Dear Father Peter: Forty-nine Years of Letters to a Priest

When Peter Kreitler discovered a stack of neatly preserved letters from his grandfather to his mother, he realized how much the advice they contained had shaped his wonderful mom. The discovery also got him thinking about the letters he had saved since his ordination to the priesthood in 1970. At the heart of Dear Father Peter is a selection of those letters charting the many stages of Kreitler’s almost five-decade career as a priest and environmental advocate. These letters and Kreitler’s commentaries on them are brimming with lessons for all of us who comprise what he calls “the priesthood of all believers.” He shares the guidance of family and friends who mentored him and the relationships and points of intersection that he forged with parishioners old and young, as well as with celebrities and politicians. Kreitler doesn’t shy away from the criticism he received either, since the messages in those negative letters influenced him also.Dear Father Peter highlights the foundational themes of his extraordinary life: his commitment to being a “pastor first,” who serves his community with creativity, acceptance, and dependable, caring presence; his prophetic call to save our fragile island home; the imperative of mutual respect and tolerance of all people; and the lessons we can learn from people of all ages, especially the youngest among us. Dear Father Peter is at once an unflinching and authentic autobiography, a tribute to those who shape and teach us, and a testimony to the simple but supremely powerful gift of being present for others. Dear Father Peter encourages us to resurrect the art and discipline of letter writing; we would do well to heed this timeless counsel.