Mo,
I wish I could join Steve and thank you for having an effect on my thinking, but I don’t remember a thing you ever said as a priest. It’s what you did that stuck with me. You welcomed me in church as a lapsed Catholic looking for my identity in a Jewish university. You invited me to the Boston Common for John Paul’s mass and made sure we sat up front. You invited me to read at one or two of your masses which, even though my knees shook, overcame my (now embarrassing) outrage that you allowed women to distribute communion. And you facilitated my confirmation at Holy Cross cathedral.
Your post on your spiritual journey was very sad to read. Above all, your leaving the church clearly left you dissatisfied and unhappy, even though you made a valiant argument otherwise. Perhaps you could have shared your thoughts more openly. That mass with the pope set me up for 40 years of mistaken worship of the clergy, which was really screwed up. Your openness and disobedience might have provided a course correction for so many, including those who are still trapped in clerical falsehoods.
You did not disappear when you died. I know you did not. God is merciful and loving. Remember us in your prayers, as you did as a priest.
God bless you.
Michael
