Beloved Memphis Diocese priest dies at 90
Knight wrote over 40 books on Catholic faith
Father David Knight prayed the same prayer every morning after waking up.
“Jesus, I give You my body. Live this day with me; live this day in me; live this day through me. Let me think with Your thoughts, speak with Your words, and act as Your body on earth.”
“This is why I think Christ was living through him,” said Lynne Marie Becker, “because he asked for it.”
Knight taught others the prayer he had written too, calling it the “W.I.T. Prayer,” the letters standing for “with,” “in” and “through.”
Some of the people whose lives were impacted by Knight have taken to signing their emails with the letters since his death of congestive heart failure March 21, said Becker, a friend of Knight’s and managing director of his nonprofit, Immersed in Christ.
Knight, 90, was a prolific author, the oldest priest in the Catholic Diocese of Memphis and beloved for his steadfast friendship.
He spent the last 15 months of his life at the Poor Clare Monastery in Huehuetenango, Guatemala, a trip only intended to last three months, but that stretched on due to a bout of pneumonia and difficulties traveling due to the arrival of COVID-19.
In Memphis, he had lived at the Monastery of St. Clare, a contemplative community of cloistered sisters, in Frayser until the monastery closed in December 2019.
He co-founded the House of the Lord in Memphis, a religious community, in 1979, taught at various universities, had conducted missions, retreats and workshops in 20 countries and across the United States and had served in many roles in the Diocese of Memphis, including as pastor of Sacred Heart Catholic Church for 14 years.
“He had an amazing ability to make people feel comfortable with who they were. He just met me where I was and I saw him do that with people,” said Becker, who first met Knight while she was in college 38 years ago. “He was at home with the wealthy, he was at home more so with the poor, but with everyone in between. (He was) very Christlike in that sense. Wasn’t Jesus with the rich and the poor and everyone in between, but most at home with the poor?”
Becker remembers Knight sitting and talking to people for hours at dinners held in her home. Later, he’d sometimes break into song in one of the many languages he knew.
He was there for his friends in dark times, too, like when Becker’s daughter was in a car accident, she said.
People wanted to emulate him in the way that he emulated Christ, Becker said.
“He gave us an example of someone who completely dedicated his life to God every day for his entire life,” she said. “When you feel that kind of love radiating from somebody, you want to be like that. He had this amazing ability to just radiate it.”
Father Bryan Timby remembers meeting Knight in the 1970s when Timby was living in Jackson, Tennessee.
He had gone to Knight for confession during a spiritual retreat when Knight asked him his plans for the future, then surprised him by asking, “Have you ever thought about being a priest?”
Knight told Timby to pray about it, so Timby did. Eventually, Timby would become pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church in Frayser, with Knight as one of his parishioners. He often sought Knight’s counsel, he said, or made regular visits to discuss politics, religion, church business and more.
“He never led me wrong,” Timby said. “He was always fond of saying, ‘Bryan, you’re a sinner but Jesus knew before you did and he’s willing to forgive you before you do. Go to him.’ That’s the type of message that resonates in people’s hearts.”
Knight often would give Mass at Our Lady of Sorrows when Timby needed a substitute, using his fluent Spanish. He lived an austere life, acting as a “brother to everybody.”
Timby remembers Knight visiting his seminary to give a retreat, wearing a poncho, sandals and rope belt. The seminary was rather conservative and the seminarians laughed at Knight at first — but by the end, he had won them over with his sound words, Timby said.
“He welcomed everybody in such a way that they felt loved. They felt a part of a community. Even if they were separated from the church or having family problems, after spending time with him they felt rejuvenated and would go and seek reconciliation,” Timby said.
Knight didn’t like titles that separated people and couldn’t bear being called “Reverend,” said Marsha Raus, a friend who worked with Knight for several years and cared for him when he was unwell. Terms like “father, brother, sister” were OK — because those were familial, she said.
Around his Frayser neighborhood he’d stop on the side of the road to help someone with a flat tire. He was generous with his time and money. He loved physical labor, working on big projects, rescuing stray dogs.
“He helped me connect the very basics of faith, of what you believe to making an impact on everything you do, every decision you make, how you live your life not just on the big things but on the little day to day decisions too,” said Raus, who also met Knight when she was in college, 36 years ago. “This was the core of what he taught, but also what he demonstrated.”
The author of more than 40 books on the Catholic faith and teachings, Knight’s book Reaching Jesus: 5 Steps to a Fuller Life, led to his creation of the non-profit organization, Immersed in Christ.
The five steps — the first is “to choose to make Jesus Christ as Savior an active participant in everything you do” – were a “simple solution to save the world,” he’d say, Becker recalled.
Knight also played a key role in keeping many from leaving the Church, Raus said. He did so by reminding people that “God loves you, he loves you right here and right now and you can reach out and have a real personal relationship with God right now,” Raus said.
“I think he would want to be remembered for being faithful to sharing what the Holy Spirit had shown him, that you could have a relationship with Jesus right here and right now that could sustain you through anything,” Raus said.