Diary Entry #22 Jake Baby Cake Not all teachers are created equal. There are teachers, and there are Teachers. In my opinion, Mrs. T. was a Teacher. Not everyone would agree. I will let you be the judge. I have told this story many times to illustrate a particular point of Catholic doctrine. Often, it…
Read more
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST #21 – EL DIARIO DE UN SACERDOTE URBANO #21
Diary Entry #21: Tabernacle to the center This is one of my favorite stories. Every word is true, as it is in all my stories. At my first assignment, in the early years of the Third Millennium, I was stationed at a typically “Vatican II” parish. Once, everyone knew what that meant. Today, it is…
Read more
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST #20 – EL DIARIO DE UN SACERDOTE URBANO #20
Diary Entry #20 Mass every day but one When I was first ordained, I made a promise to myself that I would offer Mass every single day as long as I was able. The reason for the commitment was twofold. First, the Code of Canon Law, the official “law” of the Roman Catholic Church (last…
Read more
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST #19 – EL DIARIO DE UN SACERDOTE URBANO #19
Dairy Entre # 19 Full Moon I was sitting in a chair looking out the window praying my rosary this morning at about 5:00 am when I noticed that the moon was full. A full moon always brings to my mind a number of things which are not necessarily related. The first thing I thought…
Read more
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST #18 – EL DIARIO DE UN SACERDOTE URBANO #18
Diary Entry # 18 “Is this where you wrote ‘Full Moon?’” As I have said before, I have never considered myself a writer, though I have spent most of my priestly life doing both technical and creative writing. My primary audience has been my parishioners. I have occasionally been asked to write for broader audiences,…
Read more
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST #17 – EL DIARIO DE UN SACERDOTE URBANO #17
Diary Entry # 17: The Lady Who Could Not Hear One Sunday after Mass an elderly lady complained to me that she could not hear the announcements about upcoming parish activities customarily made at the end of Mass. We usually put these announcements in the parish bulletin, or on the website, and reinforce them with…
Read more
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST #16 – EL DIARIO DE UN SACERDOTE URBANO #16
Diary Entry # 16 Mr. Chocolate Man Each of us has his idiosyncrasies, his quirks; but some of us have more than others. Sometimes idiosyncrasies devolve into instability. Mr. Chocolate Man was one of an elite group of eccentrics who, in my experience, despite their eccentricities, are able to maintain stability, to stay with us,…
Read more
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST #15 – EL DIARIO DE UN SACERDOTE URBANO #15
Diary Entry # 15: How I know I am living in a post-Christian culture (four vignettes) One Christmas season my secretary and I were determined to organize a Nativity play with the kids in our Religious Education program. We realized at the 11th hour that we did not have costumes for Mary and Joseph. The…
Read more
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST #14 – EL DIARIO DE UN SACERDOTE URBANO #14
Diary Entry # 14 Cats One of my favorite short stories of Ernest Hemingway is The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber. In it, Francis (the protagonist) is on safari in Africa. His guide sets him up to hunt a big cat (lion), but, at the crucial moment, Francis loses his nerve and runs. The…
Read more
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST #13 – EL DIARIO DE UN SACERDOTE URBANO #13
Diary Entry #13: I Have a Dream I have never thought of myself as a writer, though I have been writing for most of my adult life. As I commence this piece, I sense that my skillset is completely inadequate to convey in writing the experience I wish to convey. Nevertheless, I will try, because…
Read more