The circumstances of Fr. Mychal Judge’s death on September 11 obscure his place as one of the great New York characters. If you don’t know, Judge was chaplain to the FDNY and a legend among them. He chose poverty, first of all. He felt it brought him closer to God.
Yet like a great Irish priest Judge had ten thousand best friends, some very powerful. He delighted in the best food and drink. But he had limits. He was a sober alcoholic. He knew the bottom. Most of his ministry was to outcasts, the sick and homeless.
In spite of all his great friends, few people knew him well. He was a gay man, and made no apology for that. He simply felt it was his own business. Some of the firefighters knew. No one cared. He was always first to a fire and last to go.
Here is the beautiful and very funny homily from Fr. Judge’s funeral. hnp.org/wp-content/upl…
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