Fr. Michael Murphy is staying active, connected in retirement
Father Michael Murphy is finding balance between full-throttle and full-stop.
It’s simply a matter of time.
“There’s a certain level of satisfaction with being able to keep a hand in ministry while enjoying the freedom of being retired,” said Fr. Murphy, who stepped away from full-time ministry on July 1.
Now living in his own home in Macon, he’s reconnecting with parishioners while filling in for fellow priests and treasuring the memories of his first 37 years of Priesthood.
“I retired for health reasons, but I will stay active in ministry for as long as I’m able,” he said.
Come and see
Fr. Murphy grew up in San Diego, California, and went to Catholic grade school and high school in Oxnard.
He enlisted in the U.S. Navy after graduating.
“I got really active in the Church in Hawaii during my last two years in uniform,” he recalled.
Several parish priests there inspired him with their example.
“They had tremendous gifts that they shared by being priests of God,” he said. “I began to feel that maybe I had some gifts that I could also share.”
Those priests and the vocation directors from several men’s and women’s religious orders were convinced that Fr. Murphy had a priestly calling and encouraged him to pursue it.
As a seminarian, he studied at St. Joseph College in Los Altos Hills, California, and St. Patrick Seminary in Menlo Park, California.
Through prayer and reflection, he realized that God was calling him to minister in a more rural locale. He decided to continue pursuing Priesthood for the Jefferson City diocese, completing his studies and formation at Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology near Milwaukee.
He assisted the pastor of St. Peter Parish in Jefferson City for six months as a transitional deacon.
On Dec. 9, 1989, in the Proto-Cathedral of St. Peter, the late Bishop Michael F. McAuliffe of Jefferson City ordained him to the Holy Priesthood.
Steady waters
Fr. Murphy set about ministering with a balance of steady practicality and pastoral zeal.
“When you’re with the people of God, you focus on their goodness,” he said. “We encounter Christ in one another. To the extent that I can see Christ in his people, I do more good and receive more blessings.”
The new priest served for two years as associate pastor of Immaculate Conception Parish in Jefferson City before becoming pastor of St. Michael Parish in Kahoka, Shrine of St. Patrick Parish in St. Patrick, and the former Mission of St. Martha in Wayland.
“That was my first rural assignment,” he recalled. “I went into the seminary in the Bay Area in California and finished up in Milwaukee. I was in two of the largest parishes in the diocese and then went to Clark County, where I had less than 200 families spread over three parishes.”
He learned a lot from the people and enjoyed the six years he spent there with them.
The late Bishop John R. Gaydos appointed him pastor of Holy Family Parish in Freeburg in 1998.
“That was my first time as pastor of a parish with a school,” Fr. Murphy noted.
A year later, when the late Monsignor Ralph Kutz PA retired, Fr. Murphy assumed the additional role of pastor of St. Aloysius Parish in Argyle and the then-Mission of St. Boniface in Koeltztown.
The death of Father Patrick Quinn that same year brought Sacred Heart Parish in Rich Fountain — which also has a school — and the Mission of St. Alexander in Belle into the fold.
“That’s when I coined the phrase, ‘The Holy Handful,’” Fr. Murphy recalled.
Helping to keep the handful holy was Father Kevin Gormley, who was recovering from eye surgery at the time.
“I didn’t have all five (parishes) by myself,” Fr. Murphy noted. “Fr. Kevin did the lion’s share of the work at Rich Fountain and Belle. But I was pastor of all five for a while.”
From there, he was appointed pastor of Immaculate Conception Parish in Macon, St. Mary Parish in Shelbina, the former St. Patrick Parish in Clarence and the Mission of Sacred Heart in Bevier.
He then served as pastor of the much larger St. Patrick Parish in Rolla.
Health issues called for a slower pace, so he became pastor of St. Ann Parish in Warsaw and the Mission of Ss. Peter and Paul in Cole Camp.
He then served for five years as pastor of St. Joseph Parish in Salisbury and St. Mary of the Angels Parish in Wien.
From there, he went to Pulaski County, where he was pastor of St. Robert Bellarmine Parish in St. Robert and St. Jude Parish in Richland for the next five years.
For part of that time, he also led St. Cornelius Parish in Crocker and St. Theresa Parish in Dixon.
“The bottom line is, I’ve really enjoyed being a priest of the Diocese of Jefferson City, which brought me to many communities and activities,” he said.
Wondrous love
Fr. Murphy emphasized that priests are called to walk humbly with God’s people while sharing the love of Christ.
“Because it’s all about Christ’s love,” he said. “‘in persona Christi,’ as we say,” meaning “in the person of Christ.”
“Christ’s love is life-forming and life-giving, and our world desperately needs that,” the priest stated.
His favorite titles for Christ are “Prince of Peace,” “the Master Teacher” and “the Master Physician.”
“If you are open to God’s love, it brings peace, it brings healing,” he said. “As we’re healed, we turn to Christ the Teacher, through whom we find life.”
Fr. Murphy noted that living God’s love and sharing his peace require sacrifice.
“When we give in to our own self-indulgence, it brings us into conflict with Christ’s love,” he said.
Everyone struggles with sin.
“We’re all sinners, and all we can do is try our best to live out the love of Christ,” he said. “Whenever self-indulgence takes over, we have to try again and keep working at Christ’s love.”
Fr. Murphy has endeavored to reinforce these lessons through word and action throughout his Priesthood.
“I’ve done it very imperfectly, but it’s been the goal and consistent message of my work — in my homilies, in my working with people, throughout my Priesthood,” he said.
Along the way, he discovered that “the people of God are fantastic wherever you go.”
“All of my parishes have been good,” he said. “I’ve enjoyed ministering to the wonderful people of God.”
Gentle of heart
Fr. Murphy is pleased now to be renewing acquaintances in Macon and “keeping active in ministry through weekend work.”
“‘You are a priest forever,’ but you can’t stay active forever,” he noted. “But I plan on staying active, doing the weekend work, as long as I can.”
He remains awed by the legacy of faith left by generations of Catholics who were before him and the great pastors who ministered to them.
He’s most thankful for the privilege of offering the Eucharist and celebrating the sacraments with God’s people.
He said one of the great blessings of living in rural Missouri is the sense of community that’s been maintained through the generations.
“The folks who participate in our church families are truly the living stones that make our parishes the wonderful communities of faith that they are,” he stated.
He’s convinced that the world direly needs the warmth and gentleness “generated by sweet hearts molded in the fashion of Jesus’s Sacred Heart.”
“By reaching out to people as they struggle, we have the privilege of sharing Christ’s love along with our own,” he said.
Fr. Murphy asks for continued prayers for God to help him enjoy and make the most of multiple facets of his retirement, including ministry, family and other activities.
“I thank him every day for the gift of being a priest,” he said.
Fr. Murphy can be reached by email at: frmikemurphystjoe@gmail.com or mmurphy@diojeffcity.org.
