8/9/11

A Last Letter to Fr. John Randall

Fr. John Randall

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

A last letter to Father Randall
   
8/4/11
:
 On Feb. 18, 2001 I wrote the following words while in St. Patrick adoration chapel:

I come here today with a heavy heart. I have just left Father Randall and he is not doing well at all. It scares me when I see him like this. I have asked everyone that I know who believes in God to pray for him because I fully recognize that his life is in the hands of God. But I will keep praying that the Lord will give him a few more years with the ones whose lives have been changed through him. He is my teacher and always will be. I love Father Randall for the teachings and faith that God has given me through him. (And that is the way he would want me to say it, “through him.”) He is truly a man of God.

I know that I am not alone with my feeling of thankfulness to God for having known this charismatic priest. The multitude of people at his funeral Mass testifies to this fact. Father had known of his bone cancer almost a year before he passed, but that didn’t stop him from teaching all who would listen the meaning of the Holy Spirit. He was a true charismatic. It has been 36 days since his passing, and not a day goes by that I don’t think of him. It’s been said that time dims all memories, but for me the memory of Father Randall will never grow dim. I loved him too much to let that happen. My consolation is my firm belief that he is now in the presence of our Lord where I hope to see him again someday.

Jim Cain
Providence

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