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Fr. Ray, pastor of the troubled inner city Catholic parish, St. Thomas has too much on his plate. The parish soup kitchen is being threatened by the rich people coming into gentrify the area. The bishop needs him to have a homily on St. Thomas Aquinas' Proofs of the Existence of God when he, himself is having his doubts. An old flame (of before his ordination) comes back in his life and awakens some of the old yearnings. She is a stepmother to one of the students at the parish school and the boy is very troubled. Add on top of that someone has been recording his Confessions and his advice is not doctrine. Also in this pilot we meet the rest of the parish staff: the old traditional but sweetly irascible, Fr. Leo; the young inexperienced Fr. Eric who has yet to learn how to give a good homily; the very modern Sr. Maureen (Mo); the Jewish Atheist accountant Sydney; the young high school secretary Rachel.
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The parish of St. Thomas has another very busy day on its plate. A rich man wants to inspect the soup kitchen with designs for shutting it down and on the worst day possible as the Confirmation students are serving that day as required by their service hours and the cook is the parish drunk. Also the parish's Youth Minister is getting married and has just lost the hall.
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In one plot line, Fr. Ray has to placate a husband of a very recently deceased member of the Parish. The husband however does not want anything to do with Ray and his modern ways. If only Ray could find a letter the lady sent to him. In another plot, the parish receives a lotto ticket in the collection plate. It's a winner. The staff dreams of what to buy. Leo wants a new boiler. Eric a new parish car. And No wants to restore the statues.
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Father Ray takes a day off and finds divine interventions at a pick-up basket ball game.
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In "The Coldest Night of the Year" Father Ray (Kevin Anderson) has opened the church at night to house the homeless in his neighborhood to offer them shelter on a bitter, cold night. Unfortunately he receives a call from his mother (Fionulla Flanagan)informing him that his father (John Mahoney) has had Ray's brother Michael (Jeff Kober) arrested for breaking into the family home and stealing a valuable ring. Ray must go to the police station to try to smooth things out between his father , the retired policeman, and his estranged brother (Jeff Kober) who has a criminal past. The night air may be cold but the chill between these family members seems far worse. It is an exhausting and endless struggle that Father Ray has endured for years and now it seems he may have grown weary of even trying anymore. Meanwhile at the church, Justine (Jennifer Beals) takes on the difficult task of trying to get a homeless woman to come inside for the night. Unable to convince the indigent woman to leave the frozen front steps of the church , Justine (Jennifer Beals) winds up spending the night outside with her. Justine trades gloves, hats and even her own coat with this woman in order to at least warm her up. All the while this resolute homeless woman stands on the steps repeating a prayer in Latin. As Father Ray ( Kevin Anderson) struggles to deal with his dysfunctional family, Father Leo (Brad Sullivan) is left to perform his first sermon in over 2 (?)years. All are certain he will not be up to the task having been removed from his parrish for a lapse of faith. But Father Leo (Brad Sullivan) delivers a heartfelt sermon on the story of "Doubting Thomas" that illustrates to the congregation and especially Father Ray, that it is only through our own "wounds" and weakness' that we can truly know and help each other.
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Father Ray provides support to his longtime friend Father Jesse, a priest who is secretly gay and has AIDS.
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Father Ray
Sister Mo
Sidney Walters
Father Eric
'J.A.' Ortiz
Rachel
Father Leo
Justine Madsen Judd
Father Briggs
Frances Walters