What Paddy Shot At

As I mentioned last time, there are lots of intentions that I want to bring to you for your prayers.

The first is the death of Helen Horan Francinie. She died last week at age 97. The family were a big part of St. Bernard’s parish and have been friends of mine for almost 60 years. There will be a memorial Mass on June 19th at Our Lady of Mercy. I cannot attend as the girls and I will be cruising down the Mississippi; but please keep all the Horan family and friends in your prayers.

Sister Kass’ dad, Ed Collins who is also in his late nineties, had to have his leg amputated this week due to diabetes. Please keep him and Kass in your prayers.

Fr. John Kinter, a priest of our Archdiocese who I have known since 1971 died this week. No plans are made for his funeral but please keep him and his family in your prayers.

My cousin, Peg is doing well with her treatments and although she got run down and needed an overnight in the hospital, she is continuing with the treatments. Please keep her and all her family, who are the caregivers, in your prayers.

My friend, Steve, who was in the seminary with me, 50 years ago, is out of the hospital and home. He and his family have lots of therapy to work on but I talked with him and his spirits are good. Please keep him, his wife Carol and their son, Stevie in your prayers.

I also talked with Pat Watters in Newfoundland and she assures me that she is doing very well and will be South for her nephew’s wedding in June. Keep her in your prayers as well.

Father Ron’s grandmother, Catherine Potts, who was 102 died at the end of last week. He will have her funeral in Baltimore on Wednesday. Do keep all of her family in your prayers.

As you will now see, I didn’t run around too much this week, so I used the phone and email to catch up with people.

When last I wrote, I was waiting to go to lunch with Brian and Michael for Michael’s birthday that was April 1st. Because his mom was in the hospital, Michael couldn’t join us but Brian and I went to Chef Geoff’s. It was very nice and we had a good time.

On Friday, the 17th, I had the 11am Mass and then rode with some of the office people to the old Shoreham hotel for the Don Bosco/Cristo Rey luncheon. The parish had bought a table. It was very nice and the school does great work with “a risk students”. Then I had exposition and the 5:30pm Mass and drove out to Gaithersburg to have dinner with Eileen Lee Baughan, who was attending a workshop there. We had a great time.

On Saturday, the 18th, I met a parishioner early and then had two baptisms. Please keep Colin James and Isabella Cecilia and their families in your prayers. Then Patty Daly and her daughter Kathy (from St. Mary’s county) and I went to Clyde’s for a meal and a visit. Then I had the 5:30pm Mass, although the deacon preached and I just relaxed. Also, and I think this was the most important thing I did – I defrosted my refrigerator! I felt so accomplished when I went to bed.

On Sunday, I had the 9am Mass and again the deacon preached. At 10:30, I met with three people who will be confirmed on Pentecost and taught a session on the Sacraments. Then I had a baptism so keep Mary Louise and her family in your prayers. She is the great grandchild of Al Sindall, from St. Camillus.

On Monday, my dentist called and cancelled – I was so glad! I relaxed and had the evening Mass. Fr. Lucas, who use to live with us is here for his comps at CUA and he concelebrated the 5:30 Mass and joined us for supper.

Today, I had the 11am Mass and then “Tuesdays with Maury”. We discussed the 75th anniversary of the Archdiocese and we talked about the Eastern rites of the church. There are two talks being done in the next week on those topics, so we wanted to get some background. Tonight I will go up to our play reading group. We are studying “The Crucibles”. Then to bed early

I know, it’s been a long time since I wrote anything but as you read through this message; you’ll see that I’ve been busy.

I last wrote on Holy Thursday and I did visit the altar of repose and prayed for all of you – by name – and your intentions. I was glad to get to bed that night.

On April 3rd, Good Friday, I led the Stations at noon and then heard confessions until 3pm. Then I took a nap. I was on for the 7pm service but I sat on the side. That night I watched the Holy Father in Rome in the coliseum. Good night’s sleep.

On Saturday, I started off with a nice 2 hour visit to Fr. Trancone. He is soooo improved. He is walking with a cane and is staying at Carroll Manor and getting therapy for his legs. He may move to the O’Boyle residence, which is our retirement place and very nice. Then, I relaxed in my suite (worked on getting my papers together to do my taxes) and napped and watched Holy Week services in Rome and then I concelebrated the 8pm Vigil Mass. I left during the service and went to bed early.

On the 5th, Easter Sunday, I drove up to visit Loretta and Andy Favret. I had a nice surprise as young Loretta was there to take them to church. We had a nice visit. Then I celebrated the 11am Mass at St. Mary’s in Barnesville. I went to see my cousin, Ann O’Connell and then I drove by to say “Happy Easter” to the Beall family and I saw Fr. David Mudd, who had been driven over by his nephew, Stephen to spend Easter with his family. Nice surprise!
Then I went to my cousins, Rick and Peg Jensen and had a delicious Easter dinner with them and their children, Kate and Christopher as well as James and Haley. Also Russ, (Rick’s brother) and his wife Debbie stopped in for desert. I always enjoy being with my relatives.
They were kind enough to let me leave my car at their house and they drove me to National airport, where I took a 9:30pm flight to Orlando, Florida. I arrived around midnight and took a cab to a Hampton Inn and slept!!!

On Monday, the 6th, my former principal, Regina Housel, who is living near Tampa drove up and we had a three hour lunch and “caught up”. We had a wonderful time and then I went home and was in bed before Jeopardy!

On Tuesday, the 7th, the reason I was in Orlando began. It was the NCEA convention. That is the National Catholic Education Association, which brought together about 6,000 people involved in Catholic education from around the county. I think I’ve gone to it for almost 30 years and it is always enjoyable. Fr. Dwight Birket from Wichita, Kansas and I shared a room. Tish Nealson, the president of Carroll High School, and we had a number of meals together. One day, Dave Haas and his wife, Kathy, who live in Florida 6 months and Michigan 6 months, met us for lunch. I had a lovely dinner with Lila Hoffmeister, the present principal of St. Michael’s in Ridge, and her family.

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, in addition to all the eating, I did attend sessions of the convention and had a great visit with Fr. Tim Daley, who is former parishioner of St. Bernard’s and a priest in the Orlando diocese. I also saw Dan Curtin, and old friend and visited friends who were vendors and picked up some books. It was a wonderful trip. The temperature was 90 degrees.

On Friday, I took a shuttle with Dwight and Tish and then just relaxed in the airport till my flight back to DC at 2:45pm. I got back and Rick picked me up and took me to get my car. I then drove down to Maggie’s to spend the night.

On Saturday, I drove Marie and Maggie to Leisure World for a noon Mass that was a reunion for Notre Dame, where they went to high school. I then drove them to our great nephew’s 5th birthday party down in Shady Side. They got a ride home from family members ( I hear they went to bingo!) and I drove down to DC and picked up Fr. Carmen Carlone, and a couple from his parish – good friends of mine – Joyce and Tom and we all went to Clyde’s for dinner. I was home and in bed by 9PM.

On Sunday, the 12th, I had the 12:30PM Mass and then the Baptismal Prep session and then I drove down to get my guests in DC. I got them around 4:30pm. They had gone on the Big Red Bus, touring DC at noon. The Cherry blossoms were out and traffic was terrible but they loved the tour. We then went to the Washington Harbor and had supper. Then we all went to visit Fr. Trancone, whom they have known for about thirty years. We had a great visit. Then I took them home and was in bed by 10pm.

On Monday, the 13th, I had the 11am Mass and worked all day on my taxes.

On Tuesday, the 14th, I again had the 11am Mass and finished my taxes. I dropped them off at Joan Beall’s and she passed them on to Mary Rose, my dear friend and the lady who keeps me out of jail by doing my tax forms.
I also went to Collin’s funeral home for the wake for my cousin, Ann Brown O’Connell. She died on Saturday after a long battle with cancer. She was married to my cousin, Edward, who was also my Godfather. Ed died too young in 1986 and we’ve stayed close over the year. She has two daughters and five grandsons.
Afterwards, I drove to Virginia to have supper with David and Mary who were entertaining his brother, Chuck and wife, Carol. Chuck and Carol are parishioners of Bob Norton’s in Pittsburgh and Dave wanted us all to meet. Mary made a delicious pasta and we laugh and told Norton stories! I was home by 10pm.

On Wednesday, the 15th, I took the 6:30am and the 8:00am Masses so that the others could cover the 11am and the 5:30pm Masses. I finished my taxes and Mary Rose sent them off. So many people, especially Joan Beall, can now sleep knowing I’m not going to jail.
I had the 11am funeral for Ann at St. Jane de Chantal parish nearby. Katie and Mary Ann had planned it and it was lovely. All the family were involved and lots of our cousins came as did lots of parishioners and groups, like Christ Child Society, which she was very active in, came as well. My nephew, Mike drove my sisters. We went to Gate of Heaven cemetery and then to the Knight of Columbus Hall for a repast. It was a very typical Irish celebrate with food, drink, stories, and laughter. I’m sure Ann loved it!
I then took Marie and Maggie to a Chinese restaurant in Bethesda, where I meet with four of my cousin every couple of months just to “catch up”. So this time, they joined with Jean Denny, Jim and Eileen Denny, and Sue Denny Rogus and me. We had a great time and actually as I was leaving I apologized to a nearby table for us being so loud. I said, “I’m so sorry. We’re all cousins and we don’t get together often and we laughed too much and too loud”. They said, “No, you were having such a good time, we wanted to join you!” It was fun.
Then I drove the girls back to Maggie’s and came home. I was in bed by 10pm.

Today, is my “day off” and I’m supposed to have lunch with Brian and my cousin, Michael Caruso. I just learned that Michael can’t join us; but Brian and I are off to lunch. And I think that brings you up to date on my activities.
I do have news of illnesses and other deaths and things I want you to pray about but I will write them on the weekend. Know that you and your needs are in my prayers.

Had a wonderful visit with Betty and Joan. She had kept her Christmas tree and decoration up for us. We laughed so much because Betty is still a great storyteller. We had lunch at the Mason/Dixon Café. Joan and I missed our exit because we were talking too much and it took us an extra hour (because of accidents on the roads we ended up on) to get home. Still it was a great trip and visit.

On Friday the 27th, I had the 8AM Mass and then got ready to go to Virginia. I went to the Fairfax Genealogical Fair at the Marriott in Fair Oaks. Sharon Beall told me about it, so I signed up. I had a great time. The talks were very informative and very “how to”, which I need help with. I have a great program with over 2000 family members but I don’t know how to make reports and share my information with family. I will go to more of these. Carol Ostrye, Barbara’s daughter was also there; and the three of us got together for drinks and laughs after the sessions. I had a room and stayed the night.

On Saturday, after the first session, I decided to go home. My stomach was a little queasy and so I took some medicine and went to bed for 4 hours. When I got up, I felt a lot better. I was glad since I was supposed to meet Joe Villani and his wife, Pat, and one of my parishioners, whose known Joe since grade school. We had a great dinner and a wonderful time “catching up”.

On Palm Sunday, I was not scheduled for me in the morning and so I slept in and watched the Talk Shows. I drove over to visit Jerry Trancone. He is using a walker and doing very well. Keep those prayers coming. I came home and had the 5:30pm. I had two deacons and they moved me through all the extra stuff. I went to bed early.

On Monday, the 30th, I met someone for confession and then had an 11:30am Mass in the Manning center for my seniors. We talked about our experiences of Holy Week. It was very interesting and we had a lovely lunch. I had one last interview for First Communion (he was “snowed out” before). He was a delight and knew everything.
Then I drove out and picked up Barbara at Leisure World and we met Barry Fitzpatrick for supper in Olney. Our waiter (who was great) was Richard Werden, an old friend from St. Camillus. We had a great time and laughed all evening.

On Tuesday, the 31st, I had the 11AM Mass and then headed to Pittsburgh. I arrived in time to go to the wake for Norm DeLuca. He and Betty were great friends from when I was a deacon in the parish at St. Anselm’s in Swissvale. They had 5 boys and they welcomed me into their home and family. Norm was 89 and a tremendous husband and father. After the wake, I stopped in to see my Godchild’s two week old child and visited with her and her family. I had supper with Sheila and Keith Morris and spent the night at the Hampton. Slept very well.

On Wednesday, April 1st, I concelebrated the funeral with the pastor, Fr. John Lyman, with an old friend, Fr. John Sweeney and with Fr. Tim Whalen, the rector of St. Vincent’s Seminary. All of us had been stationed at St. A’s and enjoyed the hospitality of the DeLuca family. The pastor spoke very well and I was glad to be there. I also saw some old friends, Lizette Rihn and her daughters, Louise and Diane. They had made all the stoles for my first Mass 41 years ago. It was great to see them.
I left right after the Mass and drove home. I heard confessions at 6:30pm here at Blessed Sacrament. Once again, I was glad to get to bed and slept soundly.

Today, April 2nd is Holy Thursday. I slept in and spent most of today working at my desk on Baptisms. I’ll go over for supper at 5:30pm with the guys and then I’ll concelebrate the evening Mass at 7pm.
For the first time in nearly 40 years, I won’t go visiting churches afterwards. Instead, I will spend some time in the chapel before Midnight, when the chapel will close. I will pray before the tabernacle and mention all of you, my dear friends and your families and your needs to the Lord. Happy Holy Thursday.