This is kind of a p.s. to yesterday’s message. Just before I went on the altar for the 5:30pm Mass, Fr. Jim said there were two ladies who were in the second pew and asked if he or I could give one of them the Sacrament of the Sick. They were planning to come to Mass, so he suggested to them that I could do it after Mass. The reading at Mass were about making the road straight and how the tops of mountains would be chopped off and used to fill in the valleys. In my homily, I talked about my first trip to the Holy Land and how it took us 2 and a half hours to drive from Jerusalem to Jericho. After a whole day of the Dead Sea, Cumram, Massada, and the Jordan River we returned to Jericho for dinner. It was just getting dark, when our tour guide said it was time to head back to Jerusalem. I remember dreading the long ride and was really just getting settled into the bus to try to take a nap, when he announced we were home. And there before us was the city of Jerusalem. He said to us, “We took the old road that ran between Jerusalem and Jericho in the time of Jesus this morning but tonight we took the new super highway that was built a few years ago. I thought it would be an audio visual for you of the words of Isaiah about the valleys being filled and the mountains laid low”. Well I was I never hear that reading that I don’t remember how happy I was that the Lord’s Highway was there. After Mass I went and anointed the one lady, whose name was Mary and spoke afterwards with she and her sister. It turned out that Mary is undergoing treatment for cancer and had an appointment on Wednesday of this week. She felt that the Sacrament gave her peace and I said “Yes, it does that”. Then she told how much she enjoyed my homily because she just completed twenty years of working in the Holy Land and it reminded her of her own experiences of the Scriptures coming to life in her travels. Holy Good is the Good God!
As I write this it is Tuesday evening. I have had another wonderful day.
I went to StoneRidge School to preach and to hear confessions for the middle school students. My friend, Pat is campus minister and invited me. Who do I meet at the front door but Sally Foley, an old friend of mine and the housemate of Pat Davis, who was the art teacher at Good Counsel. I didn’t know that both of them were teachers there. I couldn’t visit today but I hope to see them again soon. We had a very nice penance service and then myself and two other priest from the neighborhood were available for individual confessions for about two hours.
I arrived home and was able to go to the 5th graders’ “Lessons & Song” concert in the church. They were great and used the theme of the Jesse Tree to sing and play instruments for us. It really put me in an Advent mood. Then I took a nap.
At 4:10 myself and five other priests were in the church to celebrate reconciliation with the students of the School of Religion. Again, it was such a pleasant experience to talk with these young people about their deepening relationship with God and how it effects their relationships with others.
At 5:15, I had benediction in the chapel to repose the Blessed Sacrament, which had been exposed in our chapel today from 3pm. I thought we might have Mass in the chapel because all day long both in my prayers in my brevary and in preparation of my homily I was thinking of St. Ambrose, the tremendously important bishop of Milan who converted Augustine. Just as I was suggesting that we have 5:30 Mass in the chapel, the organist came in to the sacristy and reminded me that our Mass was to be the Vigil of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. We would music, the Gloria, and the Creed and different readings. Fortunatly, I had just been to the students concert on the Jesse tree and so I was able to change my homily to how that promise was fulfilled by the Virgin Mary’s “Yes”. I think it worked
So, not only do I wish a happy feast day to Fr. Kevin Kennedy and all the parishioners of St. Ambrose parish in Cheverly but also I wish you a happy Vigil of the Immaculate Conception, the patronal feast of our country.
Thought of you as I joined 30 others at Dimitri’s restaurant to celebrate Fr. Al Rose’s 80th birthday. He arrived at his first parish, Ascension, when I was in 7th grade. (You may remember him from mother’s funeral.) He remembers people’s names, family members, work history – remarkable! He said, “once you are my parishioner you are ALWAYS my parishioner.” You seem to live out his philosophy! 🙂