Touch the Pain

About the Book

“Touch the Pain” is an effort to inspire the readers, Catholic and non-Catholic, to go out to the side of the poor with compassion and resolve, as together they bring about change in systemic injustices. The charity of our society is applauded while the need for a distributive justice component is challenged, locally as well as globally. This challenge is made to the community, to the churches as institutions, to the clergy and laity-specifically to individuals in all vocations of life, without any exceptions of gender, age or religious persuasion. The author shares a multitude of true experiences from the better part of the twentieth century as a pre-Vatican Council Catholic as well as in the post-Vatican Council years. If we are to share the pain of the marginalized, the disfranchised, the wounded of our society, he urges the readers to begin at the foot of the Cross. He emphasizes the need to establish new priorities both in a detachment as well as attachment process to enable the readers to be free themselves before any efforts to free others from the chains that bind them. The Beatitudes of the Sermon on the Mount are identified in contrast with the cultures of today. In recognition of the need for formation, education and training with Judeo/Christian social justice values as a foundation, three Second Vatican Council documents come alive in the testimony’s style of a dialogue with Jesus. The testimony concludes with the vision of the 21st century community, where the presence of God is with us today just as it has been since the Beginning.

About the Author

Bill McNamaras multifaceted personal history is a tapestry.  The integrity and strength you can feel in the touch are provided by the continuous threads of family community, and Jesus.  The vibrantly personal colors you can see woven through this tapestry are his discipline, steadfastness, and rich, gentle humor.

Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Bill has been married for more than 56 years to his wife Angela; is father to eight, grandfather to twenty one [so far!] and friend and fatherly adviser to countless others,  The commitment and counsel he offers to his extended family provides both roots and inspiration.

His covenant with country and family have been consistently demonstrated in significant accomplishments.  A graduate of the United States Naval Flight School, Bill served as a World War II pilot and Captain in the U.S. Marine Corps.  During his 37-year career in retail management, he advanced to department store senior executive, and shared his knowledge with others as a college business professor.

Bills spiritual journey has been informed through education and enlivened by personal epiphanies.  Educational awakenings came in many roles as both student and teacher:  graduate of the Cardinal Cushing School of Theology for the Laity, religion teacher, parish lector, and Eucharistic minister.  His social justice knowledge evolved through proactive advocacy as he touched the pain of human experiences in many roles: president of St. Vincent de Paul conferences, parish social ministry coordinator, Catholic Charities Director in the Diocese of Rockville Centre, founding member of the Woodstock Business Conference, and Chairperson of the Catholic Campaign for Human Development Allocations Committee.  Bill was the recipient of the Catholic Charities Caritas Award, and was also recognized when a Parish Social Ministry Center was named in his honor.

As an author, Bill has developed several social justice curriculums for workshops and home study for deacons and laity.  His prior writings include Truth, Love, and Change [social justice according to the Gospel of Luke], and regular articles in the diocesan monthly Passage.

In Touch the Pain, Bill brings the conflicts of his pre and post Vatican Council experiences to life, and shares his perspective on church, charity, justice, and the challenges of living as a disciple of Jesus in a contemporary setting.