THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST Diary Entry #48 The Miracle I Witness Every Day Long before I thought of becoming a priest I went on a pilgrimage to various holy sites in Europe with a good friend from high school, who was by then ordained a priest, and a group of his parishioners. At…
Read more
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST #47 – EL DIARIO DE UN SACERDOTE URBANO#47
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST Diary Entry #47: Other Christmas Stories As I have written before, Christmas does not evoke many nostalgic memories for me as a priest. I have treasured memories of Christmas from my childhood and early youth, but for many years as a church musician, and later as a priest, I…
Read more
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST #46 – EL DIARIO DE UN SACERDOTE URBANO#46
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST Diary Entry #46: The Laughing Ladies at the Funeral Home I have witnessed many strange things during my years as a priest; so many strange things that it takes something particularly novel or extraordinary to stop me in my tracks. That happened to me recently as I was conducting…
Read more
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST #45 – EL DIARIO DE UN SACERDOTE URBANO #45
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST Diary Entry #45: Singing at Mass In 1991 author and Catholic Church musician Thomas Day published a book entitled Why Catholics Can’t Sing. In it he proposed many explanations for why Catholics can’t, don’t, or won’t sing at Mass. It was a book very popular among Catholic musicians at…
Read more
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST #44 – EL DIARIO DE UN SACERDOTE URBANO #44
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST Diary Entry #44: “You saved my daughter’s life.” I was invited to a neighboring parish one evening for a round of the game “Stump the Priest”. Typically, this “game” involves a panel of two or three priests and a crowd of interested Catholics who gather for dinner. During the course…
Read more
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST #43 – EL DIARIO DE UN SACERDOTE URBANO #43
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST Diary Entry: #43 “We Hate Latin!” “We hate Latin!” I will never forget these words hurled at me one Monday morning by an old Polish couple who had come to the rectory office to complain, just after I had assumed the role of pastor at an inner-city parish. Prompting complaints…
Read more
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST #42 – EL DIARIO DE UN SACERDOTE URBANO #42
Diary Entry #42: The Guy Who Stole My Newspaper I had been the new pastor of an inner-city parish for a few months. I enjoyed the fact that the previous pastor had taken a subscription to the local newspaper. While a newspaper subscription costs relatively little, it does cost something. I had never taken one…
Read more
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST #41 – EL DIARIO DE UN SACERDOTE URBANO #41
Diary Entry #41: The Priest’s Nun’s Tale I have written before about a young lady, a former student, who wrote to me several years ago to inform me that she had entered a cloistered Carmelite convent. She explained that in part, her decision to become a cloistered nun was influenced by my preaching, teaching, and…
Read more
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST #40 – EL DIARIO DE UN SACERDOTE URBANO #40
Diary Entry #40: Gift Card Girl; or, Another Mystery Woman. As we have learned along the way, unusual people show up at inner city Catholic Churches. I realize that they show up everywhere, but I am not everywhere. I have spent the major part of my priesthood in inner city parishes and schools. I can…
Read more
THE DIARY OF AN INNER-CITY PRIEST #39 – EL DIARIO DE UN SACERDOTE URBANO #39
Diary Entry #39: Pizza and Beer with Plumbers on a Super Bowl Sunday I am not much of a sports fan, but I remember a particular Super Bowl Sunday very fondly. I had recently taken charge of an inner-city parish which was bankrupt. Completely bankrupt. So bankrupt that there was no heat in the rectory. …
Read more