What Paddy Shot At

Today was a very light day because I am trying to avoid going out in the cold and wind.
Did a lot by phone. Got ‘caught up’ on Marie and Maggie (leaving today for a weekend in Atlantic City. Talked to John in Camden, Dwight in Wichita (14 inches of snow!!)and Regina in Florida. (today is her birthday). Sr. Kass is in re-hab in Annapolis and doing OK.

Met a high school student to talk about faith.

Had the 5:30PM Mass and talked about the Pope as it is the Feast of the chair of St. Peter. Today is the last Friday in which he will be prayed for throughout the world.
Worked a lot on the presentation and then had Stations of the Cross. Good turnout – about 150 people. We had pizza afterwards in the center and a lot of people and families came.

After this, I’m going home.

I have the 8AM Mass tomorrow and will work all morning with the Scouts on the Ad Altard Dei medal. I have a baptism at noon and another at 1pm. A full day so I’m already for bed!

Came over to the center around 8:30AM and left for the doctor. He is near Sibley hospital on Thursday, so I was there in about 20 minutes. Mike, his assistant administered a breathing test. I hadn’t had one in two and a half years and so we wanted to see how much the PFB has grown. I had a great talk with Dr. Solomon and he said there has been more “scratching” of the fibros but not a great deal. He thinks my lungs filling with gunk is the lungs way of protecting the fibros from the cold and wind. He gave me a dilator to use twice a day and encouraged me to use the oxygen during the day when I have activity. So I will start that tomorrow. I already use the oxygen every night when I sleep. I’m going to go back to him between my trips to Wisconsin and Texas, and report on my successes.

I ate and took a nap.

At 3pm, I started my interviews and the last one just left. I’m off to have supper, work on the presentations, and go to bed.

I talked on the phone to Mary and Mary Rose Mudd (about the upcoming election!!), to Loretta Favret, and my cousin, Karen.

I also recieved a cute card from a high school student in the parish, telling me how much she likes my homilies. She said, that like I suggested in my homily, she is sending notes to people that she appreciates as part of her Lenten program. Mine sang “You are my sunshine” (the modern one!!) and it made me laugh. Which is what those notes are suppose to do. God is good!!

When I woke this morning, I found that I had not written yesterday so I did first thing:

After breakfast, I came to the center and got ready for Mass at 11. The reading were about Jonah and Nineveh. I reminded the people that God did not change his mind. God is Love and never desire bad things to happen. We don’t pray to change God’s mind or heart. We wouldn’t want that to happen. We pray so that our hearts and minds will change. That’s why we are in Lent – for conversion.

Then I had lunch and took a nap because I knew the rest of the day was full. I called and talked with Marilyn Cavallaro. I am going up to visit them next Thursday.

Then I had Exposition and 10 interviews with Confirmandi. They were so good and I really enjoyed them. Then I had Benediction and 5:30PM Mass. (Same homily)

Then from 6:30PM till 8:00PM, I was in the confessional. We have a program in the diocese that’s called, “The light is on for you”. In every parish in Arlington diocese, and the Archdioceses of Washington and Baltimore, a priest is in the confessional for that hour and a half. I had a number of people. It is a great program.

Now, back to the rectory and some food and then TV and bed. I have a 9:20AM appointment with Dr. Solomon (Pulmonary man).

Later!!!

I planned out all that I wanted to write and thought I did – and now I see I didn’t post yesterday.

I drove over to Our Lady of Lourdes and attended the noon Mass, which Msgr. Beattie was celebrating. Then he and I went to Sergio’s for lunch. I had called Msgr. Duffy to see if he would join us; but he is in Florida visiting his sister for a couple of weeks. Fr. Hill couldn’t join us as he was going to the casinos. We had a good time and talked about the priesthood and the papacy. There are so many articles in the papers about the election but many of the reporters don’t bother to learn the correct words for thing. One the other day, said “the gold cane” to discribe the Pope’s crozier. Oh, well.

I called Mike Witte and talked about the presentation in Wisconsin on March 9 – 10. I am enjoying the prepartion and know that I’ll have a great time with his parish.

I had 7 interviews for confirmation. 4 of them were from divorced families – that really surprised me. Nice kids and very interesting.

I had the 5:30PM Mass and preached on how kind of Jesus to teach us the “our Father”. It gives us an intimacy with God that people did not have before Jesus.

Four of us were in for supper and we sat and talked till almost 7pm. It was nice to be with the guys. Martino leaves on Wednesday for an 8 day retreat in Scranton. I’ll miss him.

Called Joan Beall to let her know I prayed for her and her parents on her birthday. Called Maggie to see how Kerri is. She is out of the hospital but still has to go through some more test, so she is not back to school.

Played solitaire for a couple of hours and went to bed.

Since the office was closed, I slept in and went over there around 11:45. I met with a man from MIA (Montgomery Interfaith Association). He wanted to talk about community organizing and it was very interesting. We already do it here but he was interested in talking about other Catholic parishes.

At 3pm, I met a lovely lady here in the parlour to celebrate Confession. It was very nice. I had the 5:30PM Mass and I preached on the readings, which encouraged us to serve “the least of our brethern”. I had soup and am relaxing in my suite. It really was a “holiday”.

Keep Sister Kass in your prayers as she is having knee replacement surgery tomorrow.

I came over to the office around 9AM, so that I could begin to clean up my desk. I got a lot done. Then I had the 10:30AM Mass in the gym. I like the readings very much. In my homily, I asked this question: “How do we know that Jesus was tempted in the desert?” I think the answer has to be that Jesus told his disciples that. And St. Paul reminds us that we have a savior, who, like us knew temptation. The person who put the liturgy together reminds us in the first reading that the Jews felt these temptations in the desert, Paul says that the early church also faces them and as we walk towards Lent, we too are facing these temptations – to do our own will, to give in to our desires, and to stand against God’s plan. It went well and I enjoyed the children around the altar.
I stayed in the office and worked. At 1PM, a couple came to take an instrument called FOCUS that helps couples to communicate better. We also settled some questions about the ceremony, which is in April. Then I went and picked up my prescriptions and now I’m all caught up. I missed some last week!!
I returned to the office and cleaned up my email and desk. I just put on a marathon of Perry Mason and the time flew by. In a few minutes, I’ll go up for the 5:30PM Mass and then home to pizza, Dalton Abbey, the Good Wife and a good night’s sleep

Tomorrow is a holiday and the office will be closed. I don’t Mass till 5:30PM, so I can sleep in!!!

Friday, February 15th. I had the 8:00am Mass and then headed over to St. Camillus for Eileen’s funeral. It was a great celebration of who she was: wife, mother, grandmother, and parishioner. Five priests and a man who will become a deacon in June were on the altar. Daughters and grand-daughters did the readings and her two sons spoke after Communion. The church was full of friends and relatives. She was buried at Gate of Heaven and then people were invited to Keith’s house for refreshments and stories. Our cousins, Ann O’Connell and Peggy Caruso and Jackie Wilkerson came as did Eileen’s sister, Peggy Forsythe. My sisters came and they went to Keith’s. I had the 1:30 Mass at the Chevy Chase House, so I came right home. Keep Phil and the family in your prayers. They were very close and she’ll be greatly missed.

In the afternoon, I went to Gawler’s Funeral Home and said prayers for Jim, whose funeral is at 11AM on Saturday. At 7:30PM, I did the prayers for Ellen, here in our chapel. Her funeral will be at 1PM on Saturday. Fr. Ron has them both but couldn’t be here for the prayers, so I did them. Met nice people at each, so please keep them and the deceased in your prayers.

On Saturday, the 16th, I had the 8:00AM Mass. Today is the 22nd anniversary of my Mom’s death. Boy, that seems like only yesterday. I still miss her when the family is together. I am blessed to have such a great and loving family. I spent the morning trying to catch up on this site. I just have been so busy and so tired. At noon, I took Communion to Judy, who has been a very active parishioner and who had a stroke and is housebound. Rita, who runs our senior program usually visits her but she is away and asked me to go. I was glad to see Judy and catch up.

I did some reading and playing solitaire and watching TV for the rest of the day and evening and went to bed around 8pm. I was exhausted and ready for bed.

Monday, Feb 11th, the Pope resigned!!! I couldn’t believe it when I heard it on TV. Since then, I realize that I really admire him for taking this step. He is a natural born teacher and I think, he wanted to remain one but the Church asked him to become a bishop, then to work in the Vatican, to become a Cardinal and then to become Pope – but he remained a teacher. Now he is teaching us by example, that we must always do God’s will and not our own. He tells us that he is not well enough to continue to do the job and that he will step down and have the cardinals choose another. He will return to reading and reflecting and maybe writing. He will continue to be a priest and a bishop but another person will be the administrator and shepherd. I admire his courage to break 600 years of tradition and teach us (like Blessed John XXIII) that “…in 2000 years, you pick up a lot of baggage…” May God give him length of days to enjoy retirement.

I had the 11am Mass and a couple of Confirmation interviews.

Tuesday, Feb 12th. Joan called me this morning to tell me that Eileen had died during the night. It was very peaceful and everyone seems to be OK. Joan, Mary Mudd and Eileen were great friends and all lived on Cottrell Terrace. There were 63 kids on the street and all the women looked out for them just like mothers.
After that, at 10AM, Fr. Dan Morales from Texas was in DC and I picked him up and went and got Maggie and Marie and we all went to Stoney’s to have crabs. AnnMarie, Maggie’s daughter slipped over from work to join us for awhile. When Fr. Dan was here before, he got to spend some time with AnnMarie and Mike and their children. Kathleen loved to sleep on his chest and did so throughout a St. Michael’s auction when she was three months old. We are two dozen crabs! It was great. I dropped him at the hotel and then I had two interviews and the 5:30pm Mass. Then I picked him up again and we met Fr. Beattie at D’Carlo’s for Italian. Again, it was a lot of fun. Dan and Stephanie called me and I hope to visit them going or coming from Texas in March.

Wednesday, the 13th, It was Ash Wednesday, the begining of Lent. I had the 11AM Mass and Fr. Duffy came to concelebrate. When I said at the start of Mass how happy we were to have him, there was thunderous applause. I gave out ashes but not Communion. The church was full as it was at all the Masses.

After Mass, I picked up Fr. Dan again. We went to a number of Verizon stores trying to get me an I-Phone. We had no luck as I got a replacement phone in November and I’m stuck with a contract till November 2014 or I’d have to pay a lot of money. I am very content with my present cell phone for now. I’m really in no rush to learn more gadgets!!
I took Dan back to catch his limo to the airport and then I had some interviews and the 5:30PM Mass. Again, a big crowd. Then I went to Phil and Eileen’s house and met with him and the kids to plan the liturgy for her funeral. I just love that family.

Thursday, the 14th is actually the Feast of Saints Cyril and Methodius but some people celebrate St. Valentine! It was my day off but I came to the office to celebrate JoEddie’s birthday. I was planning to get some work done on my 2012 Christamas letter but was unsuccessful. I did meet Jeff and Colleen Smith for an early supper at RIP’S in Bowie. It was so good to catch up on the family and to just sit and talk. I really enjoyed them and their family when I was at St. Michael’s. They have a grandchild and another on the way. We’re hoping to get together with two other couples and spend another evening together soon.

Then I went to Eileen’s wake at Collin’s. I saw lots of St. Camillus people that I hadn’t seen in years. It was a continuing celebration of her life. She looked great and just like she was sleeping. There were lots of photos and a slide show of pictures that were great to see and relive memories. I am blessed in my family!!!

I have been very busy and that’s why I haven’t written. I will try to “catch up”
Saturday, Feb 9
I drove down to Leonardtown and had a luncheon/meeting with my TEAM. We caught up on the highs and lows of our life. I only had highs. We just began a book, “When the Rain Speaks” by Sister Melannie Svoboda, SND. It is a series of short reflections on nature and we all love it.
I stopped in to see Maggie and picked up my coat, which I had left when we went swimming. She is in the midst of three bathrooms being created or repaired. We had a nice visit.
I had the 5:30pm Mass and it was the last of the three sessions on the Cardinal’s Appeal, so my homily was short.
When I came back to the office, there was a message that my cousin, Eileen O’Connell Ballenger was very ill and might die that evening. I had gone to see her a week or so ago but I asked if I could come over that night. Phil, her husband, said, “Oh you could come tomorrow. It’s late” but I said, “Do you mind if I come” and of course, he assured me they’d love to have me and that lots of the kids and grandkids were there. So I went and anointed her.

But it was more than that! It was one of the best evenings I’ve ever spent. Eileen was aware of us but most of the time, kept her eyes closed. But people sat on her bed and held her hand and told her they loved her. We prayed and laughed and told stories that made her laugh. Her favorite prayer is the Memorare and we said it (Actually one of the grand-daughters, who knew it by heart led us).
I think I left around midnight It was the best example of having your prayer to St. Joseph about a “happy death” answered. She didn’t die that night.

Sunday, Feb 10th, I met with a young man who wants to get married here. He lives in NYC so we had some paperwork.
Then I had the 12:30pm Mass. Same short homily but I also had a baptism – keep William Shaderson and his family in your prayers! It was just lovely and our people are so supportive of Baptisms at Mass.

Afterwards, I ask Martino (the seminarian) if he would drive me to Stone Ridge, a school nearby. Our 8th graders were playing basketball against St. Peter’s in Olney and Eileen son coaches. We went and had a ball. Both teams played hard and we saw lots of people. Came home, ate soup and went to bed.

More to follow!

Sunday, Feb 3rd, I did have that Baptismal class. There were 6 couples and three babies. It was fun and I finished in 45 minutes and told them to go have a sandwich together before they went home (kind of a spontaneous date!). I went home and went to bed early. I forgot to watch Dalton Abbey.

Monday, Feb 4th, I slept in and only came over in time for the 11am Mass. I went and had soup and then from 3 to 5, I had Confirmation interviews. I really enjoy them and its fun to learn why those chose their Saint’s name and their sponsor. Also to hear about the service projects they have done. Today, one girl helps children with special needs to ride horses. It sounded wonderful. Had more soup for supper and then taught a class at RCIA on Holy Orders. We had a big discussion on Women priests. I think I threw them all when I said, “The reason we don’t have them is that the present leadership does not believe he has the authority to change a 2,000 year tradition”. Even the seminarian looked up in the Catechism and read that Pope John Paul II says it cannot change. I said, “Yes, and Church History authorities have said that never before in 2000 years has a Pope tried to tie the hands of a successor.” So time will tell. The candidates didn’t look too upset.

Tuesday, Feb 5th, I had the 8:00AM Mass. It was the feast of St. Agatha and I told them about her. Then I had the 11am Mass and then after soup, I went to take a nap. I worked on my presentation on Vat II and read about 20 pages of a book I am reviewing for the Washington Catholic Historical Society. It is about Daniel Rudd. He was the owner, publisher, and editor of the largest Black Catholic newspaper in the US in the 1800’s up till the 1930’s. It is very interesting. It’s called “A Cry for Justice”. After supper, I went to a parishioner’s house and met with 2 married couples and 4 engaged couples for Pre-Cana. Now, that was interesting and fun! There are four sessions and I’ll come again for the fourth one.

Wednesday, Feb 6, When I got home from Pre-Cana, I sat down to relax and play Spider Solitaire; next thing I knew it was 3am. I slept in and came over just in time for the 11AM Mass. Then I went to my first Wednesday luncheon with the other retried priests. Had a great time and we got Bishop Olivier to tell us funny stories of his priesthood. We laughed a lot. When I came home I had Exposition and then some interviews and then the 5:30pm Mass. I went to bed early – no solitaire.

Thursday, Feb 7th was my day off and I think I stayed in my pj’s in my suite for most of the day Humberto brought up soup!!

Friday, Feb 8th, I had the 11AM Mass and went home for lunch, soup. I took a nap and then I read some more of the book. Just finished the 5:30pm Mass and now I’m heading over to St. Elizabeth’s for First Confessions.

I did have lots of phone calls and caught up with lots of friends. Spent time looking at the maps for the trip to Milwaukee and the one to Houston. I think the driving will be fun.

I’ll try to be more faithful to writing every day as part of my Lenten program. It starts this coming Wednesday. Hard to believe.