MEMORY LANE

Father Kelly thought differently when it came to the church. He considered that he was head of this church and was going to make some changes. He wanted this church to operate like other churches on the outside.

One Sunday he stood up in front of us and said, when you come up for Communion I do not want you to come to the altar row by row and in line. I want you to come out of the pews when you are ready to come. He guided us and showed us how he wanted it done. I looked at the nun’s faces and they were in shock.

The next Sunday we were told by the nuns to proceed to the altar the same way we had done for years When we started to leave the pews row by row and in line, Father Kelly stopped the Mass and was so furious he was red in the face. This was his church and it was going to be run the way he said. From then on we went to the altar the way he wanted. I felt like we had gained a little bit of freedom and felt less institutionalized that day.

I also remember we did not have to go to Confession all the time. Living under such strictness what could we possible do that was so wrong? Many times I would make up a sin like "I stole a pencil" simply because I had no sins to confess.

Father Kelly was a big Irishman and very good-looking. We always hoped he would be the one saying Mass that Sunday. Just by these little changes he made in the church he brought some of the outside world into my life where people were free and someday I would know that freedom.

I still think of Father Kelly and how I felt that day and still get the same feeling I had that day. Thanks to Father Kelly he showed me there was a light at the end of the tunnel.