November-December 2023 Mail
I have been a Redemptorist for sixty-three years. I was a [foreign] missionary for thirty-four years. Home is always where I have lived and served the Lord. It was a joy to “come home” being welcomed by my family—even if it was always for a short stay.
Reading the article “No Place Like It” (July-August), my first thoughts were of the movie E. T. the Extra-Terrestrial with the little alien who was homesick and wanted to “phone home”! The ache for home. It is in us all.
Home for Jesus was where his Father, Abba, was. This is why he was always going out to the garden, to the mountains, to the desert to be with his Father.
I’m also reminded of the beautiful parable where the son returns to his father’s house [Prodigal Son, Luke 15].
Today in my older years, my constant prayer is the Our Father, aware I also am a “son.” I identify with your “ache for home.” In our world today, this is an act of faith. “I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.” Amen, going home!
Fr. Clement Krug, CSsR, Brooklyn, New York
Editor’s supplement to Fr. Clement Krug’s letter, based on a Celtic prayer:
May there be a beautiful welcome for you
In the home that you are going to.
You are not going somewhere strange.
You are going back to the home that you never left.
May you have a wonderful urgency to live your life to the full.
May those whose lives you touched on earth be blessed.
When you come to die, may it be after a long life.
May you be peaceful and happy in the presence of those who care for you.
May your going be sheltered and your welcome in heaven assured.
May your soul smile in the embrace of God.
Thank you so much for your thoughts in “Opening Long-Closed Doors” (September-October 2023). We do want and need the expertise of laicized priests. Why crucify them for a change of heart?….Move with reality. Priests who leave to marry have many hurdles to hop over. We need priests to shepherd us. We should not require perfection, just a loving, caring man of God.
Anonymous, Wisconsin
This morning I read the entire September-October publication cover to cover. It was excellent. It covered so much and was a needed reinforcement of our values as Catholics. I’m originally from Brooklyn, New York, where we were blessed with Redemptorists and “happy priests” at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Basilica. God bless you and your staff.
RMD, New Jersey
We apologize for omitting a few lines of text in “A Catholic Refuge of Learning” in the September-October edition. The complete article is available on Liguorian.org.
