Synopsis
Father Ray, a card-playing, cocktail-sipping, blues-loving priest, ministers to his parishioners at St. Thomas, a large urban church in an inner-city neighborhood. He grapples with his own personal failings, including occasional crises of faith. Offering support are wise older priest Father Leo, young idealist Father Eric, and feminist nun Sister Maureen.
Episodes
Season 11E1Proofs for the Existence of GodA typical day at St. Thomas parish sees Ray being thrown out of a city council meeting for over-zealously arguing to save the church's soup kitchen from extinction. In the confessional, Ray ignores Church policy when counseling a distraught young woman who wonders whether she'll be damned to Hell if she has an abortion. As a result, Ray lands in an impossible, political, painfully public moral quagmire. When Ray is called to break up a fight at the parish school, he reaches out to a desperate teenage boy whose stepmother happens to be an old flame of Ray's and his one true love before he entered the priesthood. Her sudden reappearance further complicates Ray's life with all-too-human desires, and places him in the middle of a deeply emotional family crisis.60m2E2Song of SongsWhen Father Ray goes to battle for the church soup kitchen and invites a local politician to dine with the homeless on J.A.'s wedding day, his intentions for inclusion and human compassion are noble, but his timing couldn't be worse; and nuptial plans go horribly awry when J.A.'s check to the party hall bounces, forcing him to hold the reception at St. Thomas -- with a few more guests than expected.60m3E3Mixed BlessingsFather Ray struggles to fulfill the last wishes of a deceased parishioner while her widowed husband, a lapsed Catholic who despises Ray, vehemently objects. Meanwhile, good fortune gives way to greed when a winning lottery ticket is anonymously left in the weekly collection plate.60m4E4Parents and ChildrenRay and Leo are painfully and angrily divided when Rachel (Tamara Mello) asks them for advice on whether or not to continue her pregnancy.60m5E5Roman Catholic HolidayEven a priest needs a break from time to time, and when Father Ray takes a day off from his duties at St. Thomas he finds divine inspiration at a pick-up basketball game; while Leo deeply ponders his purpose in life.60m6E6Spirit and SubstanceDistracted by Father Leo's absence, Father Ray finds it mysteriously difficult to get in touch with God; while his old flame (Wendy Gazelle) returns to plan St. Thomas' Halloween bash.60m7E7CallingSibling rivalry is taken to extremes when Father Ray grudgingly opens his home to his estranged parolee brother. Meanwhile, Eric teaches an arrogant young seminarian a lesson in tolerance, and Mo gets her first opportunity to preach.60m8E8Speaking in TonguesFather Ray attempts to save the life of a young man who has been hospitalized for speaking in foreign tongues and seeing spiritual visions. Meanwhile, Rachel is approached by a teenage girl (Kimberly McCullough) for advice about premarital sex and Eric develops feelings for a young musician with a checkered past.60m9E9A Bloody MiracleFather Ray tries to end the violence between two warring gangs and is shocked to learn why a teenage girl is caught in the literal and figurative crossfire. Meanwhile, Mo helps Sidney reconsider his motivation for leaving his wife, and an unexpected and very welcome guest miraculously returns to St. Thomas.60m10E10House of RageFather Ray facilitates the inevitable dissolution of a broken marriage in a family besieged by alcoholism, violence and bitterness. Meanwhile, the staff at St. Thomas discovers that gifts sometimes do come in large packages when an elderly couple leaves their home to the Church.60m11E11Hodie Christus Natus EstFather Ray declares St. Thomas a sanctuary to a family of Salvadoran refugees on Christmas Eve and lands himself in the most unexpected of places to find a priest on a holy holiday. Meanwhile, the staff cannot agree on who will perform the Christmas homily.60m12E12Signs and WordsThe St. Thomas staff is taken to task when the Bishop sends Father Ray some very unwelcome assistance in the form of Father Martin. Meanwhile, a young black parishioner raises serious questions about whether he is welcome in the Catholic church.60m13E13A Nun's StoryWhen Mo is shaken by the sudden death of Sister Sebastian and confronted with Father Martin's plan to make staffing changes at St. Thomas, she strongly reconsiders her desire to remain a nun.60m14E14Kindred SpiritsFather Ray's heroic instincts are aroused when Justine (Jennifer Beals) is accosted by a mentally disabled parishioner her first day on the job as St. Thomas' new Director of Education. Meanwhile, Justine gets involved in a power play between Martin and Ray over the fate of the soup kitchen.60m15E15The Coldest Night of the Year60m16E16Holy WordsRay and woman Rabbi try to bring a Catholic and a Jewish family together in a mixed faith wedding ceremony.60m17E17Sex, God and RealityJustine and Father Ray must contend with a contend with a condom epidemic at school, and Rachel falls for an ex-convict volunteer worker.60m18E18HIV PriestsFather Ray receives a call from his friend Father Jesse who informs him that he has contracted AIDS.60m19E19Sleeping DogsFather Leo faces accusation of sexual abuse.60m20E20Felix Culpa60m
Cast
