It is easy to put the pastor on the pedestal, and to forget that he (or she) is a human being with interests beyond the church. Take a look at one young man who has melded that interest with ministry in an unexpected and delightful way.

WEST FRANKFORT - Students of St. John's School, their parents and other members of the parish rocked the night away last weekend at the Knights of Columbus Hall as a part of the celebration of Catholic Schools Week.

The occasion was the last in an annual national weeklong series of events kicked off locally with a children's Mass followed by a parish brunch on the last Sunday in January. Throughout the week, students broke up the ordinary school day routine with crazy hat and crazy hair day, and gathered with parents and siblings on Wednesday night for Family Reading Night.

Friday ended the school week with visits from motivational speakers and Friday night's party provided by the Parents Group, where the parish was entertained by their very own Father Trevor Murry and his band.

The band, Father Trevor and the Little Flowers, was a huge treat for the students who got the opportunity to see their parish priest in a different light and reacted as they might toward a celebrated rock star.

Most of the band members had traveled to the performance from Belleville, where Murry, a native of Pinckneyville, served as assistant before being named pastor at St. John's. His current duties also include serving as priest at Sacred Heart in Zeigler and St. Aloysius in Royalton.

"All the members of the band are parishioners at St. Teresa's Parish in Belleville, which is named for St. Teresa of the Little Flower," Murry said, explaining the unusual name for a band made up of adult men and women. "We started almost accidentally. We used to get together and practice music to be performed at church, and after practice, we'd stay around and start playing a lot of classic rock. We began playing at parish events like the parish picnic, and eventually we started playing at a jazz club once a month."

During my last year as a seminarian I met Trevor, a young man who was at the beginning of his path towards priesthood. We were different ages and at different stages of our lives as well as different seminaries, so I never really got to know him, though he seemed like he was a good guy.

It was therefore a pleasant surprise this morning when, doing a quick glance at the website for one of my old hometown newspapers, I ran into this article. It is sort of cute, and I just feel like indulging myself by putting it out for your consideration. Enjoy!

Posted by: Greg at 12:55 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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