THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST Diary Entry #80 Speaking Spanish Having been assigned to my first inner-city parish, it was immediately evident that I would need to be able to speak Spanish. It was equally evident to me that I was in no way prepared to do that. I had participated…
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THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST #79 / DIARIO DE UN SACERDOTE URBANO #79
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST Diary Entry #79 Carrying the Cross “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me” (MT 16:24). When I was a child in the 1960’s every doctor’s and dentist’s office had a table in the waiting room on which was to…
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THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST #78 / DIARIO DE UN SACERDOTE URBANO #78
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST Diary Entry #78 The Professionally Trained Singer I wish to begin this entry by saying that I do not intend to disparage singers or singing, though it may easily come across that way. Rather, I intend to describe an encounter with one singer who caused me some difficulty along…
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THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST #77 / DIARIO DE UN SACERDOTE URBANO #77
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST Diary Entry #77 The Squirrel Hunter Every homeowner knows that from time to time, unexpected problems arise. The solution to some of those problems is not always immediately evident, nor easy. At one point in my life as an inner-city pastor I discovered that squirrels were passing in and…
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THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST #76 / DIARIO DE UN SACERDOTE URBANO #76
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST Diary Entry #76 A Pastor’s Dream Shattered, and Not The nature of our modern American society often necessitates that people relocate to pursue job or educational opportunities, maintain (or sever) family ties, as the result of an unexpected financial crisis, or any number of other reasons. When a pastor…
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THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST #75 / DIARIO DE UN SACERDOTE URBANO #75
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST Diary Entry #75 Bells I have always loved church bells and bell towers. The idea of pulling mightily on a long rope to cause the bell to ring out from its tower so that all within hearing range may turn their attention to God…
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THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST #74 / DIARIO DE UN SACERDOTE URBANO #74
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST Diary Entry #74 A Close Encounter of the Most Unusual Kind For many years as the pastor of inner-city parishes I have offered the Sacrament of Confession for half an hour before the weekday noonday Masses. A wide variety of people take advantage of the opportunity for many…
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THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST #73 / DIARIO DE UN SACERDOTE URBANO #73
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST Diary Entry #73 Anointing Carla In my first few days as a newly ordained priest assigned to a parish, I had a number of experiences for which I found myself rather underprepared. At the time, it was frustrating. Our seminary training was necessarily more theoretical than practical, since without…
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THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST #72 / DIARIO DE UN SACERDOTE URBANO #72
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST Diary Entry #72 To convert, or not to convert; that is the question From our point of view as priests, we find it not at all unusual for people to enter our lives for only a moment, and then to vanish, never to be heard from or…
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THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST #71 / DIARIO DE UN SACERDOTE URBANO #71
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST Diary Entry #71 Pretty Little Liars When I began my five-year stint as a teacher and chaplain at an inner-city Catholic high school, I began with more than three strikes against me: I was white and of European extraction, male, Catholic, a priest, and well-educated. My students…
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