JIm FUlner reviewed Parish Priest by Douglas Brinkley
4 stars
A good book that I think did well to try to be fair and balanced look at who may be the first Parish Priest to become a Saint. returnreturnI see the struggle of American Catholics, that was somewhat different from what I pictured from articles in the Columbia magazine. returnreturnIt interesting to see how fraternal organizations as a whole were so popular in the late 19th century, and its amazing that one so unloved then as the K of C has been one to survive. returnreturnI liked reading of the "Total Abstance" societies and the ideas that youngsters going somewhere unsupervised was a totally calcimining in a city as big as New Haven in the 1880s. returnreturnYet what I took away most from this writing was that we aren't doing that bad. I learn the K of C almost collapsed during its first year to to infighting, I'm no so worried that Greg thinks we all need to be doing things his way. The Knights of Columbus provided a place for the Catholic man to be able to have some fun and make a difference, without having to give up Alcohol 100%. It left us a way to provide for our children that was needed then, and not overly difficult now. I find the hall council to be more in line than the Parish council, and Father McGivney a man after my own heart. I can't imagine passing away at the ripe old age of 38 not being uncommon for his line of work in that day, now if our priest is under 40 half the parishioners fail to listen to him. returnreturnBlessed Michael McGivney, pray for us. And thank you for a fraternal organization where I belong, and a book that wasn't as exciting as it could have been, but may have been as exciting as you'd let it be :-)
