Everything worked out for the weekend of the 4th of July. I drove down to Edgewater and had confessions and the 5:30pm Mass at Our Lady of Perpetual Help. I had supper with Kass at the local diner and then went to the hotel and watched the PBS TV special on the activities on the Mall in DC. It’s one of my traditions. It was great and then I watched the show on the Macy’s special in New York. Again, it was great.
I had the 8:30 am and 11am Masses and then came home. I told my sister that my “leg problem” had made me a better driver. I go slower and I am very conscientious of my ability to brake. I was glad to get home.
On Monday, the 6th, I had the funeral for Frances Higgins. There were lots of GC people there and her husband gave a wonderful eulogy.
That evening, I had the 5:30pm Mass and afterwards baptized my niece, Susan Renee (I officiated at her marriage to my nephew, Michael McLaughlin a couple of years ago). Her mom was visiting from Kansas and came with Maggie, Mary Ann, and her Godmother, Theresa. I also gave her First Communion and confirmed her. Mary Ann drove me and we all went to Magiano’s for great Italian foods and lots of laughs. While we were there, Beth (Horan) Daly and her husband, John came by. It was great to see them. Beth’s mom, Helen, a great parishioner from St. B’s died while I was away on the cruise but I am going to bury her at Arlington on September 11th.
On Tuesday, the 7th, I concelebrated Mrs. Foley’s funeral. Her son, Fr. Bill did a great job and a number of priests came. They had a reception but I went home to rest. I had the 5:30pm Mass and then Fr. Ron and I, and Fr. Martino Choi and our seminarian, Andrew, went out to Tivira restaurant to have a farewell supper with Fr. Justin, who was leaving us after two years. Great food and again, many laughs.
On Wednesday, the 8th, I relaxed and had the 5:30pm Mass. Our new priest, Fr. Alec Scott came that day. He was ordained on June 19th and will be with us for the summer. In October, he will return to Rome (where he studied for the last 4 years) and finish his degree. He is a fine young man and will be a nice addition to the rectory. Humberto, our cook is on vacation but food is prepared and so that night, Fr. Ron, Fr. Alec, and I had a very pleasant (microwave) supper and sat and talked for over an hour.
Thursday was my DAY OFF and I just stayed in the rectory all day. It was a very hot day and the humidity was bad.
On Friday, the 10th, I had the 8am Mass and then drove (slowly) out to St. Patrick’s church in Norbeck for the wake and funeral of Fr. Clarke. A lot of priests came and Fr. Larry Swink gave a great homily. I came home and stayed in the rectory.
On Saturday, the 11th, I had the 8am Mass and then drove down to Resurrection cemetery in Southern Maryland for the interment of Mrs. Cooksey, a long time parishioner from St. B’s. Her son, Tom was in my class at St. B’s and we’ve kept in touch. I was glad to see his family. His son, who was at St. B’s when I was pastor was there and I learned that he is a firefighter – family traditions are great!!
Since I was doing OK driving, I went by Maggie’s and met her and Marie for lunch. I was glad to get home.
On Sunday, the 12th, I was “around” for a baptism that Fr. Alec did during the 10:30 Mass. It was his “first” as a priest and at Mass. He was wonderful. Please keep him, Benjamin Emil and Ben’s family in your prayers. I had the 12:30 Mass and it went fine. I spent the rest of the day relaxing in the rectory.
All week, the temperature was really hot so on Monday, the 13th I had the 11am Mass and returned to the rectory.
On Tuesday, I had the 5:30pm Mass.
I also wrote to the people running the retreat on the weekend of July 24 – 26th and told them I couldn’t do it. It was a very hard decision and although I did send them copies of my talks and some questions for the discussions; I feel badly. I am arranging with a priest friend to see that Mass will be offered.
On Wednesday, I drove over to my dentist in College Park. I met Tom and Vickie Traber in the parking lot and gave them a booklet to help them prepare for the funeral of Vickie’s mom – Mrs. Dolores McHale. She lived on 59th Avenue, which was one of those “special” streets in St. B’s. I will preside and preach at her funeral on Friday at St. B’s.
I had the evening Mass.
On Thursday, the 16th, I drove Fr. Trancone to an appointment in Columbia. We had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory and “toasted” Mother Rosenberger on her birthday. Afterwards I dropped him at the O’Boyle residence and relaxed at home.
On Friday, the 17th, I had the 8am Mass and then drove (slowly) to St. B’s for the 11am funeral. It was so good to see lots of the old St. B’s parishioners and Mrs. McHale’s large and beautiful family. I was so pleased to meet Fr. Jefferson, the new pastor of St. B’s. He looks like he’s 17 but he could not have been more hospitable to me. Deacon Desmond Yorke was a great help to me and as I was “out of steam” after Mass, he kindly offered to go with the family to the cemetery. I went home and went to bed.
Fr. Alec kindly agreed to take a baptism I was scheduled for on Saturday at noon. He did a great job and I got to relax. Please keep Laura Claire and her family in your prayers.
I spent most of the day working on my computer. I had the 5:30pm Mass but the deacon preached. I forgot to bring my oxygen upstairs and the temperature and humidity had increased; so I was glad to get back to the rectory.
Today, I brought the oxygen up with me to the 7:30am Mass. Again the deacon preached and I used my stool at the altar. I did go to the back after Mass and got a chance to speak with lots of people. When I finish this article, I’ll go back and relax in the rectory. I am going to see Patrick Mullin this evening and will go to supper with a family nearby, who invited me last year – I’m a little behind!
I also talked to lots of friends by phone. Talked to Dan and Stephanie, Frankie and Mary Lynn Costanza (old friends from the teen club at St. B’s) who called me to say their dad had died and to see if I would be available for an interment at Arlington in the near future. I also talked to Marilyn and Frank. I talked with Tish Rossi and learned that her cousin, Ida Santorella died very suddenly last week. Please keep her, her family, and in a special way, her son Jimmy Lee (who was one of my CCD students when I was a seminarian) in your prayers. Also Bob Norton called me to tell me that Karen Kunak and her husband Joe were driving to New Jersey to spend time with their family on a vacation. Someone crossed the highway and hit them “head-on”. Joe was killed. Karen is injured – but will survive. Karen and Joyce were two nurses at the hospital where Bob was chaplain and have been good friends and traveling companions with us from Maryland for years. Joe was a lung transplant survivor for 5 years and to die like that is so sad.
Please keep all these people in your prayers.
I think you are “up to date”. I’ll try to be a better communicator.