Andrew Greeley's The Great Mysteries, Introduction to the New Edition

Web Editor's Note and Dedication

I dedicate the effort of putting The Great Mysteries on the Web to the Greeley List and the memory of a man I have never met, James Vincent Pacilli, whose brother Fred subscribes to an e-mail discussion forum on the work of Andrew Greeley I started in 1996. Without the Greeley List (greeley@vm.temple.edu) I might never have thought of this project. Last fall another subscriber, a priest who teaches at Loyola University at New Orleans, asked for my help because the book, which he uses in one of his courses, had gone out of print. That's when the possibility of a Web edition first occurred to me, and I proceeded to obtain permission to do so. I posted Chapter 10, "The Mystery of Mary the Mother of Jesus" (a celebration of the revelatory powers of sexual love and the vision of God as both mother and father) in honor of Valentine's Day on February 14, and intended gradually to add a chapter at a time over the next year.

The evening of May 2, I read a message from Fred Pacilli who had been temporarily absent from the list. This is part of Fred's message:

I left Chicago at 3 AM last April 24th. Arrived at Jimmy's hospital bed at 12:30 PM. I didn't recognize him at first. He was so thin. He didn't recognize me. Four strokes. His wife, Maria, who has been by his side for 10 weeks through all of this showed up later. We hugged. Tears.

We talked. We joked. We went for coffee or a walk. I stroked his hair and comforted him. Promised to be back the next day. He smiled. 6 hours later I went to my cousins' where I slept. Jimmy died 7 AM the next morning.

You know those little brochures they have at wakes with the deceased's picture, statistics and a few words? This one had a picture of Jimmy in his early twenties in a tux. Nice tux.

Jimmy was born September 10th, 1916 in Toronto. Died April 25th, 1998 in Brampton, Ontario.

As always, please, no replies. It's enough that you read this.

Uncle Fred.

I found myself in tears. In its simplicity, this message captured the ambiguity of the human situation. I wanted to do something to mark the life and death of Jimmy whom I did not know but who was my brother. I wanted to do something to be with Fred and all who mourn the loss of loved ones. And I thought of The Great Mysteries, and how Father Greeley's words in the chapters I had not yet posted might give comfort to someone out there on the Web, someone who needed those words not next month or next year but today. And so I got busy, stayed up most of that night, and some sixty hours later (I haven't done much else) the whole book is on the Web.

"For the follower of Jesus it is safe to assume that he and his followers sang psalms as they went up to Jerusalem. So we must join them on that final journey on which we are all embarked. We must go up to our own Jerusalem with fear and anguish but also with confidence and hope, with joy in our hearts and a song on our lips. There is no other way to live." (From "The Mystery of Jesus of Nazareth")

Ingrid Shafer
5 May 1998

Contents

Introduction to the New Edition Introduction to the Original Edition I The Mystery of God II The Mystery of Jesus of Nazareth III The Mystery of the Spirit IV The Mystery of the Cross and Resurrection V The Mystery of Salvation VI The Mystery of Grace VII The Mystery of the Holy Eucharist VIII The Mystery of the Church IX The Mystery of Baptism X The Mystery of Mary the Mother of Jesus XI The Mystery of Heaven XII The Mystery of the Return of Jesus Conclusion Guide for Discussion and Personal Meditation Bibliography

This is the Table of Contents of the electronic edition of the New Edition (1985) of Andrew M. Greeley's The Great Mysteries: An Essential Catechism (San Francisco Harper & Row, 1976, 1985), pp. iv-x. Published with permission.

This page will be updated whenever I become aware of errors. Please, send me any "scannos" or typos you find.

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