“If I had the wings of an angel over these prison walls I would fly. I’d fly to the arms to my dear darling and there I’d be willing to die.”
Everyone who knows Father John E. Barnes has heard him sing these words, a verse from his favorite song. “How Great Thou Art” runs a close second.
Gifted with a beautiful singing voice, Father Barnes has been eager to share his musical talent throughout his life, but especially during his 50 years in the priesthood.
Betty Call, 75, former secretary of St. James Church in Searcy, said when Father Barnes would sing “Going Home” during funerals at her parish, people would come to her later and tell her how much the song touched their hearts.
She said he was always singing in his 12 years as pastor in Searcy.
“If you came to the church and he happened to be coming over from the rectory you would hear him singing,” Call said.
Father Barnes, 85, is now retired and lives at Parkway Health Care Center in Little Rock. He celebrated his 50th anniversary of priestly ordination last May.
Bishop J. Peter Sartain celebrated a Mass of Thanksgiving for Father Barnes and all the priestly jubilarians, May 9, at the Cathedral of St. Andrew in Little Rock. Because of his declining health, Father Barnes was unable to attend.
Father Barnes was born in Palo Alto, Penn., near Port Carbon on Aug. 16, 1920. He graduated from St. Stephen Catholic School and later moved to Arkansas where he graduated from Little Rock College and then St. John Home Missions Seminary. The late Bishop Albert Fletcher ordained him a priest for the Diocese of Little Rock on May 28, 1955.
Through the years Father Barnes served in numerous parishes including Christ the King in Fort Smith, Our Lady of the Holy Souls in Little Rock, St. Francis of Assisi in Forrest City, St. Michael in West Memphis, St. Paul in Pocahontas, St. James in Searcy, St. Albert in Heber Springs and St. Richard in Bald Knob.
From 1959 to 1967 he served as diocesan director of the Catholic Youth Organization and the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD). He also served terms as dean for the Eastern and Central Deaneries and in the priests’ senate.
In 1995 he suffered a stroke, which forced him to retire. From 1995 to 2005 he lived at St. John Manor on the campus of St. John Center in Little Rock.
Longtime friend Jim Davis, former diocesan director of Christopher Homes, said Father Barnes used to walk around the campus all the time and was always singing. Frequently he would visit staff in the diocesan offices and perform an impromptu concert.
“Everybody loved him,” he said.
Davis said he continues to visit Father Barnes two or three times a week at Parkway, where he has lived since last May.
When he was a college student, Davis said he got to know Father Barnes when the young priest was director of CYO. That was 45 years ago.
It was Father Barnes’ singing and perpetual joyful attitude that attracted Davis and other young people to him.
“He loved to sing. And I’m a singer myself and I guess maybe that was part of it,” Davis said. “But just his general attitude made people want to be around him because he was a happy priest.”
Father Barnes’ joyful personality still comes through today.
“He’s still pretty happy,” Davis said. “He says to me. ’They’re good to me. They take care of me.’”
From the first day Davis took Father Barnes to Parkway, he made a big impact on those around him.
“He hadn’t been there 10 minutes that first day he moved in and he went to lunch with everyone and he had everybody singing,” Davis said. The song: “How Great Thou Art.”
“He can’t sing much anymore, he can’t remember all the words,” Davis said of Father Barnes.
Davis said he has to be mindful of what time of day he visits Father Barnes because the staff keep the residents busy. There are always morning and afternoon activities that range from arts and crafts and movies to visiting musicians who perform, he said.
Davis tries to visit around 11 a.m. and after 3 p.m. because he said he has found those to be the best times.
Ann Lenick, 42, of Womelsdorf, Penn., is Father Barnes’ niece. She visits him every year during Holy Week.
“When I call him on the phone we always sing a song together,” she said.
Father Barnes is Lenick’s godfather and her “favorite uncle.” She said when she was little, Father Barnes would always visit her family in the fall because he loved that season in Pennsylvania. Her family would visit him on his priestly anniversaries.
Lenick said he loved nature and went for long walks every day when he visited.
“He loved to pick blueberries on his walks and then my mother would bake pies,” she said. “On our walks we would stop if we saw a church and pray.”
Lenick said she remembers Father Barnes would always get up very early to pray. She described him as “humble and meek,” “very kind and generous” and “very friendly and outgoing.”
Lenick, a member of the choir at St. Francis de Sales Church in Robesonia, Penn., said Father Barnes has been a big influence on her life.
Betty Call said the charismatic priest was a blessing in her life as well.
“He was like a father figure,” she said. “I thank God that he was sent across my path.”
But at times she struggled with his “fire and brimstone” homilies.
He was a contradiction, she said.
“He was a very happy-natured person, very positive,” Call said. “He was very positive even though in his speech he sounded negative.”
She said Father Barnes would often ask her what she thought of his homilies and she would say, “I’d like to hear about the love of Jesus,” and he would reply, “I thought that’s what I was talking about.”
Davis summed up his thoughts about Father Barnes when he said: “He’s just a wonderful, holy, Catholic priest. … He took care of his people wherever he was. He always showed the love of the Lord.”
He said Father Barnes’ friendship has made him a much more prayerful person.
“I just love him,” he said tearfully.
