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You have to go where the People are…

From a talk that Fr. Father Richard Leonard gave at a Lenten mission at Our Lady of Hope Church     

     Father Richard, who is from Australia, had just been ordained and he and another newly ordained priest were assigned to St. Thomas' parish in the "red light" district of Charing Cross. It was Christmas time and he and the other priest were asked by the pastor to concelebrate midnight Mass.
    One of the parishioners was a seamstress and made Father Richard vestments for the occasion. The vestments were all lined in a gold fabric. He said, "it made him look like a Christmas tree." Father, nevertheless, "went on." Father was also asked to sing part of the Mass as he had quite a fine voice.
    Midnight Mass that Christmas Eve was beautiful and Father was in fine voice. When the congregation accompanied him in some of the hymns, he kept hearing a lovely deep baritone voice coming from the back of the church. Father looked back there and saw that it was coming from the back row, where much to his surprise, he saw four transsexuals dressed to the hilt, with their flowered dresses and very large hats. He thought that, now, he had seen everything.
    After Mass he exited the church and greeted the parishioners on the way out. Much to his surprise the "girls," in their ostentatious finery came up to him and congratulated him on the Mass, his voice and the golden vestments that he wore. They, too, thought he looked like a Christmas tree. One of the "Girls" introduced "himself" and said his name was Gwendolyn (Michael, was his real name). They asked him if he would come and see their show which was to go on at 2:00 a.m. that morning. Father said, I really don't know about that; but, thanks" for the invitation."
    When Father Richard and the other priest got back to the rectory they discussed the idea that "since they came to us we should go to them." They said,after all, Christ reached-out to tax collectors and prostitutes, why shouldn't we?"
    So off they went to see Gwendolyn and the "girls" perform. They sat in the back, afraid that they might be seen by some of the parishioners. After one of the "girls'" performances. Gwendolyn stopped and said to the audience, "We have a special guest tonight, Father Richard from St. Thomas' Church and I would like him to come up on stage and sing 'Hark the Angels Sing' for us; he's got a great voice." Just then a spot- light hit Fr. Richard flush in the face - he was in "shock" and didn't know what to do.
    Fr. Richard sang that night and became friends with Gwendolyn (Michael) and the other "girls." Their friendship grew and later Michael decided to change his lifestyle and returned to his wife and family in another city.
    One day, Fr. Richard received a call from Michael asking if Father could come and perform the marriage ceremony of his son. He said it would mean a lot to have him there during such a special time.
    The understanding, kindness and friendship that Fr. Richard offered had a great impact on Michael and helped him find his way back to his family.
    One of the other men straightened out his life also. He, relocated, got married and raised a family. Of other two, one got aids and died and the other was never heard of after he left show business.
Your Editor Dennis