Posted on 04/10/2021 7:41:46 PM PDT by ameribbean expat
Even his stuff against the Catholic Church was funnyn in the early days...
As Puerto Ricans began to move into our neighborhood, the diocese, in this rare display of tokenism in the early Fifties sent one Spanish priest...Father Rivera...to hear Spanish confessions. And all the Irish guys that were heavily into puberty... would go to confession to Father Rivera. ‘Cause he didn’t seem to understand the sins, y’know...or at least he didn’t take them personally, you know. It wasn’t an affront to him. There was no big theological harangue; he didn’t chew you out. He was known as a “light penance”. In and out, three “Hail, Mary’s”, you’re back on the street with Father Rivera, man. You could see the line move; that’s how fast he was working.
Not every man is driven by sheer ego. Some know how to fulfill duty without losing the self in the process.
I don’t think he ever thought of it as playing ‘second banana’ - I think he just had some fun with it, while being very dutiful behind the scenes.
He knew his position and the importance of it, and was a stalwart support, companion and patriarch through all of those years.
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