A History of WWCCR

Remembering Our Friend,
Fr. William Morris, SS
by Sharon Fox

"Has anyone ever told you how special you are to God?" This was a common greeting from our most beloved friend, Fr. William Morris, SS. He celebrated his 100th birthday on October, 28, 2005 and so we heard that he passed away on November 23.

Fr. Morris was a seminary teacher at St. Edwards Seminary & St Thomas Seminary in Kenmore, WA for decades. During his last years of living at St Thomas, the WWCCR office was located in the basement of the seminary. After celebrating morning Mass, Fr. Morris would drop by to visit the office and give a word of encouragement to the staff and volunteers.

I first "met" Fr. Morris at the end of a Cursillo weekend. In that brief meeting I knew he was a special priest. I didn’t work at the WWCCR office during the days of his visits. He moved to the St. Charles Villa in Catonsville, MD before I was hired. But I have been blessed to talk to him many, many times on the phone and even went to visit him twice.

A phone conversation with Fr. Morris was like a mini-retreat. One of the disciplines he had mastered was contemplative meditation on the Trinity—how the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit related to each other and to us. In the few moments of a phone call he shared insights that I would reflect on later. Though his eyesight was failing and his hearing began to go, he had stored up rich treasures in his heart from these reflections that he could continually ponder.

Fr. Morris wanted to share these contemplations with others so that we would come to understand how greatly loved we are by the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Sometimes they showed up in a scribbled note to us or on a recorded cassette that he sent. Click here for one of those reflections.

Fr. Morris was also one of our favorite intercessors. He would ask what events and needs we had and promised his prayer or to offer a Mass for us. Now in heaven, I have no doubt that he is sitting in his favorite chair, still praying for us and enjoying that fellowship of God and all of our heavenly intercessors.