247 Days: Father Dan Kennedy, A Proud and Happy Priest

Father Daniel J. Kennedy had hundreds of friends and they already know much of this story - the winding course that took him across several continents, through nine marathons, in and out of the seminary, and finally to ordination as a Catholic priest. Father Dan’s style was to go at a 24/7 pace and, as a newly ordained priest, he kept up that pace. Day or night he answered calls with a cheerful grin and genuine concern, but after just eight months after receiving Holy Orders - 247 days - Father Dan was called to his eternal home, when an undetected heart condition felled him just eleven days after his 34th birthday.

Through his father’s eyes, this is the story of his ordinary and high-achieving youth and then his extraordinary call to Holy Orders and the Roman Catholic priesthood. It is an account of the Lord’s persistence in guiding a stubborn young man who was fully engaged with life to turn his long stride toward priesthood. As a college student he entertained the vision of himself as a priest of Christ, but the image faded when he was swept up in the world of work, travel, and play. Yet he remained a faithful Catholic, and he never stopped wondering what God really wanted from him.