Suddenly, Fr. Kevin Fete departed for heaven (1952-2006). The affable priest left behind some sad faces, but his work was far from done. Posthumously, he's become a minor Catholic celebrity through his appearances with Dr. Ray Guarendi on the EWTN series What Catholics Really Believe. But there is evidence that his saintly fame is just beginning.
This story is told by Susie Melkus, of Omaha, Nebraska:
When I get to talking about Fr. Kevin — I get jazzed.
While on a May 2007 pilgrimage to Rome, I had turned in my room key and was standing near the entrance to the Rome hotel waiting for a friend. This was an exciting morning, as we were preparing to go to the Papal Audience and then leave for Assisi. As I was leaning against the wall, still a little awed by the last few days of touring Rome and visiting such holy sites and walking on sacred ground as we'd done the day before at the Coliseum, I saw Father Gerard Willger who'd come into the lobby and stood near me. We greeted each other as normally as anyone would do. He'd been traveling on bus #1 with us, but I'd not actually met him yet.
I began to share my thoughts of being at the Coliseum and how sobering it was to contemplate what went on inside those walls. I had heard that St. Thérèse of Lisieux had visited there, and she had prayerfully bent down to gather a fistful of sand from the floor of this massive structure where so many saints shed their blood and gave their lives for love of the Eucharist and the Church. She took that bit of sand back to France with her to remember the fallen saints and here I'd been there the day before remembering her. It had given me pause to then be on that same holy ground thinking of this holy lineage, this complete "family tree" of our big brothers and sisters. The air felt thick with their presence as we traversed the cobblestone streets and the veil that separated us seemed so very thin!
I began to tell Fr. Gerard about how my husband and I had come back to the Catholic Church only 2 years ago, and how special it was for me to stand at the Coliseum yesterday, remembering all the saints and their courage and faith. I then began to tell him that the Communion of Saints wasn't a hurdle for me and explained that I'd been praying to a priest who had passed on last summer of kidney cancer. As I described this priest, who I'd never met, by the way, Fr. Gerard's eyes opened wide and his jaw literally dropped and he started to shake his head back and forth as one does when astonished.
"You don't mean Father Kevin Fete?" he asked.
"Yes," I told him.
He shook his head, stroked his chin, "This is mind-boggling! Just mind-boggling! Father Kevin and I were good friends. I was in his class in Notre Dame. When he died, Fr. Kevin willed all of his icons to me. I have all of his icons."
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Here I was, in Rome, talking to a priest from Wisconsin and out of all the 90-plus of us on this tour, he was not only a priest who knew Father Kevin but was a dear friend.
Every time we met in Assisi, we talked a little more, and he'd tell me a little more about Father Kevin. The rest of the day, whenever we saw each other, we both shook our heads in disbelief.
In the Rome airport before we departed for the States, we smiled, hugged and I told him, "Pray to your friend. He's powerful and is waiting to hear."
Back in the states, by email, I told Father Gerard that I'd made Father Kevin our "patron saint' of our apostolate "Reconnecting to the Truth" (RECON), because of Fr. Kevin's love for Sacred Tradition, Orthodoxy and Truth. It was so evident on the DVD he made with Dr. Ray. I recall how we'd gotten the DVD but had not opened them. When I'd heard about Fr. Kevin's passing I opened the package and on the back of the DVD was my first glimpse of Father — he was laughing, and, from the look of him, laughing hard. What a wonderful "first impression!" I knew I was going to love this priest.
I long to know, and defend the Faith; and I have learned to love and to share it with others in the most gentle but firm way, thanks, in part, Fr. Kevin. With Fr. Kevin's legacy now available to us, this DVD series can bring a wonderful defense of Catholicism into our homes in a most unique way. The series is humorous and poignant and that's how I pray to be when sharing our Catholic faith with others. To listen to Fr. Kevin explain aspects of our beloved faith is a phenomenal and precious gift that God has left us and given us to share with others.
Maybe, too, it's the "Three Stooges Connection." I'm joking of course. When I heard Fr. Kevin loved the Stooges, it made me grin. I knew he was not only a holy man but a holy man with a blessed sense of humor. Is there a better combination? Holiness and humor go hand in hand. Jesus was certainly holy and I'll bet he also laughed and laughed hard, not only with his friends and disciples, but probably "at them" a little, too, all with charity. I see that light in Father Kevin's face on the screen and also in my "mind's eye" or should I say, my "soul's eye." His holiness and his humor are more alive than ever now.
As I read in one obituary on line, Father Kevin was known to say this: "Do not make the minimum requirement your maximum responsibility." How profound and true! I would add, "Don't pray minimally on your own, but maximize your prayers with a beloved saint! And who better to have for a prayer partner, than a Priest Forever in the line of Melchizedek."
Dear Father Kevin, you've only changed pulpits. Pray for us!
You can reach Susie Melkus through the blog for her apostolate: Reconnecting to the Truth (RECON).
Fr. Kevin Fete and Dr. Ray Guarendi's DVD series, What Catholics Really Believe, is available through Nineveh's Crossing.