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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THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST #70 / DIARIO DE UN SACERDOTE URBANO #70
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST Diary Entry #70 Time Will Tell Today is Monday. It is my day off. Most people I know don’t think a priest should take a day off. I didn’t either, until I had been a priest for more than twenty years. Most people have not been a priest…
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THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST #69 / EL DIARIO DE UN SACERDOTE URBANO #69
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST Diary Entry #69 Jessie Vocations, or callings, to the priesthood, diaconate, and consecrated life are funny things. We believe that they come from God, but exactly how they come is something of a mystery. Nevertheless, there are discernible patterns, and only after a long time of observing…
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THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST #68 / DIARIO DE UN SACERDOTE URBANO #68
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST Diary Entry #68 A Big Chicken The first few years of my life as a priest were at once simple and difficult. They were simple because I was not a pastor, and the Church in the United States was still, to some extent, basking in Her…
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