Msgr. Keeney’s priestly service includes parishes, diocese
As a child at Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Salem, Msgr. Timothy E. Keeney was first introduced to the Redemptorist Fathers, with whom he would later complete 11 years of formation and one year of novitiate.
“A lot of my spirituality is still very Alphonsian because of that experience, but I became very, very convinced over the years that my vocation ultimately was diocesan,” said Msgr. Keeney, who celebrated his 25th anniversary of priesthood on June 29.
When the priest’s family was moving to Roanoke from Akron, Ohio, his father liked the catechetical program at Our Lady of Perpetual Help, so the family became members of that parish.
Msgr. Keeney said he first thought about a vocation to the priesthood in third grade and again in seventh grade, but he did not talk to a priest until the following year.
“He talked to me about the high school seminary, and I decided I wanted to go,” the jubilarian recalled. He went to his parents and told them that he wanted to attend St. Mary’s Seminary in North East, Pennsylvania, a high school run by the Redemptorists that has since closed.
“I said, ‘Mom, Dad, I think I really would like to go,’ and they said, ‘Absolutely not. You are not going to a school that’s 12 hours away from your family,’” Msgr. Keeney said with a laugh.
Later, Mr. and Mrs. Keeney decided that their son could attend the seminary after his freshman year of high school.
“And so I did, and I loved it!” he said.
After graduating in 1979, Msgr. Keeney earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from St. Alphonsus College in Suffield, Connecticut. He then entered formation at Mount St. Alphonsus Seminary and Washington Theological Union.
After three years of graduate theology studies, Msgr. Keeney left formation to attend law school at Washington and Lee University School of Law in Lexington. Upon graduation in 1990, he practiced civil law for two and a half years.
Answering the call
Two things brought him back to formation.
“I became really convinced that I was not called to the law, and I was really unsatisfied,” he explained. “Even when I did a good job, I was kind of unsatisfied with the sense that what I was doing was all that important.”
Because of those feelings, Msgr. Keeney made the decision to leave the law firm. His father asked him if he ever thought about rejoining the Redemptorists. He said no.
After receiving Communion that Sunday, though, Msgr. Keeney heard the Lord calling him.
“I had this overwhelming sense of Jesus saying, ‘Tim, what I made you for was to be behind that altar and behind that ambo,’” he said.
He shared the experience with his parish pastor, who affirmed for Msgr. Keeney that the voice he heard was authentic.
In November 1992, Msgr. Keeney set up a meeting with Msgr. Charlie Kelly, then-vocations director for the Diocese of Richmond. He submitted his paperwork in December, left the law firm in January, and by February 1993 was back in formation.
He completed a six-month pastoral period at Christ the King Parish and Norfolk Catholic High School before going to Rome to study at the Pontifical North American College and the Pontifical Gregorian University.
Following ordination, Msgr. Keeney returned to Rome for additional studies.
“That was a wonderful experience, being able to celebrate as a priest in Rome, and also my first Easter was in the Holy Land,” he said. His first celebration of Easter as a priest took place in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
Service to parishes, diocese
Msgr. Keeney’s first assignment was as parochial vicar of the Basilica of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception, Norfolk, in 1996.
“I’ve always said those four months and the time with Msgr. Walter Barrett as my pastor have marked my priesthood,” said Msgr. Keeney. “That parish taught me so much about loving the Word, preaching the Word, service to the poor.”
He continued, “Msgr. Barrett always said to me, ‘Tim, always have one foot in the parish and one foot in the diocese’ in terms of service. And I’ve always, throughout my priesthood, been very involved in the parish, but always had some sort of diocesan responsibility from that time on.”
When Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo was celebrating his 25th episcopal anniversary in 2013, Msgr. Keeney was “very surprised” to be one of the priests honored by being named monsignor.
“He chose me because at that time, I had been director of ongoing formation for priests for about 10 years,” Msgr. Keeney said. “I had also been on the school board and the Priest Benefits Committee, which I still am on that at this point.”
Energized about evangelization
Msgr. Keeney served as parochial vicar of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Newport News, from 1997- 2001. His first pastorate was at St. Anne, Bristol, from 2001-2013.
“We were able to do some pretty amazing things there. I didn’t intend to be a pastor that was building a lot of things, but I ended up becoming partially a brick-and-mortar pastor because of what the need was at St. Anne’s,” he said.
Msgr. Keeney became pastor of St. Bede, Williamsburg, in 2013. He said Williamsburg House of Mercy became a key part of his vision for the parish and its work.
“The other thing is the staff that I was able to be with and able to develop and hire, it was just a real privilege to work with them – real professionals, people who love the Church,” he said. “They were very energized about growing in the mission of evangelization for the Church.”
That is something the priest wanted to bring to Charlottesville, where he has served as pastor of Church of the Incarnation and Our Lady of the Rosary, Crozet, and chaplain of Charlottesville Catholic School since 2019.
Throughout the years, Msgr. Keeney said that celebrating funerals has been a “touching” part of his vocation because the priest is invited into people’s lives when they are most vulnerable after losing a loved one.
“I really try hard to learn about the families, not just about the person who has died,” he said. “Being able to be there in that very intimate moment as they grieve the loss of a loved one and try to bring the hope of the resurrection to that family, that’s been something that has kind of marked my priesthood.”
Msgr. Keeney said that although he knew he would be working for the Church during a time when the number of priests would be lower than it had been, he is happy with the seminarians currently in formation for the diocese.
“One of the things that has been a real blessing has been that I’ve been able to serve as mentor for so many of our seminarians, many of whom are priests today, in the parishes.”
He believes that in the future, there will be a “reflowering of vocations for service to the Church as priests.”
Looking back on his 25 years as priest, Msgr. Keeney said that one of his favorite parts of priesthood is helping other people’s hearts be set on fire for Jesus.
“I’m not claiming that I’m the one that does it, but being a vehicle or being present when I see in parishioners and in others people really getting set on fire” is special, he said.