“In a hurry” to spread the word

In the 90’s I was asked to be a Courage chaplain and I attended the National Conference in Washington D.C. I happened to sit next to Father Harvey, not knowing who he was. What struck me was how attentive he was to the speakers. His head and his body was up and down as the speakers spoke. “Who is this priest?” I learned later it was Father Harvey.

Fr. Harvey on the go.

Later I was at a workshop in Boston and took a train down to New York to meet him to discuss our work in San Francisco. He was very generous with his time. Later he came to visit and spoke at my parish to a group of priests.

It amazed me how he was able to travel around the world for Courage at his age. The last time I saw him, he was coming off the altar at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe and I was going on to the altar. He excused himself, “I am in a hurry, I have a press conference to attend.” And he was gone. That’s how I remember him; “in a hurry” to spread the word about Courage. To have met in Mexico City - me from San Francisco, he from Philadelphia - was a great moment of providence which I’ll never forget.