The Healing Journey

April 11, 2026

The following is excerpted from a homily delivered by Deacon George F. Kain at the Funeral Mass for Father Lawrence F. Carew at St. Joseph Church in Danbury. Fr. Carew, who served throughout the diocese, died on February 16, 2026 at 85. He was known for his commitment to pastoral care, evangelization, prison ministry and the Charismatic Renewal.

To Father Larry’s extended family and dear friends, Glenn, Chris, Jean and Cheryl, and to all those who knew Father Larry and cared for him over the last year especially, please know that we are united with you in sorrow and in prayer today as we commend his soul to the loving care of our Father in Heaven.

As I’m standing up here, I’m reminded of the many times that I spent in this church when Father Carew was assigned here for many years in the 1970s. Many of us here today were part of a prayer group that he started which ministered to both young people and adults. It wasn’t unusual in the mid-1970s to have 150 young people meeting in the school gym, right across the parking lot on a Saturday night, praying and singing well into the night. So, it’s an honor for me to be here with you to share about Larry — Father Larry — and how he was such a powerful witness of Christ’s love for us and for so, so many people….

How much of an honor is it? I can honestly and truthfully tell you that if it weren’t for Larry, I wouldn’t be here today. I might be alive, but I would not be as alive in Christ as his counsel and guidance has led me to where I am today. And I know that others in this room would say exactly the same thing about the powerful influence that he had on their lives. So, onto what’s most important here today. We are here to celebrate the gift of life that was given to Fr. Larry Carew and how that gift of life transformed Fr. Carew’s life into his becoming a life-long servant of his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Because THAT, my friends, is what our life in Christ is ultimately all about….

There are so many ways that Fr. Larry’s witness touched so many people; it seemed that he was always looking for ways to reach out to others. His prison ministry included directing a retreat for inmates who suffered from sexual abuse — a model that was adopted and used in prisons across the country.

Fr. Larry shared with me a story of an inmate he had been counseling at the maximum security Garner Correctional Facility. He’d been trying to work with this inmate, and when he prayed with him, week after week, he would offer to put his hand on the inmate’s shoulder while praying, but he wanted no part of it.

This man had been so severely abused that he wouldn’t allow anyone to touch him. Imagine why he was in so much trouble in his life. And one day while they were praying, and Fr. Larry was sitting across from him, he noticed that during the prayer, the inmate turned around and looked behind him as if someone were there. After the prayer ended, Fr. Larry asked him why he had turned around, and the inmate said to him, “I felt the hand of someone on my shoulder — and that someone was Jesus.” What a miracle. What a ministry. This man’s life was changed forever.

A couple of months ago, I was talking with Fr. Larry about death. His mobility had been severely limited. He was on oxygen and struggling to breathe. And he said to me, “I’m not afraid of dying, I’m ready to go! But I just don’t feel that it’s time. There’s more that I need to be doing in ministry.” Here was a man, a priest of Jesus Christ, who had done so much to help other people. He could hardly walk and was struggling for air, and he said, “There’s more for me to do — in ministry!”

I leaned forward and said: “Larry, whatever the Lord is calling you to do now, you’re already doing it. You’ve dedicated your life to prayer and intercession, and the Lord is continuing to live that life through you right now. Your prayer now is ministry. You have been a good and faithful servant.”

He looked at me with what is, I’ve learned from his brother Paul, “that Carew stubbornness!” He just kind of stared at me. Maybe for a brief moment, Fr. Larry had temporarily lost sight of the reality that death had already been defeated, that the Lord had other plans for the life of a man who had sacrificed and suffered so much for so many….

And so eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let the perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace, Amen.

(Deacon George F. Kain, Ph.D. is Police Chaplain of Ridgefield and Adjunct Professor at Western Connecticut University.)

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