Well known Jesuit priest, teacher, former Congressman, lawyer and friend to many, Fr. Robert Drinan, SJ, is currently hospitalized with pneumonia. When I was living at Georgetown University, in my Jesuit days, this unique scholar lived in the next room (most Jesuits still live in communities where the living situation is one room). What a character! So often we hear about the "far right." Well, here is a man who can well be described as an ardent devotee of the "far left." A true liberal, Bob was forever challenging anyone and anything that demeaned human life, human dignity. Many evenings, just before dinner, Bob and I would meet in the hallway outside our rooms. I always teased him: "Well, what has the liberal machine done for the country today?" I would ask. "You can't even get your mind around it" or such words he would respond. Bob is much older now but still a fighter. Please remember him in your prayers. He would probably deliver a short diatribe for my publishing this. But he will always be a brother priest and friend who helped make my doctoral studies journey a little easier. One fact I never shared with Bob. When I was still a Scholastic (=Jesuit seminarian), one of my professors in my MA program wanted me to delay my theology studies to move to Boston College to earn a law degree, working under the man who was then Dean ... none other than Robert Drinan, SJ. Ordination was too important to me, so I never pressed the issue with my superiors. I am sure that Bob would teasingly but wisely remark: Thanks be to God that you listened to the Holy Spirit!Saturday, January 27, 2007
In Your Prayers Today
Well known Jesuit priest, teacher, former Congressman, lawyer and friend to many, Fr. Robert Drinan, SJ, is currently hospitalized with pneumonia. When I was living at Georgetown University, in my Jesuit days, this unique scholar lived in the next room (most Jesuits still live in communities where the living situation is one room). What a character! So often we hear about the "far right." Well, here is a man who can well be described as an ardent devotee of the "far left." A true liberal, Bob was forever challenging anyone and anything that demeaned human life, human dignity. Many evenings, just before dinner, Bob and I would meet in the hallway outside our rooms. I always teased him: "Well, what has the liberal machine done for the country today?" I would ask. "You can't even get your mind around it" or such words he would respond. Bob is much older now but still a fighter. Please remember him in your prayers. He would probably deliver a short diatribe for my publishing this. But he will always be a brother priest and friend who helped make my doctoral studies journey a little easier. One fact I never shared with Bob. When I was still a Scholastic (=Jesuit seminarian), one of my professors in my MA program wanted me to delay my theology studies to move to Boston College to earn a law degree, working under the man who was then Dean ... none other than Robert Drinan, SJ. Ordination was too important to me, so I never pressed the issue with my superiors. I am sure that Bob would teasingly but wisely remark: Thanks be to God that you listened to the Holy Spirit!
