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

Briefly: January-February 1990

Reviews of Emma Goldman in Exile: From the Russian Revolution to the Spanish Civil War... Catholic Colleges and Federal Funding... Mother of All Nations: Visions of Mary... Protestant Thought and Natural Science... Virgil Michel: American Catho­lic... The Thinking Revolutionary: Principle and Practice in the New Republic

A Witness in Bangkok

The humiliations and defeats Michael and his family have endured are a testament to a family caught up in a story of redemption far greater than themselves.

Ritualizing Abortion

To those who would invoke old gods at their convenience and choose human sacrifices for them: Be careful what god you pray to.