{"id":96,"date":"2014-08-25T04:40:30","date_gmt":"2014-08-25T04:40:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/howgreatthoupart\/?p=96"},"modified":"2014-11-21T18:18:29","modified_gmt":"2014-11-21T18:18:29","slug":"the-priest-that-raised-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/howgreatthoupart\/2014\/08\/the-priest-that-raised-me.html","title":{"rendered":"The Priest That Raised Me"},"content":{"rendered":"

My large family is competing for air space around the dining table. I am comfortable here. Actually I am happy here. I glance at my uncle and I see, that he too, is happy in this space. <\/p>\n

The food is trademark yummy and is being tossed back and forth. For a moment, here and there the conversation stops long enough to listen to a party of \u2018one\u2019 in this party of \u2018many.\u2019 However, for the most part it is a \u2018party line\u2019 of conversations. We don\u2019t seem to mind. Quite the contrary, my family relishes in the delicious commotion that accompanies the meal. <\/p>\n

In between casual conversations we tease my uncle, the priest. <\/p>\n

\u201cCover your ears, Padre,\u201d we say.<\/p>\n

We are an irreverent bunch. He is so mild mannered, joyful and spirited that he shows us no matter.<\/p>\n

The truth be told he is a Brooklyn boy through and through. He loves everything about being a guy from a big, Irish Catholic family.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are a clan,\u201d he says to me with an ever so proud smile.<\/p>\n

That is \u2018our\u2019 Padre, \u2018my\u2019 Padre.<\/p>\n

He lives joyfully in the moment. It is how I remember him since I am little. <\/p>\n

He is the uncle (the priest to others) that shows grace and patience. It is no trouble for him to stop and help another. <\/p>\n

I meet him in a hospital entrance to usher him towards his sister, yet he stops countless times on the way to the elevator to pray for a family member he does not know. He does not let on. He shows no indictors that he is here to see his own family member and not a parishioner. <\/p>\n

I love that he treats them all with kindness despite our own personal worry. I know that my mom just floors above us and completely unaware would love this too. She would not want her \u201cPaddy\u201d to rush to her. She, ever so proud of her brother, would delight in those rushing towards him.<\/p>\n

It is the first time that I am truly aware of my uncle, the priest. For me he is the guy who sings to us, jumps waves to us and delights in us. It is the first time that I understand that he is never, ever off duty. That he is a symbol of hope, of peace, of forgiveness, of comfort, of healing and of faith to others. <\/p>\n

It is thirty minutes later when he makes his way to my mom\u2019s hospital room though there is no dent in his demeanor. He fills the room with grace and is still present for all of us. I know he worries for his sister. He does not let us see that. He protects us.<\/p>\n

It is not long after, that we say an impossibly difficult farewell to my mother. It is then, at her mass that I detect a dent in his demeanor. His unshakable faith temporarily made human while his brotherly instincts take over and he says goodbye to his beloved sister.<\/p>\n

As it does, time passes.<\/p>\n

I am in my home office striking at the keyboard in front of me. I pick up the phone. It is my \u201cPadre,\u201d and I hear the comforting love that for me only his voice carries. He knows I am struggling in my marriage. <\/p>\n

It pains me to know he feels my pain.<\/p>\n

I suddenly detect that slight dent in his demeanor. The one where uncle meets priest. The one I recognize from my mom\u2019s last goodbye. <\/p>\n

\u201cColleen, the Holy Spirit gave you the gift of joy your whole life,\u201d he says. \u201cDo not let another human being take that that from you.\u201d<\/p>\n

I hang up the phone.<\/p>\n

I sit quietly in my office. I go over his words again and again. I go over and over the slight dent in his demeanor. The one where uncle meets priest. <\/p>\n

He is telling me it is okay to move on from my marriage.<\/p>\n

He is telling me that even unshakable faith is human.
\n\"Scan<\/a><\/p>\n

Follow me on Facebook @Colleen Sheehy Orme
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\nE-mail: Colleen.Sheehy.Orme@gmail.com
\nwww.colleensheehyorme.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My large family is competing for air space around the dining table. I am comfortable here. Actually I am happy here. I glance at my uncle and I see, that he too, is happy in this space. The food is trademark yummy and is being tossed back and forth. 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These human moments are the Hope Virus that spreads amongst us and can\u2019t help but propel us into better human beings with a larger sense of the world.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/howgreatthoupart\/author\/corme"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/howgreatthoupart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/howgreatthoupart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/howgreatthoupart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/howgreatthoupart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/575"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/howgreatthoupart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/howgreatthoupart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":233,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/howgreatthoupart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96\/revisions\/233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/howgreatthoupart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/howgreatthoupart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/howgreatthoupart\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}