“There are eight million stories in the naked city. This has been one of them.” That line closes the movie The Naked City released in 1948, and it is uttered as a trash man sweeps away yesterday’s newspapers. The line and the scene bespeak a world-weariness that recognizes the way that events as dramatic as a murder fade quickly from memory in a city as hectic and cluttered as New York. On the other hand, the film and its fade-out, redolent of a more innocent time, transmit the idea that each life is unique enough to constitute a story worth telling.

The year 1948 came to the fore in St. Paul’s Church on 59^th Street on Monday, May 1, because it was the year in which Paulist Father James Lloyd was ordained, and he was celebrating his 75^th anniversary as a priest, shortly after his 102^nd birthday. Father Rene Constanza, the president of the Paulist Fathers, was the main celebrant of the Mass, several Paulists and other priest friends concelebrated, and Bishop Walsh, Bishop O’Hara and I presided together. It was Father Lloyd who preached, however, and this remarkable cleric spoke for a healthy length of time in a strong and vigorous voice. His message was a summary of some of the basic truths of Catholicism, and he delivered it with utter clarity and conviction. He spoke of the Divinity of Christ, of His Real Presence in the Eucharist, and of the rare gift that he received when he was ordained to the priesthood. He focused also on the virtue of chastity, which he noted is the vocation of every Catholic according to his or her state in life, “without exception.” That emphasis was a clear reference to his status as a chaplain of Courage, an apostolate to those who experience same-sex attraction and who strive to lead a chaste life in accordance with the teachings of the Church. Father Lloyd’s choice to highlight that topic reflected his passionate commitment to Courage, and it served as a forthright rebuke to those who might want to waver in the face of the onslaught of secular ideologies.

Capping off his homily, Fr. Lloyd expressed his great gratitude for his long life, his priesthood, and for the friendship of so many, including the congregation that turned out for his celebration. Among them were members of Courage, and a large representation from the Sisters of Life, for whom he acts as a spiritual director. When he spoke with thankfulness for the gift of life, it was clear that he still approaches each day with all the enthusiasm and wonder of a boy. A self-proclaimed “punk from West 61^st Street,” Father Lloyd is a New Yorker through and through, one who had the unique blessing of residing for much of his priesthood in the Paulist parish where he grew up.

There are eight million stories in the naked city. The story of Fr. James B. Lloyd, CSP, is one that deserves to be told — and retold.