THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST Diary Entry #67 The Gingerbread House “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” was a song made famous by singer Cyndi Lauper in 1983, four years after it was written by Robert Hazard. It was the first major single released by Lauper and became something of a feminist anthem…
Read more
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST #66 / DIARIO DE UN SACERDOTE URBANO #66
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST Diary Entry #66 Scenes from Italian Restaurants A close priest friend and I enjoy a meal together with some frequency. We prefer Italian restaurants and Chinese restaurants. The reason is that we spent a few years together in Rome, Italy as seminarians. As inhabitants (without jobs)…
Read more
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST #65 / DIARIO DE UN SACERDOTE URBANO #65
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST Diary Entry #65 Ghost Busting From time to time, I receive calls from people who think they are the victims of demonic activity. They may be, and they may not be. I do not relish these calls as I want nothing to do with such things. I…
Read more
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST #64 / DIARIO DE UN SACERDOTE URBANO #64
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST Diary Entry #64 “Good Paper” On occasion I recall my days in the seminary and how, against all odds, I was finally ordained to the priesthood. I am not sure how the average Catholic imagines the life of a seminarian, if he ever does at all,…
Read more
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST #63 -DIARIO DE UN SACERDOTE URBANO #63
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST Diary Entry #63 The Unity Candle In the late 1970s and early ‘80s, while I was working as a musician, long before I was ordained to the priesthood, the Unity Candle was not only a staple at every wedding, but a sine que non. A wedding without a Unity…
Read more
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST # 62 – DIARIO DE UN SACERDOTE URBANO # 62
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST Diary Entry #62 A Long Story Having completed some of the most pleasant years of my priestly life at my first assignment at a suburban parish, I was sent to teach in an inner-city Catholic high school. I continued to live at the first parish, about a…
Read more
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST # 61 – DIARIO DE UN SACERDOTE URBANO # 61
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST Diary Entry #61 The Weird Smile There have been numerous unintended negative consequences of the historically relatively recent push for versus populum i.e., “priest facing the people” celebration of the Mass in the Novus Ordo Missae. (For the uninitiated, the New Order of Mass, which…
Read more
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST #60 / DIARIO DE UN SACERDOTE URBANO #60
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST Diary Entry #60 “Too Many Rules.” From time to time, priests receive letters of complaint from dissatisfied customers. I have received more than my fair share of those letters. The reason I have received more than my fair share of those letters is probably that I insist on upholding…
Read more
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST #59 / DIARIO DE UN SACERDOTE URBANO #59
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST Diary Entry #59 The Motor Scooter One of the crosses most inner-city pastors must bear is the presence of a dumpster on his property. At first thought, it might seem attractive to the average homeowner or apartment dweller to have a dumpster handy; after all, one can throw a…
Read more
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST #59 – DIARIO DE UN SACERDOTE URBANO #59
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST Diary Entry #59 The Motor Scooter One of the crosses most inner-city pastors must bear is the presence of a dumpster on his property. At first thought, it might seem attractive to the average homeowner or apartment dweller to have a dumpster handy; after all, one can throw a lot…
Read more