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Sacred Heart School of Theology's
English as a Second Language Program
The ESL Times / Spring, 2003
LOVE FOR THE POOREST”
DIARY OF A CITY PRIEST
John McNamee
Sheed & Ward
1993
By: Jesus Guerrero
(Mexico)
Many people think Catholic priests are supermen because God is with them. Therefore, these people feel that priests never suffer; they can do everything. But, is this true? Diary of a City Priest can give us a clear answer about this issue. It is an autobiography written by John McNamee, an older Jesuit priest who works in a poor neighborhood in the north of Philadelphia. Diary of a City Priest is good and strong reading for everyone but especially for consecrated people because they can learn of the testimony and commitment of John McNamee. He transmits feelings such as fear, loneliness, hopeless, powerless, and encouragement in this story about his work realized among poor people. All these feelings belong to the human condition.
Diary of a City Priest presents the difficult reality of people who live in a poor neighborhood. They live in situations of poverty, violence, and illness. These cases transmit to us a grand hopeless because they exist in the real world. I have found these kinds of situations in every city.
It is possible to feel powerless because I would like to do something to resolve the problems of these people, but really it is impossible to change the situation for all of them.
Nevertheless, Diary of a City Priest encourages me to keep my ideal about a mission. I know realistically that I am going to find these kinds of situations in any place. So, it helps me with my commitment.
John McNamee was born in 1933 in Philadelphia where he has served as a parish priest in a poor neighborhood for over 25 years. His efforts on behalf the poor include starting a Catholic Worker House in Philadelphia and organizing a Catholic Peace Fellowship/Pax Christi. His poems and writings have appeared in numerous journals and newspapers. In Diary of a City Priest, John McNamee tries to share for us his own faith and sensibility during his experiences among the poorest. These people test the force and commitment of the priest who serves them. Diary of a City Priest is very similar to The Power and the Glory, a novel written by Albert Camus. Both novels show us the force and fragility to the human condition.
Diary of a City Priest can be read by all kinds of people. But especially,
it is good for consecrated people such as, missionaries, religious, priests,
and seminarians.
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