TRUMBULL—When Kelly Anne Murphy talks about the good works the Church does, she recalls her grandmother Margaret Conlisk, an immigrant from County Mayo who like many others came to America from Ireland and brought their faith with them. They took jobs as housekeepers and laborers and lived lives centered on Christ.
“My grandmother always said that you never miss anything you give to the Church,” Kelly Anne recalled. “You went to Mass and put your money in the basket…and it better not jingle.”
She and her husband Dan share that ethic, and this year were named the vice chair couple of Renew 2020 Annual Catholic Appeal, whose goal is $9 million. Members of the Parish of St. Catherine of Siena in Trumbull, they regularly volunteer at Thomas Merton Center and St. Catherine Center for Special Needs, along with other ministries.
“Our parents raised us in a Catholic house and it has carried on down the generations,” said Dan, who admits to becoming fully immersed in the faith after their oldest daughter Alana started asking theological questions at 6-years-old, which he describes as “pretty deep.” He must have done a good job answering them because today Alana is a senior at Boston College with a double major in philosophy and English.
The Murphys are committed to Catholic education. All four of their children attended St. Catherine of Siena School, where Kevin is a 7th-grader. Sean is a freshman at Trumbull High and Bridget is a junior at Fordham University, majoring in mathematics.
“Catholic education is very important because it reinforces what is happening at home,” said Kelly Anne, who is also a catechist for eighth-graders. Service was a fundamental part of their family life. “Whenever we were involved in different activities, we would bring our kids with us,” Dan said, “so they could see Mom and Dad in action with other families.”
Both daughters participate in programs that include tutoring children in the South Bronx and traveling to Lourdes with members of the Order of Malta to work with other volunteers hospitalers assisting the sick and infirm.
The Murphys are members of the Order of Malta and also volunteer during the organization’s annual pilgrimages to Lourdes for the sick visiting the shrine to Our Lady.
Dan, a CPA with 20 years of executive finance and accounting experience, is a fourth degree member of the Knights of Columbus and belongs to the Ancient Order of Hibernians. The Murphys have seen firsthand the programs that benefit from the Annual Catholic Appeal. Kelly Anne is especially focused on St. John Fisher Seminary and Catherine Dennis Keefe Queen of the Clergy Residence for retired priests because her uncle, Father John Conlisk, was a priest in the Diocese of Bridgeport. She still recalls the first time she volunteered at the Merton Center. “I was on the line, scooping out the food and trying to interact with the guests, and I looked across at these people and thought any one of us is two steps away from being in that line, and it hit home that we were really blessed. We’re not in the line and we are blessed to be serving in the line.”
“Nearly eight out of ten families are living paycheck to paycheck nationwide,” Dan said.
“That means if the next paycheck doesn’t come in, people don’t eat and they don’t pay the bills to keep the lights on….We see families with young children and unless you’ve been there, you don’t understand that it is a much wider demographic getting services from Merton and the other programs in Fairfield County.”
The Murphys live less than five miles from the Merton Center and often bring their sons with them to help serve so they see the poverty that is so close to home, even in Fairfield County.
“The people who come in that we serve are our guests. That is the Catholic way of looking at it.
There’s no other way to view it,” Kelly Anne said.
“What we are able to do for our brothers and sisters, we are doing for Christ,” Dan said.
“To be part of the Annual Catholic Appeal and bear witness to all the works that are done on behalf of Catholic Charities is a privilege. You can serve in three ways—with your time, your talent and your treasure. The fact is you need all three.”
By Joe Pisani
