Join Me in Reading Cry of the Heart

I remember meeting Monsignor Albacete for the first time. I was in the Minor Seminary in Douglaston, Queens, studying Philosophy. I had only just begun priestly formation, and I had no idea what I was doing. To be honest, I wasn’t entirely sure that I was cut out for the priesthood. I never was an altar boy, for example. In fact, the first time I ever served at the altar during Mass was in the Seminary.

Then one day, Monsignor Lorenzo Albacete was invited to speak to us in the Seminary, because he was publishing another book that year called, God at the Ritz. We hosted him, this priest, who was apparently a big deal, and we invited other Seminaries to attend the conference. It was the first time I would ever see so many Seminarians in one place, each one of them shinier than the last. I felt very self-conscious and out of place.

But as soon as Monsignor began to speak, I thought perhaps I might find in him a kindred spirit (to borrow an expression from Anne of Green Gables). Not that I would ever develop a close personal relationship with him - he would never even know my name. In later years, I would be able to attend retreats led by him, but for now, his writings, narrated in my memory by the way he spoke to us that day in the Seminary, were enough to make me think that perhaps there was a place for me in the priesthood after all.

What did he say to us that day? Well, at the time I understood very little of his references. But I remember his sense of humor and the freedom with which he spoke, and that we all laughed at every other word that came from his mouth. I was, however, able to recall parts of his talk in hindsight, as I later read his book, God at the Ritz, in the winter of the following year. I went skiing with my family upstate, but stayed at the base, in the lodge, where I read the book with a pen in my hand. I can remember exactly where I was siting, and what that day felt like. The day was bright, but cold. The lodge was dark, but warm.

There was something else in his writings, beyond his clarity of expression and humor. It was the authority of his own personal life. He was a Puerto Rican physicist with advanced degrees, who became a priest and university president, a trusted advisor to bishops and friend of the popes, and had a relationship with his immediate family that shaped the heart of who he was - and continues to be - for the Church. So, join me this Lent in reading together Cry of the Heart. It can help us to think of suffering in a whole new way.

Each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I’ll post short audio reflections on our YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify, to aid your reading of it. It’s a short book, but each little section is rich. Reading it slowly, with the aid of short reflections, should help us to understand and retain what the book offers to us. Purchase Cry of the Heart in the parish gift shop or online, and search for “Petersboat” on YouTube, Apple, or Spotify to follow the reflections. +