By Jay Sorgi • Posted June 6, 2025

“Welcome, everybody, welcome to this joyous occasion of offering a sacrifice to almighty God. I’m so grateful you are here,” said Father James Kelly on Sunday, June 1 at a church he’s extremely familiar with: St. Pius X in Broomall, where he served as pastor for 19 years and remains pastor emeritus.

For the dozens of clergy including Philadelphia Archbishop Nelson J. Pérez and hundreds of friends who came, the joyous occasion was Father Kelly celebrating both 75 years since his ordination as a priest on May 27, 1950 and his 100th birthday. He marked that milestone on Jan. 7 of this year.

For Father Kelly, it doesn’t take a diamond jubilee Mass, which he dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, to bring joy. A joyous occasion comes every time he celebrates Mass. Yet, this one felt special.

“I’m just thankful,” he said. “I’m almost not finding enough words to thank God for this wonderful day that He has given me to see so many friends, that I’ve been able to be involved in their life and the kindness that they have shown me. All I can say is I’m grateful to God.”

Father Kelly wasn’t the only person in the church showing gratitude.

“I asked Father Kelly at the seminary after the Mass for jubilarians was done, ‘What was your special sauce? What blessing?’” said Archbishop Pérez.

“He said, ‘Be close to the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament.’ He said to the priests, ‘Make sure you do a Holy Hour every day.’ He didn’t talk about making sure you take your day off and your month-long vacation. What he focused on was what he had been focusing on for the last 75 years, which has been his service to Christ (at) the altar.”

Father Kelly showcased his love of song throughout the Mass, singing many of the parts in a voice that he wishes could have matched the quality of his friend, late opera star Joan Sutherland. His 100-year-old voice rang strong as he shared his love of God with the hundreds assembled.

Msgr. Joseph Gentili, the pastor at Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Doylestown, began his homily with song as well: “Anticipation” by Carly Simon.

“For us as Christians, our life in Christ in this world marks a period of waiting and anticipation of his second coming,” said Msgr. Gentili. “It is the prayer of the Church that the Holy Spirit continues to come to us today and every day of our lives through the celebration of the sacraments and our lives lived for Christ in the Church.”

He well described the kind of life Father Kelly has lived with “pastoral zeal,” one that saw him climb onto bridges to save others’ lives, minister to hospital patients, become friends with St. Teresa of Kolkata and Archbishop Fulton Sheen among countless adventurous ministries.

“Through his faithful joy-filled service, Father Kelly has been an instrument of God’s grace offering hope through his priestly ministry and service,” said Msgr. Gentili.

“75 years is a lot of assignments,” he quipped as he listed the litany of assignments Father Kelly served with joy.

“In each of those assignments, every time you celebrated the sacrament or performed in a priestly ministry in service to God’s holy people, you were a channel of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the outpouring of God’s mercy and hope. Those of us who were recipients of your love and service are grateful for your dedication and commitment. We have felt the providential love of God in your pastoral care, your zeal, your zest for life, as well as that infectious joy with which you minister to God’s holy people.”

It was impossible not to see that spirit of joy permeate through Father Kelly. He spoke with near-tearful emotion during the Eucharistic Prayer, overflowing in song in leading the Lord’s Prayer, adding an a capella “O Sacrament Most Holy” with the faithful right before distributing the Eucharist that has been the center of his life.

“I hope I can live for a few more years to be able to say Mass and hold Jesus in my hand with this great mystery,” Father Kelly said.

“I pray, Lord, increase my faith to really appreciate whom I’m holding, and Jesus is actually able to come into my very being, and I’m able to give Jesus to the people’s hearts to give them the hope and love that he has for everybody else.”

As Father Kelly thanked the faithful at the end of Mass, the word “love” came out of his mouth perhaps a dozen times – well describing the way he lives each day in the present moment, preparing for his greatest adventure to God.

“Now as I go to the front of the ship to watch the captain steer the vessel into the future harbor called eternal happiness,” he said, “I have to say it’s been a wonderful journey of these 100 years.”