Our Lady of Mercy dedicates Father Michael Sullivan Hall

By Tom Tracy - Florida Catholic

DEERFIELD BEACH | Daniel Sullivan still remembers watching his brother, Father Michael Sullivan, and another of their siblings, Patrick Sullivan, handcraft a large stained glass window that hovers high over the sacred spaces at Our Lady of Mercy Church.

So Sullivan said he’s pretty sure his priest brother, who served as pastor here from 1995 to 2003 and has been retired since 2005, would have liked to have been on hand Dec. 18 for the dedication ceremony of a parish hall in his name.

The beloved priest suffered a fall recently and was unable to attend the event, which was led by Archbishop Thomas Wenski and Father Kenneth Whittaker, Our Lady of Mercy’s current pastor, who brought the project to completion.

“He was looking forward to this and he lives just a few blocks away,” said Daniel Sullivan, a member of St. John Neumann Parish in Miami and one of many members of the extended Sullivan family who attended the dedication event.

“He didn’t like a lot of attention but he liked this idea because he has a firm attachment to the parish,” Daniel Sullivan said.

One of 14 siblings, Father Sullivan was ordained in 1966 by Archbishop Coleman Carroll atSt. Mary Cathedral in Miami, after earning degrees at Georgetown University and St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore.

The event also paid tribute to the 50th anniversary of Father Sullivan's priesthood. He was a vocation from St. Rose of Lima Parish in Miami Shores who attended St. Patrick High School in Miami Beach. (The school is now PreK-eighth grade.)

Prior to the start of the event, Barbara Moriarty was working hard, making final preparations to a historical photo display in the new Sullivan Hall. A longtime member of Our Lady of Mercy Parish and part of the women’s club who prepared the refreshments, she noted that all the parish social functions had been held in the main church until the hall was added, along with a gazebo area that Father Sullivan commissioned.

“Probably the best year while he was here as pastor was during our silver anniversary and this parish came alive, and it culminated in a big dinner-dance at Crystal Lake Country Club. It was a year that people got all excited (about the community),” Moriarty said.

Parishioner Josephine Baldanza said that without the hall the parish could not hold fundraisers, youth ministry activities and religious education programs. The women's club also held their Christmas luncheon here.

“Where would we have those without this hall? It encourages families to bring their children because we have classes here,” she said, noting that new parishioners benefit from the gathering space.

“We are a small parish, we all know each other, we all love each other and truly work together work and care about each other,” said Baldanza, who has been coming here for 30 years.

“I know when I come in I feel an amazing peace and all my aches and pains are gone,” she added. “Everyone who walks through the doors to Mass are happy, smiling and saying hello to each other, whereas sometimes as a big church you walk in and don’t really know anyone.”

In his homily, Archbishop Wenski offered a special welcome to the Sullivan family, many of whom come from St. Rose of Lima Parish in Miami Shores.

“His family — I am sure — will convey to him our prayers for him and our gratitude for his service to this parish community,” he said. “Also allow me to thank Father Whittaker and all of you for being one of the parishes with ‘holy doors’ that welcomed pilgrims during the recently concluded Extraordinary Year of Mercy.”