Father Paul Keenan: Sage for the Ages

By Shelley Kaehr

One of the great luminaries of the Catholic faith has passed from earthly life and unfortunately, you probably haven’t heard of him unless you live in New York City. 

My friend, Father Paul Keenan, was surely one of the greatest teachers of our time whose insightful messages of hope and faith reached people from all walks of life.  Bestselling author, Wayne Dyer called him, “One of America’s foremost spiritual teachers.”

Until a few years ago, Father Paul co-hosted the unbelievably popular radio talk show, Religion on the Line, with Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, Executive Vice President of the New York Board of Rabbis.

As you might imagine, this is quite the lively program!  I had the opportunity to join Father and Rabbi on air at the ABC studios in Penn Plaza early one Sunday morning shortly after the Hezbollah bombing of Israel a few years back, and needless to say it was an hour of intense debate featuring a few shouting callers.  Oh how I do love radio!

Father Paul went on to be part of the launch of the Catholic Channel on Sirius Satellite Radio where he hosted his show As You Think.  Throughout the years, he covered every major Catholic news event including funeral coverage for both Pope John Paul and Mother Teresa (You can see his full list of media credits in the bio below).

In one of our last communications, Father Paul wrote to me about his amazing experience covering the Pope’s visit to New York for ABC Radio Network:

I first met Father Paul a few years ago after he heard me on Coast to Coast AM radio show, bought a copy of my book Beyond Reality: Evidence of Parallel Universes and wrote to me to tell me how much he enjoyed it. 

I was impressed – to say the very least – that someone of his background would be so open to my far out ideas of alternative worlds and realities.  Once I got to know him, I realized he was clearly one of the most non-judgmental souls I had ever met. 

Since that first meeting I continued to see evidence of his incredible grace and human compassion and cannot express how much his friendship and counsel has meant to me.  I later learned he lived many years as a Jesuit priest, which I can only imagine expanded his intellectual capacity and tolerance of all people and belief systems.

A few years ago I had the opportunity to publish two of his five books:

Elisha’s Jars; Enjoying Abundance & Prosperity When Life Seems Limited, and

The other night, just before I’d learned of his passing, I found a copy of Elisha’s Jars on my nightstand and began to read it again.  It is a beautiful story from 2 Kings 4 1-7 about a widow who is in debt and is about to lose her home and family if the obligation is not quickly repaid.  She wisely turns to the prophet Elisha who teaches her to use what she has on hand, remain faithful, and seek her own counsel.  Of course, all is well in the end, and she lives happily ever after in abundant prosperity.

The book is especially meaningful to me these days with so many people concerned about the high price of gas and food and uncertainty of the future.  It offers a message of hope I believe is sorely lacking in the world today.

Elisha’s Jars reminds me of the abundant forces of the universe available to assist us in our darkest and most uncertain times.  Surely in the final analysis, all will be well with the world if we are only willing to remain open to that possibility.

Father Paul’s other book Beyond Blue Snow, is a series of profound essays on living, which Deepak Chopra says, “Brings the practice of spirituality to a very practical level…”  In Blue Snow, Father Paul discusses everything from spiritual housekeeping to the true meaning behind the term epiphany.  His writing is simple, straightforward and always feels as though you are listening to advice from an old friend.

As fellow writers, Father Paul and I would often discuss our latest book projects, articles and columns.

I’ve often wondered why more people don’t know about Father Paul and lately had the strange feeling that his message may have simply been ahead of its time.  Perhaps posthumanously, his wisdom may finally reach the mass audience it greatly deserves.

He passed away June 10 and was buried on Friday June 13, 2008, which happened to be his 62^nd birthday.  He died quickly and suddenly doing what he loved best – rushing off to a media event.

The world was a far better place with Father Paul Keenan in it.  He was truly one of the good guys in this life, a man who walked his walk and lived what I would call an exemplary life.  I will miss him more than these words can tell you.

My only condolence is the fact that he lives on now through his writings and teachings and many radio archives, and in those difficult chapters of my own life, I can still open a page of a book and hear the voice and sound advice of a wonderful friend.

I encourage you to read his books and find out more about this great teacher.  Visit his website at www.fatherpaul.com