war that were consistent and unwavering, but he always focused on the welfare of real men and women...
...After all, he was unforgettable and (I imagine) unconventional...
...And then there were his nieces and nephews...
...Towels...
...They-the laity-were treated as partners by their bishop who wanted more than anything a dynamic sense of mission for the church of Juneau...
...So was Bishop Michael Kenny, who died unexpectedly of a brain aneurism on February 19, 1995, in Jordan, the land of Paul...
...That relationship called forth loyalty and love on both sides of the equation...
...Do you have a bed...
...Not long before his departure for Jordan, chancery staff had heard him singing "Michael Row Your Boat Ashore...
...Kenny served each guest, personally...
...A portion of salmon...
...Now people recall the line about the River Jordan being so deep and wide...
...We at the Secretariat for Family, Laity, Women, and Youth of the NCCB knew it was Michael Kenny, bishop of Juneau, Alaska...
...The first night our host, who it turned out was also a gourmet chef, prepared a feast to which he invited an array of lay leaders...
...He listened to them, guided them, learned from them, loved them...
...People left books in his living room...
...I used to imagine Paul of Tarsus similarly signing off, and first-century Christians of course knowing who it was...
...Icons throughout his home were a constant invitation to prayer...
...Yes to all...
...He would arrive for a meeting having left his documentation at home, in Juneau...
...he left notes and books for them...
...His deepened sense of drama informed his celebration of liturgy...
...Every once in a while a person appears as the very embodiment of the abundant life of which Jesus spoke (John 10:10): with a passion for justice and beauty...
...With only a handful of priests in ministry, the diocese-a cluster of islands, each with a blend of ethnic culture and symbols, from Russian to Tlingit-depends on a dedicated corps of lay ministers...
...His kitchen routine was as perfected as any ritual...
...The door to the residence was always open, literally...
...Whether in the convent or in a bishop's house, it is a deeply moving custom...
...I was reminded of some wonderful convents with ancient ways (in Britain and Israel, for example) where the prioress brings food to each one, a service to the guests who are Christ-bearers...
...A lover of the arts, Kenny served on the board of one of Juneau's theater companies...
...Saint Irenaeus's dictum that the glory of God is man fully alive was a perfect fit...
...a direct but gentle person...
...One of his final dramatic gestures-a month before his death-was to open the crypt located at the Shrine of Saint The'rese where the first bishop of Juneau, Joseph Crimont, is buried...
...He knelt for a while and prayed for his predecessor, and then announced merrily that he would be buried there as well...
...I'd give him a new set which he would quickly leaf through while I presumed him unprepared...
...He lived simply: very little meat, no alcohol, no tobacco, daily runs along Juneau's scenic pathways...
...He was only fifty-seven when he encountered the absolute depth of the Jordan River, and every one of his years was lived with energy and creativity...
...Sheets...
...Catholic Bishops...
...A bowl of soup...
...In 1990, my husband and I journeyed to Juneau, where I was the keynote speaker for a diocesan convention...
...From 1987 through 1993, Kenny was a member of the Committee on the Laity with special concern for the needs of youth and young adults...
...but the bishop was there for only part of the time...
...committed to simplicity and honesty...
...We noticed how life flowed on, whether or not he was present...
...It took a while for me to realize that, in fact, he had a near-photographic memory, not only of reading material, but of presentations that he'd heard, as I discovered first hand...
...He opposed the Persian Gulf War, but traveled to Iraq to escort Americans tot safety...
...He knew it all...
...You're lucky, our questioners laughed...
...We stayed in the bishop's residence during our week in Juneau...
...The bishop himself slept on the floor, albeit with a mattress...
...occasionally in England...
...I always had the impression that he was delighted to be in the company of Jesus...
...Now young men and women, he devoted some time each year to them, traveling to the cathedrals of Europe and camping out, or visiting the museums of America...
...Each summer he did some serious theater-going, usually at one of this country's Shakespeare centers...
...Then he'd discuss, thoroughly, the contents...
...Someone who is at home with laughter, at peace with himself, and who cultivates the ground of peace for others...
...DOLORES R. LECKEY Dolores R. Leckey is the executive director of the Secretariat for Family, Laity, Women, and Youth of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops...
Vol. 122 • April 1995 • No. 7
