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March 13, 2020When he thinks about his age, Father James Murphy finds it hard to believe he turned 94 in February, but then he thinks about all of his life experiences and the history he has seen and realizes it’s true. “Yeah, I’m 94,” he laughed.
The oldest priest in the Diocese of Grand Island, Father Murphy will celebrate his 65th anniversary of ordination at this year’s Chrism Mass. He said he also plans on celebrating with his family at a reunion in August at his family’s 100-plus year old farm “one last time,” after selling it this past year.
Born Feb. 17, 1926, to J. Emmet and Margaret M. (O’Brien) Murphy, Father Murphy grew up on the family farm near Spalding. He attended District 39 for 8 years, then Spalding Academy for 4 years. He moved to Los Angeles and spent time working for the railroad, then spent a “hitch” in the army at the end of World War II where he was stationed in the “Pentagon of the Pacific” at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. He was then stationed at Camp Polk, La., where he said he nearly faced being court-martialed—twice. “I couldn’t have been a priest if I had been convicted,” he said and credits God with getting him out of trouble both times. “I felt like I was in debt to God,” he said.
Although he had thought about becoming a priest before, it wasn’t until he moved to Los Angeles that he truly felt God’s call. “One night, I didn’t have a date and didn’t want to go out and I heard a voice. Someone said ‘what the hell do you want to do?’ and then I heard a voice say ‘Do you want to be a priest?’” Father Murphy said. “That was the turning point. This time it was because of obedience, not servitude.”
He studied at St. John’s Seminary at Little Rock, Ark., which was where he met Bishop James Duffy, the first bishop for the Diocese of Grand Island. “He was a jolly old Irishman,” Father Murphy remembered and said he spent two years traveling with Bishop Duffy. Father Murphy is one of only a few remaining priests who have known all eight bishops of the diocese. He said he was confirmed by Bishop (Stanislaus) Bona and that he “forced” Bishop (Edward) Hunkeler to let him go to the seminary, despite his own recurring doubts.
“But I liked it. I was out of the military and that ‘dog-eat-dog’ world,” he said.
He was ordained to the priesthood at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Grand Island on May 3, 1955, by Bishop John L. Paschang. His first appointment was at St. James Church in Kearney on July 1, 1955, a position he had until his appointment as pastor of St. Theresa’s Church in Mitchell and St. Ann’s Mission in Morrill in August 1961, which holds a special place in his heart. “That was my first pastorate, you always love your first,” he said.
He was appointed pastor of Holy Rosary parish in Alliance in 1967 and was appointed diocesan youth director in 1969. He said working with youth was what he has enjoyed the most and in fact, said he still teaches. This year, with a shortage of teachers, he taught fifth and sixth grade classes which he said was “clear out of my league.” Normally, he teaches seniors after confirmation. “I try to teach them life experiences, what life is about,” he said. “Once they get out of the shelter of an all Catholic school, they have to defend themselves.”
In 1973, he was appointed temporary pastor of St. Patrick’s Church in Chadron and later that year was appointed pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Scottsbluff and Sacred Heart Mission in Lyman. In 1978, he was also appointed pastor of Sacred Heart Church in Bayard, as a mission.
Father Murphy was appointed pastor of St. Pius X Church in Ainsworth and Sacred Heart Mission in Wood Lake in 1981 and pastor of Sts. Peter and Paul Church in St. Paul and St. Joseph’s Mission in Wolbach in 1987.
Even though he officially retired in 1993, he continues to assist at St. Theresa’s Church in Ericson as well as St. Michael’s Church in Spalding and Sacred Heart Church in Greeley.
