Everything Happens For A Reason

Living past the death of a loved one, especially when the loved one is someone like Fr. Michael Sepp, is sometimes hard to deal with. On the one hand, we all know we were lucky to have him for as long as we did; but on the other hand, we feel cheated. Many of us feel like he was the last person who should have died. After all, he did so much good and was so dedicated to helping others. I'm certainly not nearly as giving as my brother was, yet here I am.

What is the reason why God took Micheal? It's certainly hard to fathom. But I think time will tell. Many believe that Michael can do even more good work in the spiritual realm. He certainly wasn't afraid of death and in some ways even embraced it. Maybe he was preparing himself for more good work. In any case, I'd like to believe that all this has happened for a good reason.

It's something that I have come to believe in the year or so since Mike was diagnosed with cancer. The thought of him dying or suffering often brought me to tears and frustrated me so much because I just couldn't get my mind around it.

One of the things that had happened as a result of Michael's vehement dedication to his priesthood (and consequently, his parishioners) was that Michael became slightly more distant from the family. This was not because he was alienating us intentionally, but simply because the level at which he was determined to serve his community required a great deal of attention. This was especially true at Sacred Heart, which is a tremendous parish with a large school. He simply didn't have the time for us that he once had.
However, the treatments that followed his diagnosis with terminal cancer, were frequent and long. He often needed company when receiving transfusions or chemotherapy. I say "needed" but it was mostly "wanted" I think and when I look back at this, despite the horrific impetus behind it all, I cherish these treatments. They were often long and in the middle of the day. He had to get there during rush hour and stay for hours on end, but these hours were precious time that I had and many of my siblings had - and even my mother had on one or two occasions - to spend with our beloved Michael.

Now, I've been unemployed for a very long time. In fact, I started my bout with poverty and unemployment just after Michael was diagnosed. It occurred to me that though this seemed very much like a curse (I was newly married and struggling to start a life with my wife and despite a fairly good education found myself bored and jobless) it was actually a blessing. Maybe God knew that this was going to be the way that Michael and I could reconnect. That I would have an opportunity to learn things from this man who had so much to say yet had so few opportunities to share things with me. One of my sisters lives in Connecticut and she, for reasons of geography as well as her own familiar obligations, was also underemployed during this time. This just so happened to open up many opportunities for her to attend Mike in these last precious moments before he finished his earthly "assignment".

Sometimes what seems like a curse or a misfortune might just be a tiny part of God's big plan.

Priest, Son, Brother, Friend

Fr. Michael Sepp was born into a modest New York family on March 11th, 1953. He was the first born son and the second child of Joan Duffy Sepp and Elmar Sepp. Elmar was an immigrant from Estonia who supported his new growing family by working as a carpenter. Joan had worked as a New York telephone company operator before settling into family life. They had six children by the time Michael was 17 years old. At the age of 24 he found God calling him to serve Him as a Catholic priest in the Archdiocese of New York. By the age of 29, he was ordained into the priesthood by Terence Cardinal Cooke in 1982. He served the parishes of St. Batholomew in Yonkers as a Deacon and then St. Rita's in Staten Island for his first parochial assignment as a priest. After serving the people of St. Rita's for six years, he chose to follow a call to become a missionary priest in South America. Michael loved the film "The Mission" and wanted to serve the poor. He went to Cochabamba, Bolivia to study Spanish while awaiting an assignment that never materialized. The political climate in Bolivia combined with a the death of his beloved Aunt Mary in New York, inspired him to return to New York where he felt he was needed and could do more. He was immediately assigned to Our Lady of Angels parish in the Bronx where he would serve for 6 years. There he honed his Spanish language skills. He soon found that there was a poor parish in Manhattan's Harlem that needed the help of a good priest. Michael was soon at Resurrection Church on West 151st Street. After six years of service as the pastor of Resurrection, Fr. Michael was then assigned to what would be his biggest challenge, Sacred Heart in the South Bronx. It was actually just over the Macombs Dam Bridge from Resurrection and an easy transition in some ways, but Sacred Heart, a much larger church and school, needed more attention and more of Fr. Michael's energy. He gave all of himself to Sacred Heart, as he did with each parish he was assigned to. A short time after taking the healm at Sacred Heart he was asked to add to that responsibility and take over as pastor of an additional church on Shakespeare Avenue called, St. Francis of Assisi. He certainly was a busy man and stayed that way until the end. Just days after his 56th birthday, on the night of March 13th, 2009. Fr. Michael Sepp gave up his earthly body and took his reward in Heaven.

This blog is meant as a tribute to Fr. Michael Sepp: an amazing priest, a perfect son, a loving brother and a dedicated friend. Feel free to post reply messages with nice or funny stories about Fr. Michael.