What Paddy Shot At

Yesterday was a wonderful full day. I had the morning Masses at St. Mary’s in Barnsville (8 – 9:30 – 11am). I always enjoy going there and allowing Fr. Kevin O’Reilly to get some time away. I remember how hard it was, in a one-man parish, to get away; so happy to help. La and Andy Favret came to the 11 (Claude Fecteau was also there as this is his parish. It was a nice surprise to see him) and after Mass I went to their new house, which is about 20 miles away. They have a lovely house that is very roomy and has great little patios off of almost every room. We had a nice lunch and then we “sniped” their son, Thomas. He and his family are in Brussels where he is in the foreign service. It was neat to see him as well as hear him. He could see us too. I do love the technological age! I couldn’t visit around the complex they live in but I will return soon. I had to leave because I had two Baptisms back here at MBS at 2:00pm. They were so cute and both less than 5 months old. One was Caroline, and she turned out to be the great niece of Helen Tanis, who lived on 59th Avenue, next to Diane Leach’s family. The other was Isabella from Texas, whose 92 year old grandfather lives in our parish, so they came here to have her baptized.
When all this over, I went to bed. I woke up around 5pm and spent the rest of the evening doing Sudukos, reading, and watching TV.

Today is the feast of the twin doctors, Cosmas and Damian. They were Greeks and martyred in the third century. They and their three younger brothers all died for the faith. This morning, I had the 11:00am Mass and then I spent the rest of the day trying to straighten out my medicare – I think tomorrow, I’ll just go to the office. I spent a lot of time on the phone – visiting people – and I tried to continue clearing this desk. Now I am waiting to stop in to the RCIA and then head home.

I thought I’d let you know what the rest of Saturday was like. I got up around 8am and went over to the office. I had a Baptism in the Church at 10:00am. She was darling. Her name is Mary Margaret and she has a large clan. Her great grandfather, 92 year old Doctor was there as were lots of relatives from various states.
Then I had the 11:00am Mass, which was well attended and the reading today reminded us that the Cross is always part of a disciples’ life. I think I gave the congregation hope that it leads to Resurection.
Then I had a Baptism in the chapel at noon. She was adorable. Her name was Rory Elizabeth and she had an equally adorable 3 year old sister named Bridget. Again, a nice large clan.
Then at 1pm, I had another Baptism in the church. She couldn’t take her eyes (which were beautiful, brown, and large) off of me. She was Audra Karen and smiled at everything I said. She had relatives from Michigan and Ohio. I love when I welcome a child from a large family into the larger family of the Church.
Then I had lunch and took a nap.
Had confessions at 4pm and the 5:30 Mass. And now I am going to bed early as I have three Masses at St. Mary’s in Barnesville tomorrow and a visit with the Favrets and then two Baptisms at 2pm back here at Blessed Sacrament. Again, I’ll go to bed early and sleep in because I have the 11:00am Mass on Monday. I feel like this weekend I really have been “priestly”.

I was very surprised to receive a message from Sr. Kass wondering about the blog. Where were Wed, Thurs, and Friday? I went on line and was wondering myself what happened? Then I remembered!

Wednesday was a very full day. I had the 8:00am and 11:00am Masses. It was the feast of St. Matthew and also Fr. John Bohrer’s birthday. I offered one of the Masses for his Dad, who is deceased and his Mom, Rose, who lives in assisted living in Denver. After the 11:00 Mass, I joined my cousin, Lauren Werner and our friend, Ann Sheridan for lunch at Chadwick’s. We had a great time and many laughs. Last Tuesday night, I had a message from my cousin, Eileen Price, that she, her sister, Betty, and our cousins, Helen Marie O’Brien Nolan and Mary Hayden dePaul, were all having lunch at the Cheesefactory, which is about five stores up from Chadwick’s. They were meeting at 12:30. It was too late to call Eileen but I knew I could stop by after Chadwick’s and “surprise” them. I did, and again, there were many hugs, kisses, and lots of laughs.
In the evening, I met with Andrea about RCIA and watched some of the new TV shows.

On Thursday, I had the 8:00am Mass and then went to Union Station and took the train to Philly. I walked – yes walked over to a near by office building and met Mary Jane, Regina Housel’s niece, whom I married to Steve in May. I have been carrying their marriage license around and so I finally gave it to her. She works so we could only meet for a few moments in the lobby but it was great to see her and marriage must agree with her as she looked wonderful. The John met me and I went to see a movie. It is called ” ‘somethng’ hedgehog”. It was in French with subtitles and was about a consierge “building super” in an apartment in Paris. It was just lovely and although slow at first, it lifted my spirits and I was glad I saw it. John had already seen it but sat through it again. Then we had a drink (he, coffee and I, hot chocolate) at a little cafe and then we met Terry and Joe for our annual Fall Birthday dinner. Terry, who knows every nice restaurant in Philly, chose a nice French Bistro with great view of the river and unusual but delicious food. It had skate, a white fish with a fin like bone that fell off the bone and had a great sauce. They dropped me at the train station. I got the 9:28; finished reading my book (Tuesdays with Morrie) and was home and in bed by 12:15am.

On Friday, I had the 6:30am Mass. I had asked for it, so that I could head to Southern Maryland and arrive in Solomons in time for an 11:00am retirement luncheon. It was for Pat Hall, a dear friend whom I got to know well while at St. Michael’s. She and Beth McCoy were close friends and we had great times together. Her son, Steve, (a St. Mary’s country police officer), his wife, Faith, and his sons, Trent and Clay are also good friends and we all went to Alaska together a few summers ago. Her dad, Bill, who is 96 was there as were her sisters from the Southwest and her brother and his wife, who live near Annapolis. There were also about 60 co-workers and Muffin and John Padukiewicz and the Commander of Pax Air Station, Admiral Marr, who gave a great talk. I also saw parishioners for St. Michael’s and had a great time. It was a very rainy day but the sun was shining in doors.
Afterwards, I drove to Maggie’s and took a nap. Good thing I did because we all went to BINGO at the fire house. I didn’t win but I enjoyed being with my sisters and my nieces. I drove home and was in bed by midnight. So that’s why no blog for the last few days – I’ve been increasing my memories and having lots of laughs! As it should be.

I checked and the blood did liquify. Also the soccer team from Naples beat the team from Milan. They also got a new Bishop today; so it was a triple miracle for the people of Naples.

I didn’t have a morning Mass today, so I slept in and came over around 10:00am. I worked on the discussion I was to lead over in the Manning center, our senior group meets there. Rita, the moderator asked me to lead some discussions based loosely on the book, “Tuesdays with Morrie”. We had about 28 people and after going around and introducing ourselves; I told them about Mitch, a former college student and his decision to meet on Tuesday with a former professor, who had made a difference in his life and now was dying. I suggested some topics and we started today with our earliest memory of family. It was very interesting. We’re going to meet every first and third Tuesday till Christmas. We are calling it “Tuesday with Father Maury”. I enjoyed preparing for it.

As there was a Mass at 4:10 for the beginning of SOR (School of Religion), we moved adoration and the 5:30pm Mass into the chapel. The place was full. Then we three had supper and now I am over here waiting for a 7:30pm meeting about our inclusion program for those with special needs. The parish and this committee do a lot. Tonight, I think it is early to bed. I have the 8:00am and 11:00am Masses tomorrow.

I have liked this saint since I learned about him in the seminary. He is a Bishop/Martyr who died around 310 in Naples. There is a vial that contains his blood and is exposed for veneration of his feast day. It is dried but becomes liquid during the veneration. I like miracles and I will go on line later to see if the blood liquified today.

I didn’t write on Saturday or Sunday because each night I was so tired, I went right to bed. Saturday, I got up around 8:00am and picked up Joan Beall and we drove up to Hickory, Md which is above Baltimore. I was to baptize Elijah Carter Coppney Mullican at St. Ignatius Church. Almost 30 years ago, I married his grandparent in that church and I had baptized his Mom, about 22 years ago. It was no nice to see all the family. His great grandparents, Bill and Mary Lu Jones had been parishioners at St. Camillus and worked with me and the teen club. We went back to the house and had such a nice visit. It was great also to see his Godparents, who are also his aunt and uncle, and to learn how they were doing. His great uncle, officer Mike Jones, was treasure of the teen club and is 8 months from retirement as a police officer. It was so good to see him. Mrs. Beall and I had a great time. But we decided on the way home, while we’re not old, how did all these kids get old enough to be grandparents.

I had the 5:30pm Mass when I got home and I went to bed early.

On Sunday, I got up early and drove over to Baltimore to pick up Sr. Natalie (formerly Sr. Ann Christine, SND) and we went to St. Martin’s on North Capitol Street for their 110th anniversary celebration. My sisters were there as were a number of their classmates. About 12 Sisters of Notre Dame were there and three priests who had been stationed there also came. There must have been another 200 former and present parishioners. At 12:30, we had a lively and Spirit filled Gospel Mass. Only one bad thing is I still have the problem I had at Queen of Peace, I cannot sing and clap at the same time. It must be an Irish thing.
On the way home, Sister and I stopped in to say hi at the first birthday party of a young man, C.A. whom I had baptized a couple of months ago. Our seminarian, Ryan was there and it was great to see him. They made us take a plate of delicious looking food and I made Sister take it to the Villa. Sister and I stopped for dinner as neither of us ate all day and I stayed “Structured”!

As I was driving home, I noticed on my dashboard, I had driven 360 miles over the last three days! I need to slow down and take a day off. I think tomorrow I’ll do that.

Today, Monday, I had the 11:00am Mass and spoke about St. Januarius and then I went to lunch. Took a nap and just finished meeting with a lady who was in our RCIA program last year but broke her leg and didn’t come into the church at that time. We met to see about her being confirmed and being able to receive Communion. That will be another fun activity for me.

As I have just discovered I have a full day tomorrow, I think I’ll go to the rectory, have a light supper and go to bed early. Hope you have had a good weekend.

I had the 6:30am Mass this morning. It wasn’t as hard to get up as I feared. There were about 40 people there and they told how nice it was to see me. I told them I’d come again next Friday.
I like to talk about martyrs from long ago and remind myself and the people that there are martyrs today in so many places throughout the world.

After Mass, I took Communion to Marie Wallace and had a nice visit. She hopes to go home to Delaware on October 1st. She is making great strides in her therapy and is using a cane. I told her I’d be back next week.
Then I went to use my gift card at Barnes and Noble. I had planned just to buy one book but then I saw the new book based on the tapes made by Jacquline Kennedy, and I splurged.
Then I headed off to Baltimore to meet Sr. Kass for lunch. We had a great visit and caught up on the news. She leaves tomorrow for Springfield, MO for do some more of her Renew work. She loves working as Pastoral associate at her parish near Annapolis.
I came right home and its good I did.
I had a message from the groom of my 4pm wedding. I called him and in our conversation discovered the wedding was at 3pm. Fortunately, I didn’t stop to get my haircut on the way back from Baltimore.
The wedding was great and we had 20 people. There was music and the couple were so cute. We had a Mass and both sets of parents were there as well as some friends.

Since I had time before dinner, I looked up on the computer and discovered there was a barber shop nearby on Conn. Ave. So I went and got my haircut and my beard trimmed. It’s closer than I’m use to but Fr. Ron says it looks good.
He and I had supper together and now I am preparing to go to bed. Tomorrow I am driving up above Baltimore to baptize the child of a young woman, whom I baptized and whose parents I married. I really am old.

Today was a very easy day for duties, so I did a lot of personal work. I had the 11:00am Mass and spent most of the day, working at my desk catching up on mail and paperwork. Patrick Mullan, the seminarian, came to visit and joined us for lunch. He looks great and is very busy at his parish – St. Catherine Laboure.
After he left, I was on the phone a lot and again caught up with people. This evening we had supper together, which is always fun and now I am up in my room, working at the computer. I have the 6:30am Mass tomorrow (Doesn’t happen very often!) and so its early to bed. I will write tomorrow.

Yesterday, Tuesday got away from me. I came over to help with a funeral at 11:ooam that was for a former deacon here at Blessed Sacrament. Bishop Gonzalez, our auxilary was to be the main celebrant and Msgr. Duffy was to preache. The bishop was ill and so Msgr became the presider and there were two deacons, Fr. Brian, provincial of the Dominican, a family friend, Fr. Percy, Fr. John, Fr. Scot, director of the Deaconate program for the Archdiocese, and me. The Knights and Ladies of Malta were here as was a military presence, because he was an officer and was being buried at Arlington. It was a big event. Afterwards, Fr. Duffy joined us for lunch and that was fun. Then I took a nap and at 4pm met with Andrea, who would like to be in RCIA but works on Monday night and so I am going to meet with her and keep her up to date with the class. Then Fr. Beattie called to remind me that our support group was meeting for dinner at 5:30. I met them at the restaurant (Fr. Hill, Fr. Beattie, and Fr. Duffy – again!) Then I drove through town to say prayers at DaVol’s in Georgetown and then I did some more Suducos and fell into bed.

This morning, I had the school Mass at 9:15. We celebrated the Holy Cross feast and remembered all the sisters of the Holy Cross who have served in our parish for almost 89 years. Sister Marietta is in our school now. Mass was very nice and then I went to the “Bread, Book, and Brethern” opening session. This is a Bible study group that has been going on for over 25 years. Every week during the school year, they meet and study a book of the Bible. This year it is Wisdom. I just went to welcome them back and encourage them in this wonderful evangelization program. Oh, and I told stories and made them laugh!
Then I had the 11:00am funeral for Jack. He was the man I went to see a couple of weeks ago. He had hospice but was conscious and we had a very nice meeting. I saw twice after that as he prepared to die. He has a great wife and four good kids. The Mass today had all his family and the grandkids involved. A friend of almost 40 years spoke and was very eloquent. I especially liked how he kept coming back to Jack’s faith and the importance he place in it. I went out to Gate of Heaven for the internment and now I am getting ready for exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. Afterwards, I plan to stop by and see Jack’s family at the house. Then I have the 5:30pm Mass and I think it will be early to bed for me. I think you’re up to date!

Again, two days just flew by. I can remember my Grandmother Crory saying one time that time goes by very quickly as you age; so I guess I’ve reached “aged”!!

Saturday was a very pleasant day. First, it didn’t rain! It was very humid but I was just glad to see the sun staying. I had a Baptism at 11:00am in the chapel. It was a lovely young woman, who called me months ago. She was pregnant and not married. She had contacted her parish but the priest told her, he couldn’t baptize the baby because she wasn’t active in the parish. She had been to a baptism here and asked if I would help her. I told her to come see me and we had a great visit. Her son was born in August and her parents came from Spain to be with her. She’s from a big extended family and I think there were about 60 people in the chapel. Her Mom read in Spanish and I did the actual baptism in Spanish and the blessing at the end. I’m sorry that I haven’t kept up using my Spanish but I was able to welcome her Mom and Dad. Padre Mauricio had a good time.
I wasn’t on duty but I noticed there was a message on the beeper, so I called. It was a man whose wife is dying of a brain tumor. I went to their house and anointed her and gave them Communion. She isn’t able to speak much but we had a nice visit. It turns out she had been the art teacher here at our school. Her daughter, who was a student here, then went off to Good Counsel for high school. She is now studying nursing in New Jersey.
I had confessions at 4pm and it was a steady stream. I always enjoy a crowd. I came down to the office to wait to help with Communion at the 5:30; but Fr. Percy came by and said that he’d take Communion. So I went over to the rectory, ate some dinner and went up to watch TV. I really enjoy watching Gordon Peterson’s Washington, which is a roundtable with local newsperson. I especially like Mark Shields, who is one of our ushers and has such a great wit. He is an old fashion Irish political pundint! Went to bed early.

Sunday, I helped with Communion at the 9:00am and then I concelebrated the 10:30 with Fr. Ron and Cardinal Wuerl. The Cardinal came to install Ron as pastor. I had never been to an installation and I was very impressed. The Cardinal spoke very well about the role of a pastor and at the end of Mass, said some very thoughtful comments about the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. The church was filled. There was a reception afterwards and also a brunch over in the rectory but I skipped them both because I had the 12:30 Mass. A lady stopped me after the 10:30 to ask me if we had changed the readings for the anniversary. I assured her that they were the readings for the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time and I said, “Often, God has a way of getting His message to us”. They were all about forgiveness. In my homily, I mentioned that there is a TV show that is being advertised as starting in late September, it is called “Revenge” and it is about a woman whose father was killed and she is out for revenge. I said it just isn’t something I want to watch. Jesus says “seven times seventy”. As he left church, Mark said to me, “I don’t know, maybe six times but more doesn’t seem Irish. We hold on to our booze and our injuries!!” He just makes my days!!!!
Sunday afternoon, I wrote a review of the book, “Mrs. Mattingly’s Miracle” for the Washington Catholic Historical Society magazine. I sent it to Joe Stoutz, my editor for him to “tweak it”. Then I drove down to Wildwood in Southern Maryland and met with some of the couples from Teams for supper. We had a nice visit. Bob and Jane could not join us but we kept them in our prayers and thoughts. We also had lots of laughs. I got home around 8pm. The editor had done a great job and so I emailed the completed review off to the magazine.

I am at my desk and have the 11:00am Mass. Then I’ll go by and visit the family of Jack Holloway, whose funeral I have on Wednesday to plan the readings. This evening I am suppose to meet Kevin Potter and his friend, Peggy for dinner here in Bethesda. I’ll stop in RCIA and meet the new people and then go to bed. I think that brings you up to date.

Don’t know where Wednesday and Thursday went. I guess it’s all the rain that threw off my sense of time.

On Wednesday, I had the 11:ooam Mass and then headed over to the St. John Vianney House for our monthy meeting and lunch for the “retired, senior priest, old guys” gathering. I got there in time for the meal and had a great time sitting with Tom Kane and Jim Beattie. I had seen both of them at the cookout but didn’t get the chance to talk with them. I always enjoy their humor and their attitudes about church matters. I think I came home and spent the rest of the day over in the rectory. I really hate walking in the rain. I worked on the computer and finished reading about Mrs. Mattingly. Fr. Paul Liston asked me to write a book review, so I started to work on that. I also got a phone call to tell me that Deacon Bob Connolly had a minor stroke. I spoke with Jane and she said he is doing better but is staying in the hospital. Please keep him and Jane in your prayers.

On Thursday, I had the 6:30am Mass. Everyone – including me – was surprised to see me. I woke up around 4am and just napped because I was so afraid that I’d oversleep. Since I was up, I went down and worked at the desk until about noon. Then I took a nap and Jerry Trancone came by at 3 and left his car. Then I drove out to Laurel and we met Glen Rosenberger at his house. We went to Olive Garden for an early supper. It was good to see Mr. R (whom we call “Father”) and catch up on him and all the family. He looks great and although he has lost some weight, he keeps busy. We all miss Mrs. R (whom we called “Mother”). They lived two doors down from me and she was the head adult advisor for the teen club at St. B’s when I was young. She also worked with Fr. T when he was the moderator. She died last year and left a large space in all our lives.
We had a good dinner ( and I ate correctly). The trip home for T and me took almost an hour. The beltway was like a parking lot because of the rain. I heard later that 10 inches of rain fell. If that were snow, it would have been 10 feet! I was glad to get home and retreat to my room. Went to bed early because I wanted to get up early (again!!) on Friday.

Today, Friday, I came over to the center around 6:50am because on the first Friday, some men of the parish come to the 6:30 Mass and then gather for a talk. The group is called “Christ in the marketplace”. The speaker today was Tim Shriver, a parishioner and the director of the Special Olmpics. He was great. I won’t do justice to the conversation but I was most impressed by one thing he said in particular. He said that every parent fears that their child will be different because society will isolate them. Yet, every child is different and we have to help the child, other children, adults, and society recognize the differences and help everyone to celebrate and support each person. He was very impressive as a man of faith. I’m so glad I got up.

At 10:00am, I had the Mass at the Methodist Home. I hadn’t been there in a couple months and it was nice to see all the people again. They were so funny because they thought I had lost a lot of weight (not a lot but I did make another hole in my belt) but they thought I was too thin!!! I love them but they’re not seeing too well! I had a good homily about St. Peter Claver and I had a good time.

I came home and ate the rest of the Jello. I need to see how many calories that is. It’s sugar free so it can’t be much. Then I took a nap. I came back to the office and then went to Chevy Chase House for Mass. I hadn’t been there either for awhile and they were glad to see me. Josephine Hillyard, who went to high school with my Mom lives there and she too noticed I’d lost weight. I enjoyed the affirmation!!!

I just looked outside and the sun is shinning. Deo Gracias!! I did some more work at the desk and lots of phone calls about upcoming Baptisms; so I think I’ll go back to the rectory, have some dinner, and work upstairs and go to bed early. These 6:00am risings are not what I like! Just got a message from Sister Kass. It’s 80 degrees and beautiful in Texas. She is up in the panhandle and not near the wildfires! I’m happy for her because she – like me – hates driving and going out in the rain! See you tomorrow.