I just finished the 8:00am Mass. I told them this feast was important to me because I learned a good lesson from it.
I explained how on Dec 14th of 1972, – it was my first year as a priest – that although we had snow and wind, I went over to the church for the 6:30am Mass.There were two women there. One was the housekeeper from the rectory, Mrs. Dolan and the other was the mother of 11 who had trudged through the snow to come to Mass.
After Mass, I congratulated her for making the effort as the housekeeper and I, who lived next door, weren’t that interested in coming out into the cold. She said, “Oh, I just love St. John of the Cross. I was hoping to hear some words of encouragement about him. Oh! your homily was nice and I’m sure I got something out of it. ”
Since I had preached on the readings for the third Tuesday of Advent, I felt very badly. I have never allowed a Dec 14th to go by without choosing the reading of St. John and preaching on him. See you all help to make us better priests.
I also prayed at Mass for Catherine Doherty, who founded Friendship House and Madonna House. It is the 26th anniversary of her death. I remembered all the members of the apostolate who are scattered all around the world. There is a house here in DC that has been a great source of support for me over the years. I haven’t seen them lately, so I will call them later today.
Today, the lady who cleans the church saw me before Mass and said how messy the church was because she couldn’t clean it yesterday because of the children’s confessions and a funeral, did I think we could move the 8:00am Mass to the chapel. I said, Oh sure. So we did! When Mass was through, Joan, who is our receptionist, said, “Who moved the Mass to the chapel?” It seems that a group of women were scheduled to meet and pray there.
And that is why I don’t want to be a pastor and make decisions. I have been very careful till now, as a “senior priest” to avoid all decision making. And I won’t make that mistake again!
I think I shall spend the rest of the day, like St. John of the Cross, locked away in meditation.
No good deed goes unpunished! ….or so they say.
I like John of the Cross. There is an album by Loreena Mckennitt which puts the his famous poem to music. I like to keep in on as background periodically. My Christmas letter will be coming out this week, assuming all goes well. At least the dogs stood still long enough for me to get a shot of them with the view of the ocean in the background. Keep the faith. Peace