Whoever said “no one is irreplaceable,” never met Msgr. Richard McCabe.

When my friend Gretchen Pacilhofer first asked me if I knew Msgr. McCabe, my mind went blank… that is until I actually called him last March about a community project I was [and am] working on. That’s when a rush of memories came rushing into my mind.
I first remember meeting him when I was still in high school and volunteering for an area food drive around 1977. I was just a kid taking orders, and Msgr. McCabe — then Father McCabe — knew how to hand those out just fine. Guess he learned that while he was in the military. No matter. I was quite use to taking orders from my dad, who had a similar delivery system.
By the 1980s, the writing was on the wall. I was a young journalist working with the Austin Chronicle on a co-promotion out at the lake. Again, I crossed paths with Msgr. McCabe after attending a Catholic Mass by invitation of a friend. I’m not Catholic and wanted to see a Mass. I was impressed and now that I am older and have worked in the ministry myself, I have a great respect for the traditions of the church. But that day, I it was the ending of the service I remember most. The congregation sang “Let There Be Peace On Earth.” I understand that Msgr. McCabe frequently ended services with that hymn that calls on us to be personally accountable for our actions.
I never knew him well, but when I spoke to Msgr. McCabe this past winter, he sounded a little down. He described himself as being “out of the loop.”
That was not the best use of a man with the talents and energy that McCabe possessed. Still, in an hour long conversation, he rattled out more information than I could keep track of. He had phone numbers, contact information, organizations that did this or that — but not once did he ever even hint that he was the primary force that founded, or indirectly inspired, them all.
It didn’t take long for me to realize that Msgr. McCabe was the visionary who was responsible for setting up virtually all of the social safety network that exists in the Lake Travis area — and his reach went far beyond our little corner of the world. But Lake Travis became his “home.”
He knew as early as the late 1950s that this area would someday explode with growth and that there was a lot of work that needed to be done in order to prepare the area for what was to come.
Yet in truth, my admiration of Msgr. McCabe is, for the most part, from afar. I frequently describe the south Lake Travis area as an “emerging urban community.” During this past year as the economy soured, my phone traffic doubled with requests for financial assistance, food, shelter, etc. That, in turn, put me in touch with Lake Travis Crisis Ministries, which McCabe founded, along with most of the rest of the social safety network in the lake area.
Dabney Coleman, who heads up Crisis Ministries, and I were talking about the organization when I asked if he knew Msgr. McCabe.
“Well, yes, I do,” Dabney said. “In fact, he’s pretty much the reason I’m here. I was looking for a way to help the community and told him I was interested in the Crisis Ministries.”
Dabney didn’t know he was dealing with a force of nature — and Msgr. McCabe was just that — a force of nature.
McCabe told Dabney that “he said, ‘I think this is something you need to do.”
And Dabney did. Clearly, McCabe had a gift for recognizing who would be “right” for his various charitable causes, because Dabney is good as gold.
When I look at all Msgr. McCabe achieved in his lifetime — how many people he helped —  I am inspired by his accomplishments.
But he lives on through his good works. We must make certain his legacy lives on. While Msgr. McCabe cannot be replaced, it is incumbent on us to continue his work because the need is great and the times are difficult.
So yes — let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.