Volume > Issue > In the Country

In the Country

A PLACE FULL OF GRACE

By James Schmitmeyer | September 1997
The Rev. James Schmitmeyer is a priest of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati and Pastor of St. Louis Church in North Star, Ohio, and St. Nicholas Church in Osgood, Ohio.

“Where are your sheep, Father?” Jay asks as he throws another rock on the pile behind the barn.

“They got mad and left,” I respond as I try with a hoe to pry loose a slab of cement. “They got tired of this rocky manure yard and decided to go to the city. I think they’re headed for Chicago.”

“Father, priests aren’t supposed to lie.”

Jay is 10 years of age and old enough to provide some direction to misguided adults.

“I’m just telling you what they had on their minds. You don’t see them around anywhere, do you?”

“So where are they?”

Enjoyed reading this?

READ MORE! REGISTER TODAY

SUBSCRIBE

You May Also Enjoy

Paths Trod by Sheldon Vanauken

"I am comfortable about death," he wrote in 'Under the Mercy.' "I try to look at my life, including the sins (and the repentance), as if from Eternity: and I feel hope."

A Year of Magical Thinking

The chief rabbi of Poland said that while "there's not a silence" about the persecution of Christians around the world, "there is not enough yelling and screaming."

Shelter From the Storm

Lear is able to pull back from his obsession to pledge that "I will be the pattern of all patience"; patience, he knows, is the remedy he needs if he is to retain his sanity.