David D Parsons

That's a nice idea Ray. Now we need to find the anniversary of the
year we decided to leave Maryknoll. The way things have turned out,
that was one of the best decisions I ever made. Take care.  Dave


hmmmm I'm going to have to think about that. The leaving part was such
a painful experience for me because I had already invested eight years
and was facing a rather sudden and uncertain future. The truth is that
so much had changed in those eight years both from the aspect of
personal maturation and especially that Vatican II reform thinking was
virtually changing the Church (or so we thought). I know that lots of
priests left Maryknoll in the twenty or so years after that era, and
that ordination classes of more than fifty dwindled to classes of
three or four. Anyway I'm glad I left the seminary because I would
never have been able to stomach the irrational reversal the Church has
tried to make since then.  Many of those who stayed have struggled,
I'm sure, to walk the tightrope between trying to stay loyal to the
hierarchy (their personal oath on ordination) and still try to serve
the real needs of the people with whom they work. Those people deserve
the highest praise - which is one reason I still support
Maryknoll. But as for me trying to play those both ends...I don't
think I could have done it.

I agree that hearing those stories from others would interesting. Take
care.