Endurance: The Rhythm of Faith

Fr. McNamee's first book "Diary of a City Priest" has been an ongoing source of inspiration and motivation. As one who lived in Philadelphia and now serves a small Protestant congregation, I know many of the neighborhoods Fr. McNamee describes. His writing almost brought to life the people of the projects surrounding his church, St. Malachy's, and his descriptions of his struggles with exhaustion have frequently motivated me to get through my own lesser moments of being overextended. "Endurance" continues the thread of "Diary". For much of the book, we're back at St. Malachy's, back in the projects, meeting the neighbors who live near the church. Even the cover illustration is the same one as in the first book. Differences and similarities: There were more descriptions of "down time" at the shore. Instead of a trip to Ireland, a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. In "Diary," McNamee described his periodic encounters with African-American congregations; in "Endurance," we hear more about encounters with Quakers. McNamee's meditations on Simone Weil, Dorothy Day, Gerard Manley Hopkins and others continue to add depth to this book, as they did to "Diary". And Fr Dave Hagan, so prominent in "Diary", makes the occasional cameo appearance in "Endurance". One addition that I felt actually detracted from the book was that of titles for the brief meditations. I appreciated the sort of open-ended structure of "Diary" - different meanings emerged from the various meditations when read under different conditions - and I felt the titles in "Endurance" wrapped up the meditations a little too neatly. Those who were spiritually fed by "Diary" will enjoy "Endurance's" return visit to St. Malachy's.