by Fr. Gordon J. MacRae on January 25, 2012 · 13 comments
. . . Saint Stephen, the first martyr in the Christian world, was stoned to death. Stephen was one of “The Seven” appointed to serve tables – the traditional role of a deacon – in the Church at Jerusalem. He was brought before the Sanhedrin to answer for placing final authority in Christ instead of in the high priest and Temple. The mob was stirred up against him by the Sanhedrin, and he was stoned. No one present at the stoning of Saint Stephen could have possibly predicted the transformation of Saul into the Apostle Paul. Consider this one passage and feel its chill: . . .
by Fr. Gordon J. MacRae on November 30, 2011 · 13 comments
. . . But Josephine never ceased to pray for John Wayne and his conversion, and she never married again until after his death. In 1978, a year before John Wayne died, her prayer was answered and he was received into the Catholic Church. His conversion came late in his life, but John Wayne stood before Hollywood and declared that the secular Hollywood portrayal of the Catholic Church and faith is a lie, and the truth is to be found in conversion. That conversion had many repercussions. Not least among them was the depth to which it inspired John Wayne’s 14-year old grandson, Matthew, who today presents the story of his grandfather’s conversion as one of the proudest events of his life and the beginning of his vocation as a priest. . . .
St. Maximilian Kolbe solved the paradox of suffering by offering his own life as a share in the suffering of Christ. This post is an invitation to that great adventure.
A few weeks ago, after posting “The Exile of Father F. Dominic Menna,” I received a message from an Oregon man who described himself as “just [...]
by Fr. Gordon J. MacRae on July 21, 2010 · 8 comments
. . . The summer of 1969 had other worries and trials as well. Because of a tragedy in my family – which I will write about one of these days – I had to find a full time job at sixteen. I had one that I thought was secure. It was in a machine shop, but I was laid off just as that summer began. I took the only job that I could find, and it turned out to be the worst job of my life. . . .
by Fr. Gordon J. MacRae on February 24, 2010 · 10 comments
. . . It’s clear how very much that world view is shaped by the media. Hollywood’s treatment of Catholics and the priesthood has sure changed since Bing Crosby donned a Roman collar. One of my friends watched The Bells of St. Mary’s, then stopped by my cell to comment. He loved it, but added that today Hollywood would have Father O’Malley on administrative leave for his interest in turning a street gang into a choir. . . . Some of my friends tend to see me as a sort of poster-priest for injustice, ill-treatment, and poor morale in the priesthood. When one friend read Bernadette’s comment, she asked point blank what I would do if I knew at ordination what I know today: Would I still become a priest if I knew what was in store for me? Would I still become a priest if I had any sense of the suffering to follow? Would I still become a priest if I had any sense at all? Bear with me. My answers are coming. . . .
by Fr. Gordon J. MacRae on February 10, 2010 · 12 comments
. . . Many of the younger prisoners are just lost. There’s a clear correlation between their presence here and the systemic breakdown of family – especially fatherhood – in our culture. There is an alarming number of young prisoners here who have had either abusive fathers or none at all. There is a direct and demonstrable correlation between the breakdown of family and the marked increase in prisoners in our society. . . . Anyone who is not alarmed by this statistic doesn’t understand the relationship between religious values, family life, crime, and the abandonment of young people to wander east of Eden. Among young men now in the New Hampshire prison system, the recidivism rate is a staggering 57 percent. . . .
