VINCENTIANS JUBILEE

AT THIS TIME OF YEAR we like to highlight those Vincentian priests and brothers who are celebrating their 25th and 50th anniversaries of ordination (for priests) or final vows (for brothers). As you can see here, this year’s jubilarians come from a variety of backgrounds and have been involved in wide variety of Vincentian ministries. Despite their differences, you will also see that they all understand what it means to serve the poor, the forgotten, the sick, and the suffering. Whether retired or in active
ministry, these men represent the legacy of St. Vincent de Paul as they “follow Jesus Christ evangelizing the poor.”

CELEBRATING 50 YEARS | FATHER PATRICK J. KEELEY, CM

Fr. Patrick Keeley was born in 1930. A native of Chicago, he came to know the Vincentians as a high school student at the old DePaul Academy, and entered the Congregation of the Mission in 1949. He was ordained a priest in 1958 at St. Mary’s of the Barrens in Perryville by Bishop Glennon P. Flavin. He earned a Master of Arts degree in classical languages from St. Louis University in 1960.

Fr. Keeley spent most of his priestly ministry in seminary education. He taught Latin at St. Louis Prep Seminary (South) from 1958 to 1964 and at Cardinal Glennon College from 1969 to 1987. From 1964 to 1969 he was the assistant novice director at St. Mary’s Seminary, the Vincentian novitiate in Santa Barbara, California. He was associate pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Church in downtown St. Louis from 1988 to 1994 and pastor of Catherine Labouré Church in Sappington from 1994 to 2001. In 2001, he was assigned to St. Vincent de Paul Church in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, but then retired to the Lazarist Residence in St. Louis in 2003. In 2007 Fr. Keeley was assigned to the Apostle of Charity Residence at St. Mary’s of the Barrens in Perryville, where he serves as an Apostle of Prayer for our Prayer Ministry program.

Former students remember Fr. Keeley for his exacting ways in the classroom and his gentle mannerisms in the corridors of the seminary. For many years he ran the Field Education program at Cardinal Glennon College Seminary, introducing students to different kinds of ministries around the Archdiocese. About his parochial ministry, Father Keeley recently said, “I…was often edified at how enthusiastically the parishioners would respond, especially to help an inner city parish that helped to feed and shelter the homeless people in that neighborhood. So many people saw the Church as a means of charity and often would ask, “Father, is there a little something extra I can do to help somebody who needs it?”

CELEBRATING 25 YEARS | FATHER LAWRENCE F. ASMA, CM

Fr. Larry Asma was born in 1947 in Waukegan, Illinois. A “late” vocation, he entered the Congregation of the Mission in 1977. He was ordained a priest in 1983 by Cardinal Joseph
Bernadin at De Andreis Institute of Theology in Lemont, Illinois. A lifelong student, Fr. Asma earned a Bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Wisconsin (Whitewater, 1969); a Master’s degree in English from Illinois State University (1974); and a Master of Arts degree in Biblical Studies from De Andreis Institute of Theology in 1983. Fr. Asma is also a Vietnam Veteran (United States Navy).

Fr. Asma has been assigned to ministries and residences in St. Louis, Missouri, for the entire length of his priestly ministry. After ordination he became the Director of Spiritual Formation at Cardinal Glennon College in Shrewsbury. In 1985 he was assigned as chaplain for the psychiatric unit at DePaul Health Center in Bridgeton, and has worked there almost continuously since then, mostly as a full-time chaplain, but more recently on a per diem basis. In January of this year, he also became a part-time chaplain at St. Anthony’s Medical Center in St. Louis.

Fr. Asma has supervised seminarians and permanent deacon candidates in their pastoral training, and wrote many policies for pastoral care. For a number of years now he has been elected to Who’s Who in America due to his expertise with psychiatric patients. In his spare time, he enjoys painting watercolors and bird-watching.

Of his ministry to the mentally ill, Fr. Asma says, “During my years in this apostolate my constant intention has been to give respect to the psychiatric patients entrusted to my care, and my deepest desire has been to facilitate a deepening of their relationship with God. These people are often bereft of respect, and ignorant of the depths of the relationship with God that is available to them.”

CELEBRATING 25 YEARS | BROTHER MARK E. ELDER, CM

Born in 1953 in Quantico, Virginia, Bro. Mark Elder entered the Congregation of the Mission in 1972 after attending St. Vincent’s College (high school seminary) in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. He took final vows in 1983. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Education from DePaul University (1978); a Master’s degree in painting from Fontbonne College (1991); and a Master’s degree in Fine Arts from the University of Denver (1994).

Beginning in 1978, Bro. Elder taught physical education and art courses at both St. Vincent’s Grade School and St. Vincent’s College in Cape Girardeau. His next assignment brought him to teach various courses, including physical education, at St. Louis Prep Seminary (South) from 1982 to 1989. From 1989 to 1991 he taught at Vincent Gray School in East St. Louis. Following that, he was asked to run the visual arts program at St. Thomas Seminary in Denver, Colorado. Since 1994, Bro. Elder has taught Art and Art History at DePaul University in Chicago.

Over the years Bro. Elder has developed a special interest in mural painting, which often becomes a community service project for the students in his classes. One of his solo murals is entitled “The Vincentian Family: The Gleaners,” a mural in the lobby of the Vincentian headquarters in Rome which depicts the five Vincentian virtues: simplicity, humility, meekness, mortification, and zeal. Other murals finished or supervised by Bro. Elder can be found in Missouri, California, and Chicago.

Bro. Elder explains his mural work this way, “There is no doubt in my heart that I received much by sharing my art. I have seen whole communities come together by letting me serve them through art. The process I use by showing people choices, coming to terms with what their values are, and showing students how this process is done, is what I feel is the Spirit evangelizing the poor…. Vincent calls us to be inventive in the pursuit of evangelizing the poor and the marginalized. I hope that I show that through my work, that this is a viable means in this pursuit.”

CELEBRATING 25 YEARS | FATHER PERRY F. HENRY, CM

Fr. Perry Henry was born in Beaumont, Texas, in 1955. He attended St. Vincent’s High School Seminary in Beaumont and entered the Congregation of the Mission in 1974. Attending the Vincentian seminaries led him to priesthood ordination in 1983. Fr. Henry earned a Master of Divinity degree from De Andreis Institute of Theology (1983) and a Doctor of Ministry degree from the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago (1998).

His first assignment after ordination was associate pastor at St. Stephen’s Church in New Orleans, Louisiana. From there he went to Arkansas, and was a founding member of the Southern Arkansas Evangelization Team, which served the spiritual and temporal needs of the rural poor. Since 1996 he has been pastor of St. Joseph Church in New Orleans, where he has been involved with the continuing transition of the historic parish as a center for outreach to the needy. Presiding over the parish before and after Hurricane Katrina, Fr. Henry has found new ways to expand that outreach. In the wake of the disaster, he has been instrumental in establishing the Rebuild Center, a joint effort established with other agencies that now provides services for 150 to 200 people every day.

Throughout his 25 years as a Catholic priest, Fr. Henry has used collaboration and creativity in service to the poor. He finds inspiration from St. Vincent himself. “He was able to attract all kinds of people and he found many ways to engage them in serving the poor. He was creative in connecting people in ways that didn’t exist before. I admire that. The spirit of St. Vincent today is to tap into people’s eagerness to serve the poor. There is a desire to help. How can we engage them?”