SWAMPSCOTT — St. John the Evangelist Parish has announced that Fr. James Kelly, known for his brief yet potent sermons, will retire on June 6 after nearly a decade as the church’s presiding priest.
Fr. Kelly turned 75, the retirement age for diocesan priests, in December. He said his health has failed exponentially over the last few years, and it is time for him to rest at the Regina Cleri residence for retired priests in Boston.
“It’s a good time to take it easy for a while,” Fr. Kelly said.
Currently, Kelly presides over the pulpits at both St. John’s in Swampscott and St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Nahant.
Shortly after his retirement, Fr. Kelly said, the two churches will be joined together as a collaborative. He said they will led by Fr. Paul Hurley, who served as the 24th chief of chaplains for the U.S. Army, and Monsignor John McLaughlin, the former director of spiritual formation at St John’s Seminary in Boston. McLaughlin currently resides in the Diocese of Oakland, Calif.
Fr. Kelly began his career at St. John’s in 2013 after four decades of religious leadership across Massachusetts since his ordainment in 1973. He said throughout the entirety of his career, he felt a particular sense of accomplishment in his ability to move people with five-minute sermons.
“I think I’ve been able to touch people in their hearts and their souls — especially by my preaching,” Fr. Kelly said. “I don’t preach long and I think that’s not only just appreciated, but people tend to hear you better when you don’t have 20 minutes of talking. Five minutes is more conducive to people’s attention spans today.”
The parish will host an afternoon appreciation for Fr. Kelly on May 21 at the Knights of Columbus function hall in Nahant.
