Eulogy for Joe Bradley
Fr. John P. McNamee
SOME YEARS AGO …
JOE BRADLEY SUGGESTED : “JOHN, MIKE DIBERARDINIS WITH SOME FELLOW STUDENTS AT SJU
PLAN A VIGIL AT THE ARCHDIOCESE
ABOUT THE SILENCE OF THE CHURCH THE ESCALATION OF VIETNAM INTO CAMBODIA
HOW ABOUT WE JOIN THEM
NOT LET THESE YOUNG GUYS GO ALONE?
EASY FOR ME … NOTHING BUT A FEW SCOWLS FROM CLERICS AND WORKERS ARRIVING FOR A DAY AT THE OFFICE
FOR JOE, MORE COSTLY
EVENTUALLY THE “VIGIL” OUT AT VILLANOVA WITH JOE’S GUYS WEARING BLACK ARM BANDS
AND STANDING DURING A GRADUATON TALK
BY A GENERAL OR AN ADMIRAL - A VILLANOVA GRADUATE ?– A LEADER OF THE CAMBODIAN EXTENSION
EASY FOR ME COSTLY FOR JOE
THE END OF HIS VILLANOVA DAYS…
JOE, NEEDING WORK
OFF TO NEW YORK AND RIKER’S ISLAND ON HIS OWN … STILL A MINISTRY
YEARS AND YEARS LATER
FATHER DICK APPICI, AN AUGUSTINIAN,
HOME FROM YEARS IN PERU, RETURNS TO VILLANOVA
BRINGS JOE INTO AN OFFICIAL CURICULUM PROGRAM FOR PRISON INMATES “LIFERS WITHOUT PAROLE”
AFTERWARDS PROFESSOR JOE BETZ, ALSO AT VILLANOVA, BRINGS ON JOE, AS PART OF THE GRAY PANTHERS PROGRAM FOR AGING INMATES SEEKING RELEASE.
JOE BRADLEY CONTINUED TO MENTOR UNTIL 2019 AND HIS FAILING HEALTH JOE’S WIFE, MARY ELLEN, WITH HER MINISTRIES AND JOE’S
TOGETHER BECAME A TANDEM
(I THOUGHT THAT MARY ELLEN
BELATEDLY BROUGHT JOE INTO THE HOMELESS BATHING MINISTRY AT HOUSE OF GRACE CATHOLIC WORKER/ST. FRANCIS INN
IT WAS ACTUALLY THE OTHER WAY AROUND
MARY ELLEN JOINED JOE IN A SERVICE HE WAS ALREADY PROVIDING)
BESIDES ST. MALACHY,
BAINBRIDGE HOUSE, ANOTHER COMMUNITY AND MINISTRY
WITH WEEKLY PRAYER AND TUTORING AT A LOCAL PUBLIC SCHOOL IN SOUTH PHILADELPHIA
SUE AND VICKIE OF BAINBRIDGE HOUSE JOINED MARY ELLEN AND
THE CATHOLIC WORKER, JOHANNA BERRIGAN AND MARY BETH APPEL, AND JOHN WANENCHAK IN CARING FOR JOE AT THE VERY END
OTHER MINISTRIES AND WORKS WERE AN ENDLESS LITANY TO JOE CATHOLIC PEACE FELLOWSHIP - FIFTY YEARS AGO, JOE, A FOUNDER, WITH TOM O’ROURKE, SISTER ANNE BONIFACE, MYSELF, AND OTHERS - CONTINUES STILL MONTHLY MEETINGS AT ST MALACHY
WHERE JOE WAS A CHOIR MEMBER AS LONG AS HE WAS ABLE
I NEED MENTION THIS LITANY BECAUSE YOU WOULD NEVER HEAR IT FROM JOE I ALWAYS KNEW HIM AS A MAN OF FEW WORDS:
ASKED ONCE ABOUT A SMALL BLACK AND WHITE PHOTO NEARBY JOE RESPONDED “OH, THAT’S MY DAD WHO WAS A GOLF PRO.” ASKED ONCE ABOUT, WHY VILLANOVA
RATHER THAN SETON HALL UNIVERSITY, ALMOST A NEIGHBOR TO HIS EARLY HOME IN WEST ORANGE, NEW JERSEY
LIKE NOVA, A BASKETBALL SCHOOL
“I DON’T KNOW” SAID JOE.
“I REGISTERED AND STARTED AT VILLANOVA IN ONE DAY– I HAD NEVER BEEN THERE BEFORE”
I OFTEN THINK OF JOE BRADLEY
IN AN IMAGE FROM ST MATTHEW’S GOSPEL ECHOING THE PROPHET ISIAH
IN MATTHEW, JESUS IS PRESENTED AS THE GREAT ONE
WHO SPEAKS “JUSTICE TO THE NATIONS AND DOES NOT SHOUT
OUT IN THE STREETS”…
THAT IS HIS WALK AND HIS SPEECH SO SOFT THAT HIS STEP WOULD NOT BRUISE A BLADE OF GRASS NOR HIS BREATH BLOW OUT A FLICKERING FLAME
THE UNLIKELY COMBINATION OF STRENGTH AND GENTLENESS TOGETHER
THAT SCRIPTUAL IMAGE OF STRENGTH TOGETHER WITH A LOVELY GENTLENESS ALWAYS REMINDED ME OF JOE BRADLEY,
A MAN OF GREAT STRENGTH AND FEW WORDS
AND ONE MORE THINK
IN RECENT TIMES I NOTICED BY HIS CHAIR A ROSARY AND SPIRITUAL BOOKS
REMINDED ME OF A SAYING OF THE GREAT BLAISE PASCAL… “YOU WOULD NOT SEEK ME IF YOU DID NOT POSSESS ME.”
WE WILL MISS HIM
MAY HIS SOUL AND ALL THE SOULS OF THE FAITHFUL DEPARTED, REST IN PEACE …
Fr. John P. McNamee is a Co-Founder of Philadelphia Catholic Peace Fellowship