His trademark was a brown paper bag, his message straightforward: "Be good."

Both the mark and the message reflected the simplicity of the man who professed them—Father John Maloney, former pastor of Holy Sepulcher Roman Catholic Parish. A confidant and friend to many, Father Maloney died on Thanksgiving Day. He was 69.

Father's life and work were remembered the following Tuesday at a Mass of Christian Burial at Holy Sepulcher. Scores of priest and diocesan officials crowded the altar; family members, parishioners, and friends packed the pews and aisle ways. They had come together to remember the man who devoted 22 years of his life to serving the people of southern Butler County.

Father's "brown-bag" sermons had become the hallmark of that ministry. At Mass on Sundays, after reading the Gospel, Father would step down from the altar and into the center aisle to deliver his sermon. There, after wishing everyone a good morning, he would often produce a paper bag, piquing the parishioners' curiosity as to what was in it. Everyone, especially the children, would crane their necks to see what Father would pull from it.

Whatever the object — a rock, a ribbon, a small drum, a stuffed animal — it was always easily identifiable. What wasn't so easy to figure out, though, was how Father would connect the object to that day's Gospel.

But connect it he did. With an ever-present half-smile creasing his face, he might ask a question that would allow him to take his message where he wanted it to go. And he liked calling on the children for an answer, and addressing each by their name whenever he did.

Sometimes he might recount an incident in his personal life, then weave his tale to the message in that morning's Gospel.

I remember a sermon Father gave in 1997 when he pulled a Nike tennis shoe from the sack. No half-smile lingered on his face that morning as he talked about news reports alleging abuse in the Chinese sweatshops that made the designer shoes favored by so many Americans. The sweatshops employed young children who worked long hours under dreadful conditions, Father told the parishioners. Injustice, especially when meted out to children, made Father especially angry, and the typically gentle priest let his anger show that morning.

I recall that sermon, not just for its content, but also because of what it revealed about Father Maloney. Seemingly grounded in Western Pennsylvania and its culture — a diocesan priest raised in the Lawrenceville section of Pittsburgh — Father's concerns extended not just to the people of Holy Sepulcher but also to the entire human family.

Now, a decade later, as my family sat around the dinner table recounting Father's life at Holy Sepulcher, my son recalled the "tennis shoe" sermon. Unbeknownst to me, my son said that since hearing that sermon he's avoided buying Nike tennis shoes.

Father Maloney's contribution to Holy Sepulcher parish and its people is immeasurable. He was the key person behind building the new parish church, which was dedicated in 2005, and many say it will be his memorial.

But Father's memorial extends well beyond the building he helped erect. It lies in the lives he touched, in the helping hand he extended, and in the sense of morality he engendered in people like my son.

The memorial service ended fittingly, with parish children handing out small paper bags in Father's memory. On them was the message "Be Good."

It is a message we should all take to heart.

Linda K. Schmitmeyer is a freelance writer living in Middlesex Township; her e-mail address is lks260@zoominternet.net.