WILLIAM CLEARY

Several months ago I ordered a copy of Mr. Clearys book..."We side with the morning." I got it from Ava Maria Press.
I did not know if I would like the book, but I loved the title...!
How I wish I had ordered many more copies of this wonderful book.
I had never read a prayer someone else had written...that made me feel that he knew what I was thinking...that made me feel like "I" had written the prayer.
Sometimes when I read one of these wonderful prayers, it just hits...

I found out only recently (2015) that Bill had died in 2012. I met Bill just by chance at a Call to Action conference in Milwaukee in 2004. Although we talked for just a little while between sessions, I ended up reading his Prayers to an Evolutionary God, The Jesuit's Escape, and We Side with the Morning. Bill had sent me that last book in manuscript form before it was published. I later ordered three copies of it when it was published, two of them to give them friends. I have re-read We Side...

I am so sorry to hear today (Nov 21, 2013, of Bill's passing. What a joy he was for many of us marred priests. When he took over our FCM newsletter he changed us by inviting real stories of actual ministry, and many of us then stepp0ed into a more active role to continue our priestliness. He was a dear friend and mentor, enormously talented. I bought and promoted many of his books in my own ministry, and only now (computer crash 2 years ago) coming to search for his email address
I am...

Dear Roddy,

Bill was my “angel” when I entered the novitiate. Did you have angels in the convent? Angels guided us through the schedule for our first week or two in the novitiate. I remember standing with Bill outside the chapel that week while someone was practicing the organ. As we stood there he rhapsodized about the sound of an organ. Bill and Vince O'Flaherty entertained us all through our seminary days with their music. I particularly remember the singing monologue...

Roddy and family:
I first knew Bill at Creighton Prep in Omaha where I played half of a three-legged Plastic Scholastic in one of his musicals. Later, while studying theology in Toronto I would travel to New York for Christmas week and our meetings of the Jesuit Writers Bureau reps. I spent a summer as an editor at America when Bill was there. The last time I spent time with Bill was at the honeymoon party at Philip Scharper's home in Stamford. I regret that our paths did not cross again...

Dear Roddy,
May these few words be a consolation in your loss!
Though I've not met you, I knew Bill through his compositions. In 1985 while a participant in the "Sunday Bunch" in the DC area with, among others, Pat and Carl Hemmer, I purchased a set of three audio cassettes "Bill & Jill I, II, and III" [Jill Lewis, soloist]. Bill's music and words attuned to peace and justice issues have been a companion to services and reflection moments since then. Bill lives on in so many ways...

Dear Roddy, Please accept my deepest condolences. Whenever I visited my mother at her condo in Burlington, I always enjoyed seeing you and Bill. His wisdom and kindness were his calling cards. My thoughts and prayers are with you in this sorrowful time.