God bless you Fr. Jim McNamara! - Parish of the Holy Cross

A letter to Father Jim
Fr. Jim, You came to us at the Parish of the Holy Cross as the hand-picked successor to Fr. Bill,
probably with a great deal of input from Fr. Bill and Fr. Joe, our founding co-pastors. You were the
author of three books and columnist of the Long Island Catholic, a well known presenter of retreats
all over the country and world, and a spiritual director to many, but we didn’t know you. We only
knew you as this public person, and to be truthful, these facts were a bit daunting to us.
But, the first thing you did when you got here was kneel down and ask for Fr.
Bill’s blessing. What a beautiful and humble act on your part, and what a quick
way to find a way into our hearts.
In the ensuing years, we’ve gotten to know the man, the priest and the pastor.
You have weathered the ups and downs that occur in one’s life and in the life of
the parish, always with a prayerful and hopeful attitude. You invited
parishioners to come to Mass regularly and to pray with Scripture in the
peaceful atmosphere of your house garden during the summer months of
leisure time. With your guidance and leadership, we as a parish have sold a
house, bought two houses, knocked down one house, built a community vegetable garden, created
a shrine to the Blessed Mother, constructed a Children’s Memorial Garden, and enhanced our parish
and house grounds with many individual projects. You wholeheartedly embraced our Outreach
efforts to reach out globally to help those whose lives were in poverty. When asked to consider a
project, you always gave it thoughtful reflection, you never just said “no,” but “How can this be
accomplished?” You consider a request, ask for input, make a decision and act! You truly lived up
to the name we dubbed you when you first came, “Father Yesterday!”
Your attention to all the needs of your people, in both happy and sad moments, are an inspiration to
us who work with you. You are patiently there with your listening ears and heart, sometimes just
present, but most times with chocolate chip cookies. You will be remembered by all the young
people in our parish whose Religious Education classes you visited, and who were always surprised
when you called them by name on Sunday. You called forth the young families in the parish to be in
leadership roles in ministry and service. You introduced us to the beauty of Assisi and the life of St.
Francis, and the journeys of St. Paul.
You live your life as a priest in constant prayer, and your example of prayerfulness is one we hope to
model. So you are still the author, the columnist, the retreat giver and spiritual director you were
when you came, and also Vicar, but now you are our friend and we thank God for these almost
eleven years with you. We wish you an abundance of happiness in your new parish and home. We
will miss you, but know that you
are always in our hearts.
Your loving
Pastoral Team and Staff
4
Father Jim, Father Bill
and Fr. Joe with the
Pastoral Team and Office Staff