A priest, a parish, and pancreatic cancer

Nice, sensitively written article, Michael Paulson.

Thank you for writing such a wonderful article about Fr Jim, he is a wonderful man and is a very big part of my families life. We were one of his first marriages he performed and he has baptized all my children. We are truly blessed to have him in our lives.

Beautiful photos.

Wonderful article. We may cross paths at MGH because I too am being treated for Pancreatic Cancer at the Yawkey Cancer Center.
BUT, I have many friends and supporters who would want to read this article except the email URL comes back as not being able to be sent ...."URL is not found." I would love to share this article with many people.
Best to you on our mutual journey Father Field! We are in the best hands at the Yawkey Cancer Center. Everyone is so compassionate and competent.
Deanna

I'm sorry to hear of Father Field's battle. This is a sensitive, well-written article indeed.
Sadly, many people in archdiocese of Boston were not edified about Father Field's ideas about the Liturgy. A decade or so ago, he toured the diocese trying to institute, among other things, removing the Presence of the Eucharist from the worship space, baking regular loafs of bread and having the lay people take the Consecrated Body of Christ and ripping it apart themselves to distribute, standing through Consecration and other crackpot ideas. It took quite a bit of energy to put the kibosh on it. God Bless him - but let us not give rise to scandal because we are caught up in sympathy.

Michael Paulson did a wonderful job writing the article and the Globe photographer Dina Rudick contributed greatly with her wonderful photography.

We enjoyed the story, video and photographs immensely.

Thanks to the Boston Globe for this wonderful story on our pastor, Fr. James Field.

I am very disappointed at "boston catholic"'s comment. There is considerable disagreement about details in the Mass such as "boston catholic" is criticizing -- for example, there has been little explanation why the leavened bread in the Eastern Rite version of the Mass is legitimate "matter" for the Mass but not in the Roman Rite. What a sad, unchristian comment.

Dear RP Burke, The article mentions he is a "liturgist" which is a buzz word for innovations that sometimes even make the Mass "invalid". The "matter" we use is about the validity of the Mass. I don't think we actually had enough time before the kibosh of the program to have it analyzed. It was like pita pockets - our first problem, of course, were the crumbs all over the ground and in the sanctuary and whereever a lay person stood breaking it apart. The beauty of faith is that even though you don't have an adequate explanation, you believe. There's no disagreement at all about whether to stand during Consecration. The directions about rubrics are in the GIRM. We kneel. It wasn't just the innovations that invalidated the Mass and left Christ all over the floor - it was about removing the Eucharistic Presence all together and other ideas to make Catholicism more pagan. It was quite the movement. We had to train on it for six or seven weeks if I remember. We don't have to enshrine a "liturgist" crackpot ideas into our empathy do we? I've had crackpot ideas in my life - hopefully I won't be trying to spread them around on the last leg of my journey home to Christ. it's ok to be human. Let's separate the "liturgist" from the man. Some of the ideas are scandalous.

This is, indeed, a wonderful article. Fr. Jim sounds like a terrific priest. Not that you can tell everything by the size of a congregation, but it was great to see a full church at the baptism. It sounds like he deals with what really matters, and doesn't get stuck in the trivial details. When you know your time is limited, you stick with what is important.

By the way, in our Masses, Episcopalians may used unleavened or leavened bread--or gluten free bread. The point is to be inclusive and welcome everyone to Christ's table.

As far as I'm concerned, if my time on this earth started slip away and something crackpot I had been doing was mentioned in a glowing story about me - I would hope somebody would step up to the plate and say "boston" had a lot of great qualities and his situation is very sad but inspiring - but the crackpot idea, not so much.

We don't have to go out as a perfect deity, do we? We don't have to make the mistakes the same as the inspiring qualities, do we? It doesn't steal the thunder of an ego - does it?

Boston Catholic, I was in the same 6 week training course for ministers with Fr Jim and it's not what you describe. He always spoke from the documents like the GIRM, which calls for bread that looks and tastes like "actual food," and he took care to talk about care with crumbs and reverence for the elements of communion. He helped our parish begin communion from the cup, and he had a love for worship that transformed people and enlivened our parish. I don't think anybody put the "kibosh" on him - it's just that everything fell apart with the sex abuse crisis and good programs like the worship office went away. I remember he used to say that the people have "a right to the rites" and he never in my hearing offered a "crackpot idea." A full church on a Sunday morning in Boston? How crackpot is that?

Mr. Paulson - Thanks for a good story about a courageous and generous priest. God bless him. I would bet you could find similar stories of courageous, faith-filled men and women in every Catholic church or other religious church in the Boston area.

Thanks for giving us a story about the positive influence of religion. Too often in recent years we have only heard about the scandals and bad news.

So mote it be.

Thank you so much Mr Paulson, for getting me in-touch again with a priest who made a very important impact on my faith journey. Fr. field was a parish associate priest in our parish many years ago and was integral in my developing interest and understanding of liturgy and the Rites of the Catholic faith. While a life-long catholic I had little appreciation for the richness and meaning in the various liturgies of our faith. Beyond these particulars, Fr. Field and I shared an interest in the form/reform movement and the Masses he celebrated at our parish were rich and meaningful. He is a truly faithfilled person with a love of our church with all it faults and human failings. From personal experience, he is getting care in the best place. nwolworldworldworld. for health care, in my estimation because it is there that i had my cancer

Boston Catholic, Good grief, is this a time to be writing about crackpot ideas, if they were at all crackpot ideas? To you I guess they are. To many others, they are not; and apparently from what "seeker" wrote, he was/is a very sensitive, good, kind, caring priest who drew many good Catholics to mass Sunday after Sunday. Having lived in four different towns, and belonging to four different parishes, I wish there were more priests like Fr. Jim. I would say the Catholic Church would not have lost so many Catholics in the past ten years if pastors were like him. Priests like him make us want to be there on Sunday mornings.
People like you make Catholics seem insensitive and narrow-minded.

I worked with Father Jim for several years while we were both in the chancery. He is an inspiring teacher, a brilliant liturgist, true to the full vision of the Second Vatican Council and a holy man, in love with his vocation. Comments like those from "boston catholic" are an insult to an exceptional human being, who would never himself stoop so low as to respond in kind. Shame on you! Jim always strives to be as inclusive and empowering as possible; he knows his work will live on. I can only hope for a fraction of his courage and generosity in adversity. Pax et bonum, dear friend.

Thank you to the Boston Globe for the beautiful photos and well written story. Fr. Field is a remarkable individual. He has brought new life and vitality to the parish and community. We keep him in our prayers daily, are thankful he is our pastor, and wish him well in his journey.

Thanks for such an inspiring article about a great priest, and even more importantly, a dear friend who has been a deep inspiration from our days in the seminary through these challenging moments when his faith is such a guiding light. Jim+ has opened his arms wide enough to embrace the diversity within the church, and yet has always faithfully proclaimed the Gospel in all its fullness within our tradition. His parish community is a testament to what can happen when the liturgy is celebrated with joy and integrity. The Paschal Mystery is a powerful reality in his life and within his community, and the Archdiocese of Boston is blessed to have such a vibrant example of the truth of the Light of Christ shining brightly in our world. On a personal note, his friendship and support on my journey have meant more than I can describe. Now we are privileged to share his journey and walk this moment with him. May God continue to bless Jim+ and hold him in His arms.

Michael Paulson and Dina Rudick have beautifully collaborated to bring Fr. Jim's story to the many who have not yet met him and to remind those of us who treasure friendship, his pastoral care, and his many God-given gifts, just how fortunate we are to be accompanying him on this journey. My faith journey took a different turn when I first availed myself of the opportunities for adult faith formation, offered by the then Archdiocesan Institute for Ministry, of which the Office for Worship was an integral part. I soon learned - and continue to learn - and became inspired by the teachings of the Church that revealed the beauty of our Liturgy. Fr. Jim Field's generosity and passion for the Liturgy brought hundreds of parish ministers, religious education teachers, pastoral associates, and parish members to closer to participation in our Sunday Eucharist and our sacramental rites. The dedication of Fr. Jim and others, who shared his mission, often make us recall, "We were taught by the best."

Michael, very well written. This was the first article I read with my morning coffee and it was by far, the best one in the paper on Sunday.
I always look forward to your insight, keep up the good work.

A very sensitive article that I find inspiring and encouraging. What a great lesson he can teach us all about living a life of faith and placing one's life in God's hands. Instead of anger, Fr. Field uses his illness to help others. I am humbled by his willingness to allow perfect strangers to journey with him.

As to "boston catholic", I will pray for you, whoever you are. To nurse a grudge against a dying man and make public, albeit conveniently anonymous statements is at best, sad. Apparently you were asleep during the Gospel readings where Jesus talked about loving one's neighbor as yourself. Hopefully you nor any one you love will ever be subjected to such callous treatment when they are struggling.

Thank you, Mr. Paulson, for writing such a wonderful article about Jim. You really captured who he is. I worked with Jim quite a few years ago in another parish and
he is one of the finest priests that I know. Jim has a particular charism. He is so passionate about what he believes that he has the ability to draw one right into whatever he may be talking about ! Jim reminds me of Jesus' disciples. He is so centered on Chist's mission for the Church that his journey has become a labor of love filled with the generosity of God's love.

To boston catholic, go crawl back under whichever rock you crawled out from under to insult this wonderful priest. Welcome to the Eastern Rite of the Catholic Church the rest of you! We receive a spoonful of leavened bread soaked in wine and so far as I know, we are just as welcome in heaven, probably more so, than boston catholic. Fr. Fields, have faith in God and trust in your physicians, for there are miracles and you ,too, can be healed.

The miracle for Father Fields is that a cure for pancreatic cancer has already been discovered in Rome, Italy. In fact, it was discovered over 30 years ago. A rare medical genius, Dr. Tulio Simoncini, found a way to destroy cancer very easily and quickly (48 days) unless it is cancer of the bone. His protocol is now widely used in hospitals and clinics in northern Italy and is rapidly spreading elsewhere--even to our benighted land. Find out more about it at www.cancerfungus.com and read his book, "Cancer is a Fungus."

If I were a victim of cancer, I would hop a jet tomorrow morning for Rome with an Italian speaking friend in tow and get started on a much longer life span totally without that awful disease. While there, I would spend much time meditating on the meaning of Christ's figurative language in Luke 9:23 and the literal meaning of James 5:16 (NKJV).

I'm neither Catholic nor Italian, but were I a cancer victim, I think that would be a great vacation for me in a beautiful country, and I could rid myself inexpensively of cancer at the same time. That's far and away the very best opportunity for cancer victims of which I am aware.

Go for it, Father; go for it for your life because that is exactly what I am talking about and nothing less.