\nD<\/span>eacon Kevin Ranaghan, one of the first permanent deacons in the modern history of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, delivered his last homily at St. Bavo Parish, Mishawaka, April 28. Because he has served there for 34 years, a few tears flowed as he expressed gratitude to God, his gifted and supportive wife Dorothy, the four bishops and five pastors under which he has served and \u201cthe people of God at St. Bavo\u2019s.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cThis is such a warm, friendly, caring parish,\u201d said Deacon Ranaghan. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to say goodbye.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nThe feeling is mutual. Longtime parish secretary Sue Alwine called him a \u201csweet man with a delightful personality, always a joy to work with. He\u2019s part of the Bavo family, and we\u2019ll really miss his presence.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nGus Zuehlke, in charge of faith formation at St. Bavo, said, \u201cI will miss Kevin Ranaghan a lot as our deacon. He has proven himself a marvelously committed servant of the Lord. He\u2019s a superlative preacher who brings the Gospel to ordinary people\u2019s lives with such grace and dignity. He and Dorothy together have done a great job of witnessing Christian family life to our parish. And I will miss his singing of the \u2018Exultet\u2019 on Holy Saturday.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nAlong with his wife, who is a teacher, theologian and author, the Ranaghans helped train three classes \u2014 about 15 permanent deacons \u2014 for the diocese at the Apostolic Institute in the early 1970s. Most have since died, retired or moved out of state, but Deacon Brian Miller is still at St. Anthony de Padua Parish, South Bend.<\/span><\/p>\nBishop Leo A. Pursley ordained Deacon Ranaghan in 1973. He is grateful for Bishop Pursley\u2019s wisdom and foresight in approving implementation of formation for the permanent diaconate in this diocese so soon after the reforms of Vatican II.<\/span><\/p>\nDeacon Ranaghan holds a Ph.D. in theology from the University of Notre Dame. He loves to prepare and deliver homilies. About once a month during his tenure at St. Bavo, he would give all the weekend homilies, which was a great support to the busy pastors. Father Jim Shafer, who served at St. Bavo for 13 years, found it \u201cextremely valuable. Having him preach once a month gave me and the people a break, and his homilies were always excellent.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nFather Barry England, the pastor at St. Bavo for 15 years, agreed. \u201cHe\u2019s a faith-filled person who was very supportive of me and the parish. I certainly wish him God\u2019s blessings in his well-deserved retirement.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nAn appreciative Deacon Ranaghan joked, however, during the homily on his last Sunday at the parish that, \u201cThe CD of\u2019 \u2018Kevin\u2019s 50 Great Homily Hits\u2019 will not be available after this Mass.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nThere\u2019s much more. Read it all.\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"God love him. From Today\u2019s Catholic:\u00a0 Deacon Kevin Ranaghan, one of the first permanent deacons in the modern history of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, delivered his last homily at St. Bavo Parish, Mishawaka, April 28. Because he has served there for 34 years, a few tears flowed as he expressed gratitude to God, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":298064,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[1484],"class_list":["post-298061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-deacons","tag-fort-wayne-south-bend"],"yoast_head":"\n
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