What Paddy Shot At

Today was so much nicer than the last few days. There was actually a breeze. I went over to a school classroom and heard confessions. Many of my students from last year came to see me. It was amazing to see how much taller many of them were. I told them I would try to be an 8th grade teacher next year. Who knows? I may be up to it.
I spent most of the day in my office. I cleaned out all my saved voice mails and spent much of the day on the phone talking to people. Had a great conversation with my cousin, Ann Brown O’Connell. I had exposition at 3pm and then benediction and Mass at 5:15pm. I came over and ate and I’m watching “The Mentalist” and then I’m going to bed. I wanted to call Maureen and Rick – they are babysitting down in St. Augustine, Fl. for their 5 grandchildren, while Wayne and Valerie are at a wedding in Pittsburgh -; but I left my cell phone on my desk over in the center. Forgetting more!!! Tomorrow if the weather is still cool, I may go to Social Security about retiring June 30th.

Yesterday was not only a full day; it was the hottest day so far. It was 98 degrees but with the humidity it felt like 105. I did go out to have lunch with Fr. Patrick Riffle. He was with me at St. Michael’s for three months after ordination and before he returned to Rome to finish his studies. He has been the associate at St. Peter’s in Olney for almost two years. He is great and the parish is a good one for a newly ordained – much activity and lots of involved families. We had a very pleasant visit.

I returned to the office and stayed here till the 5:30pm Mass and then I met with some of the leaders of the retreat that I am going on with families the second weekend in July. It was so hot and the air was dangerous for people with breathing problems; so I went to the rectory and just stayed in.

Sleeping was hard because the room was so hot even with two fans, that I was tired when I finally got out of bed and came over here. I just finished the 11am Mass. I was suppose to go to “the old priests’ meeting” and lunch but it was just too hot to go out. I wanted to go to graduation at Great Mills tonight but again, I can’t face the ride and the heat. Quite a few kids from St. Michael’s are graduating but I guess a card will have to do. I hope the weather cools soon. I would not have made a good martyr!

Except for having the 11am Mass, I “frittered” away the whole day. The phones are not working in the office, so I couldn’t use the internet. I spent most of the day here in my suite and watched TV and worked on genealogy and now it is almost time to go to bed. I have a full day tomorrow, so I’ll close. The day has been very relaxing.

Stayed in bed and listened to the Sunday talk shows. I can’t believe that we are already being bombared by “Who will be the candidates for president in 2012?”
I didn’t rush over to the office because I had the 12:30pm Mass. I did end up helping with Communion at the 10:30am in the gym but I really wasn’t needed. I just wanted to see some of the families. Again, I think a lot must have taken advantage of the holiday as all the Masses were down in attendance.
After the Mass, Joe Stoutz arrived and he and I went to Clyd’s and met his son, Tim for lunch. They just returned from a great visit to Italy with people from Holy Family University. Tim works here in DC for CNN. We had a great visit. Then they headed to Tim’s and I’ve been working on geneaology stuff. I also watched the celebration down on the Mall on public television. I think I’m off to bed as it is too hot to do anything outside. I have the 11am Mass so again, I won’t set the alarm! God Bless America and all its brave soldiers.

I did pick up Marie yesterday at the hospital around noon and we stopped by her house, where we saw Danny Schmidt, who is recovering from hernia operation. He looks good – more like his Dad every day – and says he feels better now that the staples are out. He will have to “rest” for a few weeks but the surgery was necessary and probably too long delayed.
Marie and I went to Maggie’s and I took a nap and then we went to dinner at the Chesapeake Grill – delicious cream of crab soup! Then we went to Bradly and Cathleen’s graduation program from their day care school. There were over 100 kids from 6 months to junior high. Some children are there all day and some older students are there for before and after care. It ran about two hours and I loved it. I know how much work it takes – from my own days of directing musicals for teenagers. It was an excellent show as well as a graduation ceremony. Since we were home before 10pm, I decided to drive home and sleep in my own bed since I didn’t have anything to do until the 2pm Baptism. I was asleep by midnight.

Today, I was able to sleep in as my first event was a Baptism at 1pm. His name was Charles Allan and his parents were in one of my classes for Baptism and asked if I would do the Baptism. She is from the Phillipines and so I asked Ryan, our seminarian who was born in Manila to join me. We had a wonderful buffet afterwards with lots of ethnic foods. I really enjoyed it.
Then I had confessions at 4pm and the 5:30pm Mass. Lots of people must be away for the holidays because we were finished by 6:15. I am in the office but will go over to the rectory, watch some TV and go to bed. No need to rush around tomorrow as I have the 12:30pm Mass. I think Joe might come and then he, Tim, and I will have lunch and then Joe will go to the spend the night at Tim’s and catch a train back up to Philly on Monday.

Yesterdays convocation was very informative. It was to help us, priests understand that many of these changes that the civil government want are really an attempt to chip away at the moral fiber of society. The redefinition of words is a powerful but subtle way of changing institutions. I really enjoyed it and learned a lot.
I also enjoyed having lunch with my brother priests and catching up on the news. I also met privately with Cardinal Wuerl, where he presented me with my formal decree of retirement. It will be effective on July 1st.
I got home in time for the 5:30pm Mass and stayed over in the rectory until the play reading group met at 7pm. We read “Picnic”, which I’ve heard about both as a play and as a movie. I guess it was “racy” in its day but tame by today’s standards.

Fr. Jim called me in my room last night and asked if he could take the 8:00am Mass today and I said, “Sure”. I had the 11am and then I was going to go to the hospital and see how Marie was doing. That worked out well. Early today, I preached about Philip Neri, one of my favorite saints. I also called Fr. John Bohrer to wish him a happy anniversary – and it is Saturday but we had a good talk. Also Joe called as he and Tim arrived back last night from the trip to Italy. He may come down this weekend to bring Tim’s car back to DC. It will be great to hear about his trip.
After Mass I went and stayed in the waiting room with Maggie and Marie’s daughter, Mary. We had a nice “catch up on family news” as we waited for Marie. It took about three hours and then the doctor came out to see us and tell us Marie did very well. There were blockages and he put in a stint and showed us photos of everything they did. It was interesting but not my cup of tea. We finally saw Marie in recovery and they decided to keep her overnight. Tomorrow I will have the 11am Mass and go by the hospital and get Marie and we’ll drive to Maggie’s. Maggie’s grandkids have some program from pre-school that we’re going to and I’ll stay overnight. I don’t have to be back at the parish until a 2pm Baptism. So I won’t write tomorrow. I’ll write on Saturday.

Had a very relaxing day. Had exposition at 3pm and called and emailed a number of people. Also threw away more paper in my office. Had the 5:30pm Mass and then met Msgr. Jim Beattie for dinner at a nice Italian restaurant. It is his 50th anniversary of ordination. I just off the phone with Sheila Morris, who has a friend being ordained this June and she is looking for a nice stole. I gave her some leads on line. Now I have to check and see if The Good Wife is on tonight and then to bed. Tomorrow I am attending a convocation at CUA and also have a meeting with Cardinal Wuerl. Retirement is getting closer.

I have found that if I don’t have lots of things to do, it is easier for me to sit at the desk and go through papers and make choices. So I continue to clear my desk.
I did have the 11:00am Mass and I am waiting now for a Mass at 6:30pm that I will concelebrate. It is for the members of RCIA this year and their families and will be followed by dinner. They were a very good group and although I couldn’t be there every Monday, I enjoyed them whenever I could come.

I had a very full day and I enjoyed all of it. I started by having the 7:30am Mass. I used my oxygen thoughout the Mass and Ryan, the seminarian was a great help to me, and I learned a lot about using the oxygen at Mass.
I used the Gospel message about not being worried or confused and trusting in God and Jesus. I also talked about people worrying about the end of the world on May 21st. It went well.
After Mass, I went to my office and did some more cleaning. Around 9:40am, I got in the car and drove to Stone Ridge, which is a wonderful school for girls that has students from Kindergarten to 12th grade. I went for a Mass that was held for families whose daughters were thinking of coming next September. I think there were about 140 people there, many were siblings of prospective students. Again the Mass went well. They invited me to stay for a cookout but I was ready to go home. It was very hot and humid here today.
When I got home, I found that Rick and Peg Jensen had come by because according to the bulletin, I had the 10:30 Mass at the parish. Ever since the announcement of John’s transfer, we’ve been changing the Mass schedule almost daily because there is so much going on. They had left a message on my cell and I called them. They were visiting their daughter’s job’s new office, which is about 10 blocks from here. So we agreed to meet at Clyde’s for lunch. Kate joined us for part of it and we three stayed and just talked. Yesterday, was their 34th wedding anniversary, at which I officated. They have always been two of my favorite cousins and have gone on a number of cruises with our gang. We just had a great time together.

When I got home, I got ready for the 5:30pm Mass. I like that crowd a lot and today we also had the 7th graders come up and be enrolled in the preparation for Confirmation for next year. Many of the candidates were students I taught last year in 6th grade religion and it was neat to enroll them with a nice ceremony.

After Mass, I came over to the rectory backyard and about 10 young men who are interested in learning about the seminary joined with about 30 seminarians and ten priest for a cookout. They had a Mass around 5pm in the chapel and then had a discussion with the vocation director and Fr. John; and then came over to our place for the cookout. I sat at the table with six of them as well as Rob Moro, who was the DRE here when I came and left and just finished his first year at Mt. St. Mary’s. I also saw Patrick Mullan and Fr. Patrick Riffle, both of whom had been with me in Southern Maryland. I was glad to meet the new fellows and to learn about them.

So I came up here and have relaxed all evening and watched some TV and did some reading in history and I think I’m ready for bed. It was a very good day and I’m glad that the world didn’t end yesterday.

Today I spent most of the day, cleaning my office and filling the trash can. I am the king of small pieces of paper with unreadable writing. I found lots of treasures “hidden” below the piles of paper. I also filed a lot of paper. Feel good. Had the 11am Mass and discovered that carrying around the oxygen is more exhausting than walking around and getting out of breath. I’m going to still try to find a way to use it.

I went to St. John’s High School and offered Mass for about 30 Christian Brothers. We celebrated the feast of St. John Baptist de la salle, which was actually last weekend but the brothers moved it to this weekend because more of them could come. They came from the retirement house in Ammandale, Md from St. John’s High School, and from Philly and Baltimore. Mass was nice and the brothers sing well, especially a French hymn that I figured was about St. John. Afterwards, we had a great dinner and wonderful conversation. I knew none of my tablemates but felt close to them by the end of the meal. I came home around 7pm (since the world didn’t end at 6 as predicted) and have just relaxed. I have the 7:00am Mass tomorrow so I think I’ll go to bed.