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| The "peacable kingdom" is a picture I took last Sunday while Ed and Gerry, two of our list members who live within driving distance, were visiting. Katya suddenly decided that Lannie, my 13 year old semi deaf and blind beloved couch mutt was in need of kisses and a bath. I added the poinsettia, a gift from a dear friend, to make the transition to the final image of this incarnational series, a blending of sunlight and snow and grain and a carved nativity scene from my native Austria which has been part of our Christmas for decades: |
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| The following table contains links to each contributor's message, and in some cases, images. This is a gift from the Greeley List to Father Greeley and from me to the Greeley List, but it would not be except for Father Greeley's prior gifts to all of us and, more importantly, except for the Child whose Birth we celebrate, the Light which came into the World and planted the seed of Hope in human hearts. |
| Eileen | Ellen | Bettina | Freida |
| Mike Hallett | Mike Piggot | Bill Olewiler | Bill Page |
| Tom | Wayne | Suzanne | Bernie |
| Carolyn | Phil | Sandra | Wanda |
| Barbara | Mike Tucker | Mary | Christi |
| Debby | Joy | Joan | Patricia Anne |
| Lorraine |
| Father Andy:
Through your books I learned the presence of God in my everyday life and her great love for me, even if I am not perfect. I have also learned to talk to God and develop a closeness with her. This leads to a faith and trust I did not have before. You introduced me to a kind, loving and forgiving God -- one that I can ask to hold me and know that is what she wants to do. Through learning of God's feelings for me, I can better understand and love other people. Each new book strengthens these teachings. Thank you so much and Merry Christmas! Eileen |
| Dear Fr. Greeley,
Thank you for your wonderful books and other writings! I have learned so much from your perspective of God. While it is your fiction I have most enjoyed, I think I have gotten more out of your non fiction, at least from my direct reading. I have also learned much from discussions of your fiction on the mailing list that bears your name. Keep up the good work, and may you be successful in your future endeavors. Ellen Kozisek
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| Dear Fr. Greeley,
I was born, raised and educated in Catholicism, and left the church 22 years ago after deciding the whole institution was a mess of idiotic rules, run by uptight clergy who didn't know what they were talking about. Then last spring, during a very black period in my life, I found your books. I read every novel and non-fiction book of yours I could get my hands on, and everything on your website. Your image of God was so beautiful it made me cry, and brought back the joyful feelings I had as a child in church. I realized I missed Catholicism! There was another bonus from reading your work: you steered me toward reading other Catholic writers and theologians I'd never known about, like John Shea, David Tracy, Jon Hassler, and Ingrid. Even though I'm a writer and editor (children's books and educational publishing) I'd only read a few Catholic novelists, like Greene, Moore, etc., and no theology. Today, I'm happily back in a wonderful parish here in NY City (Paulists priests) and taking theology classes for the first time! Thank you thank you, from the bottom of my heart for the gift you've given me. I wish you much love and joy during this beautiful holiday season. Love and Peace,
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I wanted to take a moment to tell you how much I appreciate having you on this earth. Your total belief that God is Love is inspiring and calming. Your books have entertained, taught, and inspired me. Thank you for choosing to share your innermost feelings, your prayers, and your stories.  I pray that God continues to bless you and to give you peace. 
Freida  |
| Father Greeley:
Thank you -- for being a shining example of the commitment to getting
it right through social science, of devotion to others through faith and
dialogue in many forms, and your over-riding gift for generating communion
among the marginal and mainstream alike. You suggested I read your
autobiography, and I have done so to my great gain. You have built
bridges upon which many stand and over which many have (re)connected with
God and Each Other. Christmas Eve, after mass, I will drink a shot
of
Cheers Father Greeley! Michael A. Hallett, Ph.D.
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| Dear Father Greeley,
Like so many others I want to express my wishes for a wonderful season for you and thankfulness for what your writings have brought into my life. Your reflections in the prayer journals are constant sources of inspiration for me. Perhaps the greatest, though, is the phrase I've seen a couple of times in your recent books, "half fun and full earnest." I work in television news and that phrase struck me as one that expresses every work day. My sister painted it on a beautiful piece of wood and it hangs in my office for me to see whenever the pressures either come on or need to be applied. My new year's wish for you is an early publication of Irish Whiskey. Merry Christmas,
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| Dear Father Greeley:
May our affection and appreciation sprinkle sparks of joyful peace upon your hearth and heart this Christmas. Your books have helped me see the God whose judgment is caring and correcting, and whose perfect love casts out fear. May the delightful folk from your pages gather with you this Christmas to bear our greetings.
Worsted, dark, and whirled,
The folk, foolish, fond.
The bush burns anew.
Straight the desert way,
Pastor, Kanuga participant, and contemporary of Blackie. |
| Father Greeley:
You caught my attention years ago with Lord of the Dance. You caught my imagination with Blackie Ryan. You caught my heart with Virgin and Martyr. Through the years I have come from the darkness of a fundamentalist
Baptist background that saw salvation in tight doctrinal strictures to
the light of understanding that God's love is overreaching and overwhelming.
My homilies and devotional teaching, my guidance to young believers, and
my daily
When my first marriage dissolved (there was no rubber band to hold us together), it was your fiction and your prayer journals more than any other that helped me see light in the time of despair. And when I met a liberal Catholic woman who stirred my soul, I was more able to relate to her and to her friends (a priest and a Benedictine novitiate) because of my exposure to your non-fiction writings. Now my wife and I share your books as soon as they are published. Thank you for continuing to bless us with your amazing talent for sharing, in a most entertaining way, the good news that God loves us. Bill Page
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May God bless you and hold you safely in the palm of her hand this Christmas and forever more. Your books have been a very important part of my spiritual growth over the past ten years. They have had a positive impact in my relationships with God, my wife, and my children. Your ministry positively effects thousands of people. I hope it brings you joy and fulfillment in this Christmas Season. Merry Christmas, Tom Riddle  |
| Father Greeley,
In this blessed and holy season, may you find as much joy and peace as your works have given me. In my introduction to the Greeley e-mail list, I said that the writings of Thomas Merton had led me to the Catholic faith, but that yours have constantly sustained, strengthened and renewed that faith, a gift for which I am truly grateful. Please allow me, by way of a small Christmas gift, to share a verse from one of my favorite works, Bernstein's "Mass", written to honor "one of the three John's of my youth"; think of it when you are beset by the demagogues & dogmatists who would make of our Church a body of rules and not a body of people, the true Body of Christ:
You can lock up the bold men and hold men in tow. You can stifle all adventure for a century or so. Smother hope before it's risen, Watch it wizen like a gourd, But you cannot imprison the word of the Lord. No, you cannot imprison the word of the Lord." Bernstein/Schwartz Wayne Spiceland Memphis, TN |
| Dear Father Greeley,
Thank you for opening your heart:
God Bless You, dear Father, and may the season of our beloved Savior's birth be a time for you filled with joy, peace and love. Suzanne Plaisted,
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| Dear Fr. G:
Around Christmas last year, I set out to read every one of your books in our local library (Tomahawk, WI, pop. 3,300). Last time I counted, that amounted to over 25, plus a few more that I have purchased and donated to the library. At first, I was reading them for their entertainment value, and while I still do so for that reason, I've also found sometimes my homilies have been impacted ... all for the better. No, I probably haven't directly quoted you more than twice, but I have been imaging God in a different way, more the lover. Alas, I cannot report any overwhelming approval, but I can tell the folks listen. For this Christmas, I hope that you will continue to be held as closely as ever by our Savior, and that you will be granted every good wish in the New Year. Love, and God's Blessings,
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| Dear Father Greeley,
For years I read your fiction books just because I enjoyed them. I looked forward eagerly to the next one. That has not changed, but one day in the last few years, I realized that each time I read one of your books, I felt as if I had had a mini "spiritual experience." What seemed to bring this on, is the way you describe God's love for us. It sounded so wonderful and so real, I could really feel it for myself! Thank you for all you write and for allowing yourself to be used by
God in the ways that you do.
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| To Andrew Greeley:
The days grow dark and cold. I feel out of sorts. Nothing is going well. Tensions mount at home. It is time for a Greeley book, one of my old favorites. I sit back and turn the pages and become immersed in a world of brightness and light, of hope and joy. When I have finished, the world seems livable again. To our Man of La Mancha, who tells us of the world as it should be (just as the Child does), I wish you joy, long life, a tireless pen, and a Blessed Christmas. Phil Lawless |
| Dear Father Greeley,
In my life you have been a grace, a true gift from God. You have shown me a world which scintillates with the love and power of our Creator. You have brought me back to my own church and allowed me to see its beauty. You have instilled within me a respect for the religious power of story and metaphor. And you have taught me the true meaning of the sacraments. But more than anything, you have reminded me to be joyful as a bride awaiting her lover's return. And the universe is filled with his love letters to me, tucked away in gardens and nestled among the leaves in the trees. Indeed, anywhere I find beauty, I will surely find a love letter from Him. You have shown me all this. You have been a powerful tool of God. So how can I ever thank you? I know I will never be able to express fully my gratitude, my respect, and my love for you. But perhaps you might remember this Christmas message on a day when you are feeling discouraged, and know that there are so many others who feel the same as I do, and who are longing for the day when we will know one another and be a family in paradise. A very merry Christmas to you, Father Greeley. With love, Sandra
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| Dear Father Greeley,
Your writings, which I have only known about for about 6 months, are literally transforming my life. I used to make a lot of money and own a home, I lost my good paying job due to "managed care" and even though I still hadn't become a home owner again, I was strongly guided to take a much lower paying position as business administrator at the U of New Mexico's Aquinas Newman Center. This job is not a piece of cake by any stretch of the imagination; but a constant and consistent place for me to heal spiritually. There is a Dominican Priory attached to the Newman Center, so I am surrounded by priests! last year a novitiate-intern who had become one of my dearest friends in the world became my sponsor and I joined the Church at the Easter Vigil 1996. I am 44 yrs old. I have spent my life, since the 3rd grade, on a singular search for God and my connection to Him. Lutheran, Buddhist, Zen Meditation, New Age stuff, Judaism, A Course in Miracles, Gnosticism, etc. etc. Imagine my shock at finding all my prejudices about the Catholic Church to be irrelevant!! I had been studying Meister Eckhart for years, having no idea he was Dominican. We have study groups about the mystics! I am so happy and feel like I have come home. The rituals and traditions of the Church are so comforting, and the Protestants have no idea what they are literally missing with out the true presence of Christ at Mass. Well, my novitiate friend told me about your books, I started out with the fiction because that's all I knew about. I feel they have provided me a bit of the Catholic upbringing and history that I missed growing up with agnostic parents and step-parents. Now, thanks to Ingrid's lovely listserv, I have learned about your Prayer Journals. I have used my computer to journal for my self for the last 12 years, when I open the first journal and read that you were writing to God, and calling Him My Love, I literally cried in the bookstore. So lovely and reverent and genuine and uplifting. Well, sorry this is so long, I felt I had to write it all [I really left out a lot!!] so you would understand how important your writing career is to me, how it has literally changed my life, been a vehicle for the Holy Spirit to reach me and comfort me in my total immersion reading modes I can get into. Thank you with all my heart. Love, Wanda Ruth Zimmerman
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| Dear Padre:
I want to wish you the most Blessed and Peacefilled Christmas. I want to thank you for helping me to understand my parent's belief (Cardinal Sins, Ascent into Hell) while affirming my own (Cardinal Virtues, White Smoke, Angel Fire, Angel Light). You've given me more authors (Shea, Tracy, Newman Scott, etc.) than I can digest in a lifetime. Thank you for letting me in on a view of a Lover so overwhelming as to stagger the imagination (your prayer journals). Most of all thank you for giving me a renewed understanding of what Christmas is all about (Star Bright). You have indeed "Prepared the way of the Lord and made straight His path." Thank you, God Bless and Merry Christmas. Barbara Burleigh
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| My brother-priest Andrew,
For days I have been trying to decide what to say to you for Christmas that would touch your heart and lift your spirits. Today, as you know, is the Feast of Our Lady of Guadeloupe, and as I was sorting through my files I came across a poem I had written and sent as a Christmas card. I was a seminarian in 3rd theology at the time, the year was 1974, and I was reflecting on how the mystery of the Incarnation and the Paschal Mystery are an essential element of the Catholic story. Though not nearly as eloquent or profound as your writing, I hope my little poem in some small way, reflects your own mind and heart: that in the beginning and the end, God is Love...
In the stillness of night
Yet, still another night
In the stillness of your night
Fr Mike Tucker
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| Dear Father Greeley;
Beannachtai na Nollag agus Siochain san Ath Bhliain. Thank you very much for all your writings, they helped me keep sane during my year + of hell along with being a member of Ingrid's Greeley List. It eventually became very difficult for me to pray so I reread all your books. I have heard you say on interviews that your fiction is just that, however, your basic attitudes shine through and have helped me know not only a loving but personal God. Again Thank you and keep those Books coming. (Still waiting for April and Rosemary). Mary C. |
| Father Greeley,
I'm joining this Christmas chorus because I want you to know how much more harmonious my life is with you in it. A year ago, you wrote me a generous letter which gave me the courage to continue my own writing career. But you influenced my life long before that. I am not, nor have I ever been, Catholic, but when I read PATIENCE OF A SAINT I felt I'd come home. In those days, television preachers in polyester suits spewed hate and fear and bigotry, selling Christianity to the highest bidder. Your book brought me home to the faith I was raised in - that any belief of any church proclaiming God's great desire is vengeance is wrong. Ours is a God of love. His churches and His people must proclaim and share that love. Your writing ministry opened a new world for me. At first, I lurked in the shadows Ingrid's web site, leery of finding television preachers foaming at the mouth. As a non-Catholic, I feared setting myself up as a target. And although I am known as the Resident Heretic, I could not have been more wrong. The people on this list could be characters in your books, even though
we're not all Chicago Irish Catholic whiskey drinkers. What these
people share with your characters is their love of God. Your books
give our diverse group a common metaphor, a place to discuss issues and
ideals. The
Our conversations stray far and wide from your books. There are calls, now and then, from those insisting we are too far off target. Notes of agreement are posted and then largely ignored. We are too far gone for that. We are a family, sharing each other's personal lives. We support those in pain and rejoice with those in celebration. For those of us in isolated areas and those of us confined to home by illness or injury, the list opens a long locked door. This may seem to stray from your books, but I believe we have taken what is best in your fiction and made that love real - at least in our small church. Your words give us the sunshine of joy. We want you to know what that light means to us. And to thank you, for all you give us. God bless you! =====================
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| Dear Father Greeley,
Thank you so much for your sharing your intense love of God through your writings, both fiction and non. I can not begin to tell you how much your writings mean to me. I have learned from you that God's love for me is not detached and just used on Sunday morning. Her love for me is throughout everything that I see, touch, smell, hear. You can't separate that love from life. It IS life! Your words and God's love have had a vital impact on my life. Thank you. Debby Haynes |
| Dear Father Greeley:
This note is to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your creations with words. You and your books came into my life during a "sabbatical" from the church. I thought it was a sabbatical from God, but realized early on that God and I were in close contact, it was the Church and I that were estranged. It was a long ten years. In that time I was lonely and felt at loose ends, your books kept me "connected" without preaching or advising. The stories and the wonderful way you have of teaching deep theological facts through them are very reminiscent of another who taught with parables. You have brought enlightenment and joy and above all, hope into a sometimes dull and life taking world. Thank you. I converted to the RCC when I was 15, was lured to the Church by the Eucharist. A story that is , I think quite beautiful and shows for me how tenacious our lover God is and how tenacious our love for each other needs to be. My husband , my high school sweetheart, and I have been married 31 years, are parents of nine rambunctious, rebellious, and opinionated people, grandparents to seven of their children and are hoping for more in the near future. Tom has answered the call to ordination to Permanent Deacon and is slated for ordination in December 1999 (if I can get the house cleaned in time for the party! LOL). Your books have been enjoyed by us both, and frankly, have improved our loving immensely. You do have a gift , my friend. Thank you again for your courage, for your insights, for your willingness to share of who you are with so many others. I credit you, with my coming back to the church, for in the end because of your books I felt I really hadn't left! Merry Christmas! May the Christ Child bless you beyond your wildest imagination, and may his Angels keep you safe from those who would harm you. You are in my prayers three times a day, included with those who are very dear to me, you will always be there. Thank you,
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| Dear Father Greeley:
Our language seems inadequate to express what your work has done for
me. (Unfortunately, I'm stuck with it; it's the only one I know.) Everyone
has his own impressions of the last few decades and how things have changed
during this century, especially the second half. Suffice it to say that
you have given me a gift for which 12 years of parochial school, the
Baltimore
Catechism Volumes I and II, Mass in the vernacular and guitars in church
had only laid the foundation. Knowing you, through your writing, has given
me an inner peace that is very nearly unshakable. I now feel more comfortable
with God - 3 Persons with Whom I can be myself, rather than trying to
impress.
Thank you for the second greatest gift I've ever received! Have a blessed
Christmas and peace and health in 1998 and beyond.
Joan Shanahan (ChimesOne@aol.com or
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| AG:
I was not going to send you a "cute little ditty" - a "season's greetings" type of card - and I REFUSE to fall into that "groupies" type mentality and think that everything you do smells sweet - but I did finally realize that I must tell you something - and this my dear Andrew will be my present to you (along with some toys that were given in your name to inner-city children in a pre-school program here in NYC)... So enjoy the toys (you'd like the snoring Ernie - but I really hope the Barbie dolls and their "luggage" doesn't tip the scales into scandal in Chicago... And God forbid you invite the new Bishop to tea on your new Cabbage Patch tea set.... :-) I've read your books off and on for a good number of years - the novels, the sociological tomes, the prayer books - not all of them - for I've had I've read your books off and on for a good number of years - the novels, the sociological tomes, the prayer books - not all of them - for I've had weightier books to purchase then yours... But one here, one there - one in flight, one on the bus, one sitting in a train station in San Francisco... And they have always filled my every expectation of them... You've entertained me, you're educated me, you're amazed me at times, for you write from your heart - one can feel the warm blood flowing through your stories and works... In each prayer book, you leave a piece of your soul as a bookmark - as I leave my soul on the beach at Block Island until I return - so yours waits for someone to turn a page and read a line - it then speaks to them directly from your heart.. And so for Christmas I wish you love and peace and joy and snowflakes on your nose and cheeks.... I wish you the wonder of a child as you walk up the center aisle of an empty church, decorated and waiting silently for the babe to be birthed again... I wish you the devotion to your work that Mary the young mother gave to her newborn son... I wish you the smell of oxen and donkeys and goats and cut hay and midEastern spices all mixed with the whispering of warm sand and hushed fronds of the palms.. I wish for you no less than I'd wish for goats and cut hay and midEastern spices all mixed with the whispering of warm sand and hushed fronds of the palms.. I wish for you no less than I'd wish for the child born of Mary in a stable - I wish you good days and happy nights and interesting books to read and tasty food to fill your stomach, and good drink no matter what it is and when you want it - and I wish you good flights and safe landings - and I wish you, dear Andrew everything that God wants for you... But most of all, I wish you the love of Jesus in everything you do - now and for always... Patricia Anne Byron |
| Dear Fr. Greeley,
I want to thank you very much for your gift of love via your books. Each time I open one of your books, I feel like I am opening a Christmas gift. You have helped me (us) get through many rough spots in life and have really made a difference over the past ten years in so much of what we do. My husband became a Catholic while reading your books. It has lead to so many new facets , especially with his involvement in Church music and now with his work toward his doctorate in "pipe organ performance" at Catholic University in DC. I was born and raised a Catholic, but found a new and fresh appreciate of our religion after reading your books. I think that we are better able to set an example to lead others to the Church with the aid of your books. I have read all that are available. I am constantly looking for ones I don't have. The prayer journals are so nice, they really make me feel better about life when I read them. I look forward to this list and enjoy the kinship of so many Greeley people. I just finished Star Bright and used the example of the old Babci (Babushka ) in the ending paragraph of my family newsletter. Thank you for two new books this Christmas, I will send you a cassete tape of Christmas Carols Ted made via snail mail! A blessed Christmas to you! Love, Lorraine |
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