Diary Entry #97 The Piano for which to Die Let me begin by saying that the more common way to title this entry would have been “The piano to die for”, but that would be grammatically incorrect. Once upon a time one was instructed not to end a sentence with a preposition. I…
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THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST #96 / DIARIO DE UN SACERDOTE URBANO #96
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST Diary Entry #96 The Motor Home When I was a child, my parents purchased what we then called a “trailer”. The trailer was a small cabin which was towed behind a car and could house the seven members of our family for a weekend camping trip. It had a…
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THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST #95 / DIARIO DE UN SACERDOTE URBANO #95
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST Diary Entry #95 Hearing Children’s Confessions Let me begin with a reminder that the “seal of the confessional” is inviolable. That is to say that a priest may never, under any circumstances, reveal anything he has heard in confession which could be traced back to a…
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THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST #94 / DIARIO DE UN SACERDOTE URBANO #94
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST Diary Entry #94 The art of flower arrangement I have written before that the decoration of the church and altar can become a contentious and divisive issue. This is not at all unexpected given that fallen human nature, even after having been redeemed, is still inclined…
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THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST #93 / DIARIO DE UN SACERDOTE URBANO #93
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIES Diary Entry #93: Lost Wallets One evening as I was making my rounds to close the church for the night, I came across a woman’s wallet left behind in one of the pews. I picked it up for safekeeping, and was immediately transported (in my mind, not my body)…
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THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST #92 / DIARIO DE UN SACERDOTE URBANO #92
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST Diary Entry #92 666 In my early days as a priest, I was asked one afternoon after a 4:00 pm Saturday afternoon Mass to bless a car. This is a fairly common request, and it is often made after weekend Masses as people with new cars…
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THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST #91 / DIARIO DE UN SACERDOTE URBANO #91
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST Diary Entry #91 Yet Another Christmas Story It has been sung that Christmas is “the most wonderful time of the year”. I have written before that for me, it is not. Not that I do not wonder at the mystery of the Incarnation, nor do I…
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THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST #90 / DIARIO DE UN SACERDOTE URBANO #90
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST Diary Entry #90 The Narrow Gate At the very beginning of one academic year at the private Catholic school which rents the building on my parish property a group of security minded school student moms caught me as I was crossing the parking lot from the church to…
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THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST #89 / DIARIO DE UN SACERDOTE URBANO #89
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST Diary Entry #89 An Opportunity I went to the church one night to close it as I do every night. It is a tedious task, but it is usually the last part of my day’s work. I hoped, as I made my way, that it would be uneventful. …
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THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST #88 / DIARIO DE UN SACERDOTE URBANO #88
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST Diary Entry #88 Advent Candles At times the difference between the thinking of a child and that of an adult can be remarkable. Our Lord exhorts us that unless we become like little children, we cannot enter the kingdom of heaven (MT 18:2-5). This was brought…
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