Episode 2: Finding the foundation of faith (18 min.)
Fifty years ago when he was ordained, Fr. Hays says, he objected to be called a "secular priest," meaning a diocesan priest and not an order priest. "Secular" seemed to mean unreligious, he said. "Today, I am delighted be called 'secular,' 'worldly,' because that is exactly what the Master was," he tells Tom Fox. "Jesus came to give us a secular, worldly way of loving God, serving God and even worshipping God."
Fr. Hays said he has tried to help people live and prayer in the real world. Fr. Hays then begins some capsule reviews of his many books.
Learning to pray
height="100" width="67" After 10 years of being a priest, Fr. Ed Hays approached his archbishop to ask for a three-month sabbatical. His plan was to spend the time in a Trappist monastery. Much to Hay's surprise, Archbishop Ignatius Strecker wasn't keen on the idea. "Three months isn't long enough," Hays recalls the archbishop saying. "Wander around the world and pray with all kinds of people, that's the way to learn how to pray," Strecker said. That set Hays on to 40-year odyssey.
Read Tom Fox's profile of Fr. Ed Hays in the Dec. 21 issue of National Catholic Reporter:
