Pax Christi parishioners gather for prayer following pastor’s death

Fred Baumer, a Pax Christi parishioner since 1989, described Father J. Michael Byron as a pastoral theologian whose preaching pronoun was “we.” In Father Byron’s leadership of prayer and in his preaching, Baumer said, it was clear he looked through the lens of the Scriptures into his own life and the life of the parish community. 

Early in his time at the Eden Prairie parish, Father Byron — whom many knew as “Father Mike” — removed the presider’s chair from the altar area and, instead, “sat in the pew with us,” Baumer said. He wanted to sit in the pew with the people, Baumer said, “and then he would go up when he was doing his parts” of the Mass. 

Baumer and other Pax Christi parishioners spent Friday evening at a 40-minute prayer service for Father Byron, who died that morning in a local hospital. Most stayed afterward to gather in a community room. Several parishioners arrived at the church before the service in tears.  

Father Byron 62, had served the parish since 2018.  

His preaching was both inspiring and challenging, Baumer said, and it addressed how parishioners as a community could meet God in today’s challenges.  

Father Byron was often self-deprecating, Baumer said. “He had that kind of Irish wit, and he didn’t talk about himself. But you knew when he was preaching, he was also preaching to himself. You got that sense of … ‘we,’ never ‘you.’” He shared with parishioners his struggles, Baumer said, “which is what made him such an incredible leader.” And the priest “didn’t sweat the small stuff,” Baumer added.  

Conventual Franciscan Father Steve McMichael opened the service. Father McMichael, who teaches at the University of St. Thomas, regularly assists with Masses at the parish and others in the archdiocese. He was scheduled to say Mass at the parish on Friday, where he shared the news of Father Byron’s death. 

Parishioner Stephanie Combey was impressed with Father Byron’s shepherding of the parish during the COVID-19 pandemic, ensuring that he and his staff stayed connected with those in the large parish, especially during isolation and time with no Masses celebrated in person. 

She said Father Byron was very subdued, quiet and a gentle man, but she recalled his joy at the Easter Mass this spring. “He was so happy to see everyone,” she said. “The church was full.”  

Combey, who taught faith formation to middle school students this past year, said Father Byron visited her class and shared with students his experiences of being in Israel.  

“He brought his maps and he talked about some of the places and the cities, and he brought an artifact that he had brought back,” she said. “He made it real for the kids.”  

Father Byron was very unassuming, said Combey, 56. He wanted to share and invited questions, she said.  

“He made some of his travels to Israel very real in the context of what we were trying to teach the kids,” she said.  

Bruce Koehn, 65, a parishioner since 1988 and a parish trustee, said he appreciated that Father Byron “listened for a long time” when he arrived.  

“I know Father Mike had strong opinions about the Church … but he was a quiet listener,” he said.  

Koehn said he knew Father Byron was not feeling well “but he continued to be our pastor and he continued to lead,” he said, “And the level of responsibility that he took to the end, I’ll always appreciate.” 

Phyllis Olson, chairperson of the parish community council, will most remember Father Byron’s “wonderful homilies.”  

“He made the Gospel speak to our everyday lives. That’s what I’m going to miss the most,” she said.  

Olson also valued Father Byron’s strong support for lay leadership, which she said has been a value since Pax Christi’s founding.  

“He really had a sense of empowering leadership here,” she said, and would defer unless something was really off track.  

His other strengths were his love of being a priest and administering the sacraments, Olson said, noting how Father Byron walked into the water when baptizing by full immersion. 

He also supported parish initiatives, she said, giving the example of a work team on justice that proposed a reading of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” around the time of Martin Luther King Day, bringing in a diverse group of outside speakers. He gave his full support, Olson said.  

“He said, ‘The Gospel doesn’t stay in here,’” she said. “It comes from going out and it comes back to us from who comes into our space, whether Catholic or not.”  

“We had people from all over the Twin Cities,” Muslim, Jewish, people from different communities of faith reading parts of the letter, she said. 

Cantor and choir member Tom Scheller, 65, a parishioner for 12 years, admired Father Byron’s singing voice, his intellectual and emotionally charged homilies that went beyond an esoteric discussion to “something that has to affect you,” and his passion for justice. 

Scheller recalled the time Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials deported a parent of minor children back to Mexico. “Father gave an impassioned homily about how we can’t do this to parishioners,” Scheller said.

Father Michael Tix, vicar for clergy for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, delivered the main remarks at the service. He knew Father Byron for more than 30 years. They met at the seminary when he was a first-year seminarian and Father Byron was in his fourth year.  

“Father Mike would hate being the center of attention but at the same time he would love very much what’s happening tonight because it was clear in conversations with him that he was very proud of this place and being able to serve here as pastor,” he said. “He would be very proud of the fact that, even without him physically here, that the purpose, the vision of this place continues in a beautiful kind of way tonight, gathering in that spirit of prayer.” 

Father Byron’s sister, Molly Hill, contacted Father Tix Thursday to tell him her brother was taken to the hospital after he returned May 18 from a 10-day pilgrimage to Greece. He visited Father Byron Thursday, finding him awake and alert.  

“There were times there was a clear smile on his face,” Father Tix said. “I asked if he was in any pain and he said he was not,” but, Father Byron added, “’Maybe it wasn’t a great decision about going to Greece.’”  

Father Byron was not one to say no, Father Tix said. He went on the trip to Greece because he didn’t want anyone to feel disappointed, or let anyone down.  

Father Tix said he administered anointing of the sick during the hospital visit. 

During his remarks at the prayer service, Father Tix said “we come together for comfort and consolation in our loss,” describing the pastor as smart, articulate, respectful, caring for all and connected with people. 

“In our sadness, something we might ask ourselves is, ‘How do we use the days that God gives us, to use those days to share something of God’s love to others …?’ Remember the way Father Mike might share the love of God with us.” 

He continued: “As we think about Father Mike, we might ask ourselves how are we respectful and caring in ways that speak to our Christian values, as we put faith into action in our lives, as we remember the ways that Father might be, often in quiet and unassuming ways, never really wanting to draw attention to himself, but much rather wanting to serve …? 

“We’ve all benefited from the love that Mike has shared, his care for others including the least among us, and may we open ourselves to that same God and share something of God’s love with others,” Father Tix said.“ As today, our prayer is that Mike may forever rest in the new and eternal life that Jesus promises to all of his good and faithful people.”