January 30, 2018
On an icy Christmas Eve, Rabbi David Kosak drove his neighbor, Sharon, to Midnight Mass at St. Elizabeth of Hungary Church in Portland, OR, the parish served by Paulist Fr. Jim Kolb.
” … Pulling in front of her house, I knocked and offered to take her to midnight mass. After all, it’s one of the holiest days in the Christian year and Sharon wouldn’t want to miss services, or worse, get stranded on a dark patch of ice. Besides, I knew her priest, Father Jim. He participated in our seder last year and we struck up a relationship. He’s this big barrel-chested grey haired guy with a very Portland beard and a resonant baritone voice. If you didn’t know better, you could mistake him for Santa Claus. Before getting placed at St. Elizabeth’s, he served in Alaska for a couple of decades. As much as he enjoys Portland, he misses the Alaskan wilderness and its people. So I figured, he’s been to my house, probably time to visit his. … “