What Paddy Shot At

Happy St. Nicholas Day. I, in my secret identity as St. Nick, have had a very busy couple of days.

When last I wrote on the Vigil of Advent, I mentioned that this Advent was going to be a “quieting time” – Well, it is kinda! On Sunday, I was picked up in front of the Church after the 9am Mass. I didn’t do the Mass but it was the second anniversary of Hugh Beins’s death. I was called to anoint him at his home two years ago, and thus began a friendship with him (that day) and his family ever since. So Mary, his wife called and invited me to the house for brunch. I think it’s nine children and about 18 grandchildren. Mary and I sat in the door of the parlor and “caught up” and held court. It was so much fun with a very special family.
Then I had the 12:30pm Mass and the rest of the day, I just relaxed, said Office and tried to “quiet” me.

On Monday, the 2nd, I had the 11am Mass and spent the day, putting the “gold” coins in freezer bags. I got a class list and labeled them for each teacher. I’ve not that before but it is always a little chaotic distributing them – we’ll see. I’m going to my school and Holy Redeemer in Kensington, and the seniors on Tuesday with the pre-K’s from the two Protestant churches on the circle. Afterwards, I thought I’d go to the Post office; but as I turned onto Connecticut Ave, I realized I had a flat tire. I pulled into a side street. I called the office and two of the facilities men came. One brought me home while the other changed the tire. They brought the car back and I went to bed – I’ve never had a flat. It was traumatic. Later, Ron and I had supper – don’t know where everyone else was. I went upstairs and went back to bed early.

Tuesday, I went to Tuesdays with Fr. Maury over in the center. We had a good group and the pre-Ks were adorable. Rita told the story of St. Nicholas and then I gave out the coins. The kids and the senior went and decorated cookies. I stopped in the church to hear the school’s Christmas concert and then I heard CCD confessions from 4 to 5. I called Betty Neary to wish her a happy birthday but I had to leave a message. Again, it was early to bed.

Wednesday, I had Mass at 11am and joined the staff for Pizza in the rectory dining room. I had to arrange about new tires and also to make an appointment to see a “Genius” at Apple in Bethesda about fixing my Ipad. I was on the phone for hours. Then I worked in the office till about 4pm. Then I went to take a nap and was up for the ushers’ dinner at 6:15. Fr. Justin came and said, “Maury, I think you have an appointment over in the parish center”. I did! It’s a young woman, whom I have been giving instructions about becoming catholic. When I transferred information from my last year book to my new one, I overlooked it. They were fine about it and we’re setting a date for her coming into the church. I’m very excited about it!

Thursday was a very full day. I put my car in the shop for new tires, then I was driven to the Apple Store in Bethesda, where a “genius” help by getting my Ipad working. I was very grateful. Then someone drove me to pick up my car. Then I had lunch with two friends at LaFerme. We had a great time and caught up. Then I drove to Maggie’s and she, Marie, and JoAnn and I went to the Seniors’ Christmas dinner at St. Michael’s. It was great to see so many old friends. We had great entertainment and I gave out some coins in honor of St. Nicholas to the children in the Nativity and some of the seniors. I also left a bag for the principal to hand out to the students the next day. I got home around 10pm and was ready for bed.

I started to write about Friday but ran out of time. Will get you up to date Monday or Tuesday.

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 8th, 2013 at 4:00 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.