Outnumbered

   Back in the days when everything was different, our parish had two priests living in the rectory in Schaghticoke. Father Monte was gregarious, friendly, outgoing. What I recall most about him was that he used to stop down and pick my mother up for daily morning Masses when he found the Valley Falls church empty, as priests were not permitted to say Mass in an empty church. 

      Father Bondi appeared younger, was classically handsome,  had a more serious  demeanor and possessed a very pleasant singing voice. At one child's Baptism, I had told Dave to give the priest an envelope containing a check, probably about $25, in appreciation for his time and services. Father B. refused to take any money, said it was part of his job. Kind of astounding, even for a priest, I thought. Priests are traditionally not allowed to stay in one parish for too long. They need to be free of personal attachment, so it was no surprise when he announced he was leaving.  But he stated he was not going to transfer to another parish, but he was going back to the seminary to devote his time to prayer. He had found that the world contained "more of them than there are of us,"  and he felt prayer would be more productive than ministry. He did not disclose what he meant by "them" and "us."  I thought he might have meant  people of faith and heathens. Even lacking that particular distinction, I think he was correct.