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Simmons died after a fall on his birthday and was found the next day by his house keeper.
In 2012, in the Tampa Bay Times Simmons revealed he even was studying for the priesthood. Simmons explained:
“I thought that was my calling. I was raised extremely Catholic in New Orleans. I thought that’s what I wanted to be, but it wasn’t.”His advice to those contemplating suicide:
"No, no, no, no. God has the day that you came in and the day you're going. And you just have to accept that and move on.”
He made several revelations on X concerning his life:
“I’ll spend my birthday doing what I do every day, which is to help people.”
Perhaps a TMI confession: I was born in the late 70s. As a child, I had a real fascination and admiration of Richard Simmons. In those days and in that era, I obviously had no sense of agenda, or that he might one day be a topic of sexuality or orientation. In my childhood eyes, he seemed to me a living embodiment of the values and energy I also saw on shows like Sesame Street—positive, energetic, empathetic, and encouraging. I thought his retirement from public life was well-deserved and I wonder if he couldn’t make sense of everything going on in our world today. Since his recent passing, I’ve learned he’d been a practicing Catholic all his life and once discerned whether he should be a priest or a monk. I’ll be offering a Mass for his soul.
In 2012, in the Tampa Bay Times Simmons revealed he even was studying for the priesthood. Simmons explained:
“I thought that was my calling. I was raised extremely Catholic in New Orleans. I thought that’s what I wanted to be, but it wasn’t.”His advice to those contemplating suicide:
"No, no, no, no. God has the day that you came in and the day you're going. And you just have to accept that and move on.”
He made several revelations on X concerning his life:
“I’ll spend my birthday doing what I do every day, which is to help people.”
On X, Simmons revealed when he went to confession for the first time:
During the confession he told the priest, sometimes “drove my parents crazy,” adding, “I also told him that I fought with my brother. A little bit. I had to say 20 Hail Marys and 20 Our Fathers … [a]nd I did ... .”
He explained that he was a “faux” Catholic for years, but, earlier this year, he and his brother had returned to Mass.
A Dominican priest, from Washington D.C., Fr. Thomas Petri, OP wrote on X:Perhaps a TMI confession: I was born in the late 70s. As a child, I had a real fascination and admiration of Richard Simmons. In those days and in that era, I obviously had no sense of agenda, or that he might one day be a topic of sexuality or orientation. In my childhood eyes, he seemed to me a living embodiment of the values and energy I also saw on shows like Sesame Street—positive, energetic, empathetic, and encouraging. I thought his retirement from public life was well-deserved and I wonder if he couldn’t make sense of everything going on in our world today. Since his recent passing, I’ve learned he’d been a practicing Catholic all his life and once discerned whether he should be a priest or a monk. I’ll be offering a Mass for his soul.
Sources: NCR - Wikipedia - X - People Magazine
Perhaps a TMI confession: I was born in the late 70s. As a child, I had a real fascination and admiration of Richard Simmons. In those days and in that era, I obviously had no sense of agenda, or that he might one day be a topic of sexuality or orientation. In my childhood eyes,…
— Fr. Thomas Petri, OP (@PetriOP) July 14, 2024
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