What Paddy Shot At

I hope to finish the update today

On Monday, 24th, although I said the 11am Mass and then went home to bed. I felt badly because there was a Memorial Mass for Lorenzo at 7pm at Christ the King parish; but I have to get over this cold.

On Tuesday, I said both the 11AM and 5:30PM Masses but was in bed the rest of the time.

On Wednesday, I stayed around my room the whole day. I didn’t have Mass because there was a funeral and Fr. John came back for it.

I didn’t feel up to concelebrating the 10AM Mass, so I stayed in my room. Fr. Justin was kind enough to bring me Communion. Umberto left me some turkey and cranberries and Italian bread and I had a couple of sandwiches. It was a very relaxing and I think helpful Thanksgiving.

On Friday, I came to the 8AM Mass because Fr. Ron is away and its been busy for the other guys. However, God sent Fr. Peter Ryan, SJ, whose family lives in the parish and he was visiting them; so he took the Mass and I just concelebrated. Then I went home and spend the day relaxing and eating!!

To, Saturday, the 29th, I just had a baptism. Please remember to include Adeline Shea and her family in your prayers. I decided I’d write this and “catch up”. I’ll go back and relax some more.

I have the 9AM Mass tomorrow, Sunday, November 30th; and I worked on my homily today. After Mass, I’ll drive to Maggie’s and spend the night. My nephew, Mark Thompson is in town for a few days and we’re all getting together at Maggie’s. I think Marie is moving back there also. She seems to be doing very well after the surgery. Thanks for all the prayers.

I’ll write again on Monday night.

Monday, November 17 was a “day of recovery”. I had the 11am Mass. Worked on emails about baptisms, and went home early. Had supper with the guys and went to bed early.

Tuesday, I had the funeral for Mary Grasso Kennedy at Resurrection parish in Burtonsville. It was wonderful to see all her children and grandchildren. I know that she and Ralph are happy together again. But keep their family in your prayers, they’ll be missed!
I was supposed to go to the play reading group but after supper, my cold seemed worse and so I went to bed.

There was a celebration at St. Camillus on Wednesday, the 19th to honor the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, who 60 years ago began the school there. About 25 sisters came, lots of them – old friends of mine, to the Mass, which Fr. Lockman con-celebrated with Fr. Mike, the pastor, and Fr. John Dakes, who graduated from the school and a good friend and pastor of Our Lady of Mercy. The school, now called St. Francis Academy, was there and sang and participated with gusto. There was a reception afterward that I hear went on for hours and was a lot of fun and laughter. I went home immediately, said the 11am Mass, ate soup and went to bed.

On Thursday, MY DAY OFF, I stayed in bed most of the day and called the doctor. I got some medicine but I think that the soup was more helpful.

On Friday, I had the 11am Mass and went back to bed till 3pm. I drove over to Joan Beall’s and her daughter, Sharon drove all of us to the Capitol Hilton. It was the John S. Mulholland Gala. It was excellent and about 150 came. This is the foundation that Brian runs to help the pantries of some of our poorest parishes in DC. It is a great work and as Joan said, “It was so good to see how many people are doing good for others”. Even with the cold – hanging on, I had a great time.

On Saturday, I had a wonderful funeral for a lady named Yoshika, who died after a long battle with cancer. She worked at the World Bank and many people from there came to the Mass and reception. She was also very active in our bible study group and they plans and hosted the celebration. I had seen her but the celebration made me feel very close to her. Please keep her in your prayers.
I had the 4pm Confessions and then I went back to bed.

Sunday was a full day because we had confessions for CCD at 8:40am. Then a met with a family about their child’s baptism. Then I had the 12:30pm Mass. I rambled during the homily and asked if I was preaching on the last Sunday of the Church year. Some people in the congregation assured me that I was. I had already apologized for my voice, which was very strained because of all the coughing and so I said, “See, I told you I’m on lots of medicine and I guess that’s why I’m confused!” They laughed. After Mass, I went home and back to bed.

I think I’ll close and finish the update during Thanksgiving.

I wrote this the other day but I am so tired and I go back to bed so easily; I run out of steam. I am mailing this just so you’ll know I’m OK and I will try to do (An update II) over Thanksgiving.

I guess some of you might have thought that I went to Rome to celebrate and visit the Basilica of St. John Lateran; but I didn’t. As I wrote two weeks ago, I was heading to Myrtle Beach with my family. I did and the time has just flown by.

On Monday, the 10th, we rode almost all day to get there. Mary is a great driver and I enjoyed just sitting in the back and watching the landscape go by. We checked into our time/share. We had a great balcony overlooking the pool but with a good view of the ocean and beach. We got together with the gang (19 0f us) at Preston’s, which is an “all you can eat” buffet. I think we got our money’s worth and they wisely put us in a back room because we were not a “quiet” group. I sat next to Trevor Walburn, my great nephew, who is 3 and we talked about his football experiences, which he is enjoying greatly.

On Tuesday, we went to the Carolina Opry and enjoyed their Christmas show. Then we went by and saw Rick and Anita Walburn’s camper. It is more like a home. Beautiful and they tell me easy to pull. I still prefer a hotel with room service!! Then a group of us went to Margueritaville, an interesting restaurant with a volcano in the middle of it. Food was very good and I hear the drinks weren’t bad either. I think we were 17 and had some gift cards to spend!!

On Wednesday, the ladies used the pool and hot tub but I just read out on the balcony. I finished the book I had received from the author the week before. It’s called “Mount Olivet” and is the third in the series that began with “Swampoodle” and continued with “St. Patrick’s Day”. It is all set in Washington and I have enjoyed them all. Then we ( a small group of 9) went to Rossi’s, a nice Italian restaurant that we’ve going to for 11 years to celebrate Rick Thompson’s birthday. It a nice custom. Then we went to see the Christmas Show at Alabama Theatre. Great, as always and we all said, we were ready for Christmas now!

On Thursday, again, Mary did a great job of driving us home. We got to Maggie’s around 7pm and then I drove back to the parish. I was glad to get in my own bed; although I slept very well in my King bed in Myrtle Beach.

On Friday, November 14th, I drove up to Darnestown to Mary of Nazareth School to concelebrate their 20th anniversary. Fr. Ray Fecteau was honored for helping to get the school started. It is on the property of Our Lady of the Visitation parish, of which he was the founding pastor. It was a nice celebration but I came right home afterwards, I thought I was beginning to catch a cold.

On Saturday, I had a baptism at 11am. Please keep Frederick Christian and his family in your prayers. Then I had the 5:30pm Mass and drove over to the Knights of Columbus Hall in Forest Glen to attend the Mary knight’s dinner. I saw Jerry Trancone and lots of people I knew but again, I came home early.

On Sunday, I took the 9am Mass because Father Regis was sick. I had a baptism at 1pm, please keep Sophie Lyric and her family in your prayers. I met with a young man and his Mom to see about arranging for Confirmation prep. And I went to bed early!!

I love this feast because it reminds me that St. Anthony’s, St. Martin’s, St. Matthew’s, St. Camillus, St. Bernard’s, St. Michael’s and Blessed Sacrament are living symbols of The Church building where my family and I have been “watered, fed, forgiven, ordained, and celebrated the fullness of life, which is The Church. I feel very close St Pope Francis’ cathedral church today.

I am down at Maggie’s and leaving tomorrow for Myrtle Beach until Thursday. Mary, Marie’s daughter is driving us (Maggie, Marie, JoAnn, and me) down in the morning. We will meet Rick and Anita (driving up from Colombia, S.C. Marie’s son and daughter – law). Also Mary Beth (Maggie’s daughter is riding down with Jimmy (Marie’s son). Rick and Shirley are coming up from Warner Robins and a friend of theirs, Jimmy and his wife are coming also. So listen to the news and see what happens in Myrtle Beach. Mostly, I think it will be cards and laughs but who knows!!

I am glad to be getting away as I was “trapped” in the rectory most of last week. My “double vision” stayed with me all week and although I did do some con-celebrating, I mostly sat on the side or napped. I did have a baptism on Saturday, please keep Nathaniel Prescott and his family in your prayers. Part of the family was from Wisconsin and I had a great time with them. Saturday night, one of my parishioners picked me up and drove me to his parent’s house for a 90th birthday celebration for his Dad. I had a great time and mostly sat and talked.

On reflection, I did hear some confessions and was driven to dinner with Barry and Barb. Also a dear friend, Merve O’Connor, from Leisure World died. Brian had driven me out to see her a couple of weeks ago and we had a good visit. Brian also drove me to the annual Mass for deceased priests that was held at the Pastoral center on Tuesday. I was very grateful to be able to participate. I knew a number of those who died this year: An Vu, Bill Hines, John Pennington, Mike Blackwell, and Lorenzo Albacete.

Yesterday, Saturday, I got my single vision back. I spent the day relaxing and letting it go back to normal. This morning, I presided at the 9am Mass and then drove to Annapolis. I met Mary and Marie there and we went to a luncheon at my cousin, Helen Nolan. Members of her family were there and we had a great time. Then we went to the club house at Heritage Harbor and were entertained by a musical revue that another cousin, Mary Ellen O’Brian wrote, directed and starred in. Other relatives were in it as well. I think the cast was over 30. We really enjoyed the whole experience. I also saw Dolores Vita, a St. Bernard’s parishioner. It was a good day – although my double vision came back for awhile. It’s OK now but I’ll have to watch it in Carolina.

So now, I’m going to bed. Will be back at the parish Thursday night. I also received word yesterdaym that Mary Kennedy, a dear friend from St. Bernard’s in going into hospice. Please keep her family in your prayers.

Just to bring you “up-to-date”:

The eyes are not changed but the drugs have taken away the stuffed head and sinus pain, so I am very hopeful that with rest the eyes will heal. I wear an eye patch over the left eye and some think I look like a pirate; others think I look like Moshe Dyan. It is difficult to read; so I just nap or “listen to TV”. I do also do sudukos. I did sit at the rectory door on Halloween and waited for kids to “trick or treat”. No one came and I said the Rosary (and ate some of the Reese Peanut butter cups!!

This last week has seemed like a dream; I don’t know one day from the next because I just hang around my suite or go over to the office for some human contact.

I have concelebrated Mass a few times. Because I have no “depth perception”, I just sit in the choir stalls and Communion is brought to me. I did have four baptisms on Saturday. One at Noon and twins and their cousin at 4pm. They were both great families and were very understanding about my lack of mobility. Please keep William Addison, Rory Thomas, Jack Rogers and Emma Elizabeth and their families in your prayers.

On Sunday, we had our traditional Mass for All Souls. We have an orchestra with brass, violin, and harp. The choir sings a beautiful Latin Mass and the names of those who died in the parish in the last year are read out and a candle is lit for them. Fr. Ron gave a great homily and there was a reception in the center afterwards. It is a vey popular event.

After the reception, I stopped in to see those couples who were attending our parent – led baptismal prep. I knew them all and wanted to be sure they found the room as it had to moved because of the reception. Then I came home and had a wonderful afternoon. My cousins, Rick and Peg Jensen brought wine, cheese, bread and meats and we sat at our dining room table and ate and laughed for about 3 hours. I can sick why visit the sick is such an important work of charity. They just lifted my spirit. We also talked about a river cruise for 2015 that looks “doable” and fun.

I do try to phone some friends and I do some work on arranging for baptisms. I’ve had a few people come to the office for confessions and so I still feel useful. I got the last of the Swampoodle trilogy and am enjoying reading it – even with one eye.

Today is the feast of St. Martin, so I concelebrated. He is one of my favorite saints and one that Catherine Dougherty loved and talked about when I was at Madonna House in Canada, 36 years ago.

Tomorrow is the annual Mass for deceased priest at the Pastoral center. I was disappointed that I might have to miss it; but, God love Brian Mulholland. He is going to pick me up around 8:45am and I’ll ride with him to Holy Name pantry and then he’ll go with me to the Mass and we’ll go out to lunch. He is such a good man and has been a great friend to me.

I voted by absentee ballot last week, so I guess I’ll just watch TV on Tuesday night and see how all that turns out. I’ll be glad to be finished with all the negative adds.

I go to see the Ophthalmologist on Thursday, so I’ll bring you up to date after that. Keep praying – I think it is helping. I am a better patient.

I didn’t get to “post this” till Tuesday, sorry