Life in city changes but our faith remains strong

After his wife passed away, Father Frank Daly returned as a man of the cloth and we all benefited.

We got to love his homilies about the challenges of raising families, but also hearing that with prayer and God, all things are possible. Yes, our society and culture may be changing, but our family values remain strong.

This past Sunday, we learned Father Daly was saying goodbye to the Catholic parishioners of South Boston as he leaves for a new assignment as pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows in Sharon.

When Father Daly delivered his farewell comments, you could see many of the parishioners at St. Brigid and Gate of Heaven Church wiping their eyes with tears of sadness. In such a short time, he made such a big impact.

The weekend brought more proof of the enduring strength of our community.

The fourth anniversary of the passing of Navy Lt. Tim Cook was held in the church hall where three deserving young students were recipients of partial scholarships to Boston College High School.

Tim was a graduate of BC High and a naval officer who, after combat duty in Iraq as a medic, returned home only to face new challenges and passed away in 2014. But his life inspired his family, friends and neighbors to establish a scholarship in his memory.

The church community all took part in the special memorial Mass and ceremony that reminded us of Tim’s patriotism, friendship and contributions to others.

But our day was not yet over. In his homily, Monsignor Liam Bergin told us a story about a young Iraqi man named Ragheed whom he first met studying for the priesthood at the Irish Pontifical College in Rome in 1996 — a college where I took many visitors from Boston at about the same time, when I was ambassador to the Vatican and living in Rome and knew all the students.

Father Ragheed Ganni was brutally murdered by ISIS terrorists in a Mosul Chaldean Catholic Church because he refused to close the doors. He became known as “Fr Ragheed of the Eucharist.” Iraq once had 1.2 million Catholics, but today only has 400,000.

Yes, our city and culture are changing, but we still know where to go to be reminded about all the great people who work hard and sacrifice every day to help keep our neighborhoods safe.

As I said to Jimmy Donovan, “a Southie legend” who’s an usher and volunteer at the church, maybe these special events are the reason why we never move and so many others want to move in.