All Saints and All Souls (another late one)

I went to type and blog about this at the actual feasts of All Saints and All Souls, you know back in November, but for one reason or another I managed to forgot about it and am now revisiting it. I'm not editing it to fix the grammar to fit today's date, so I'm just going with what I have written.

Seeing as I wanted to blog about Fr. Brian's All Saints homily yesterday, and since we had our Mass of Remembrance tonight for All Souls I figured why not just blog about both. I look at All Saints as the celebration feast and All souls has the more somber remembrance feast. That being said I do like both celebrations but do realize that they are different yet very similar.

I was Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion at the 6pm Mass so I got to hear Fr. Brian's homily. It was a good homily filled with correct theology, as in he told us point blank many times during Mass that we are all to be saints and to live like the Saints. It is refreshing to hear someone say you'll be a saint and not oh you'll be an angel. No angels are creatures created by God to worship Him and praise Him.  Saints are awesome people who have gone before us and show us the way to get to Heaven.

So Fr. Brian's homily if I remember correctly has a few pointer in how to live like the Saints. He listed off ways to be a saint or things that the Saints have in common and those are joy, radiate the Light of God, being sinners, listening.  He went on to elaborate on each point, but I'm going to put my own spin on it as I don't remember fully what he said.  Fr. Brian spoke of how each saint is to have joy, that there are rules of engagement and that there's no cheating, I no longer remember what he was talking about; oops, but that is what happens when you let 2 months pass by without blogging.  He did speak about radiating the Light of God as in a happy marriage leads to a happy family or being a happy priests.  He spoke about how the saints are sinners, that they were not perfect and I think that most people forget that and stick Saints on a pedestal and expect them to be perfect, fact is that the Saints were human just like us and that means they were sinners just like us and made mistakes just like us too.  The only sinless people are Jesus and Mary, and I mean really how can anyone expect to be perfect.  ;)  I made a note on here that listening was mentioned twice, which means that was probably the point I needed to hear. The saints listened to God and tried to live out what He had planned for them, no matter what it cost them.

All Saints Day reminds us that we are all called to be saints, not angels or some other being, but a saint, who spends the rest of time with God in Heaven.


On All Souls day we had our annual Mass of Remembrance and I remember Fr. Martin, our pastor who normally isn't very fast with Mass. Which amuses me as in Ireland, where Fr. Martin is from, Mass is beyond fast.  Fr. Martin was very deliberate and slow with Mass, nothing was rushed, which is not to say that is what he normally does, it was just slower that his usual Masses.

I happened to serve as Extraordinary Minister as they needed more as we got a bigger crowd that expected, I was there as a member of the Hospitality Committee, as in I stood at a door and welcomed the people as they walked in; we also distributed the "Mass books" as in the handouts explaining what was going on . I don't remember much from the homily, but what I do remember was him saying the fest of All Souls is a happy occasion and the whole Mass at the graveyard and the blessing of the graves back in Ireland.  I found this strange as my mom earlier that morning that mentioned that as well.  Fr. Martin and my parents are from roughly the same part/section of Ireland, different counties but same area.  What has mainly stuck with me is that I could see the tears on his face when I went up as EMHC.  I didn't expect that as while our priests are allowed to show their emotions like most men (and some women) it's rare to actually see it.

Both feasts All Saints and All Souls are celebrations of life, life with God.  The saints are all (hopefully) where we hope to be; in Heaven with God. While the aspect of death can be scary it's nice to have something to look forward too.

Respect Life Sunday relfections

I started to work on this a while ago in October and just remembered that it was here in the edit pile, so I'm attempting to see what I remember out of it.

This past Sunday was Respect Life Sunday, it also happened to be the annual Communion Breakfast for the Rosary Society of which my mom is a member. So when she greeted me with, "but it's Fr. Geno" I couldn't really say no. Fr. Geno was the priest who ran the youth group while I was in high school and he has been quite influential in my life. FG, as he is more commonly known to me and others, happened to be saying the 8:30am Mass so I opted to go as breakfast followed Mass.

FG began Mass by talking about Msgr. Joseph Brestel, who served St. Anthony's as pastor and the Diocese on some level as well, though I am not 100% sure in what capacity he served on the Diocesan level. Msgr. Brestel who as Fr. Geno said "no matter how he felt or what his health was would get up and say Mass, this Mass each week." I had the privilege of becoming a reader and read at the 8:30 Mass and even in high school noticed how traditional Msgr. Brestel was, as in he was "old school" and said "pray brethren vs. pray my brothers and sisters" and even back then I liked that. Now I can see the graces that God gave me by placing this man in my life, and maybe I should start asking him for some prayers for the success of the new translations.

Knowing it was Respect Life Sunday, I was interested to see what the priests were going to talk about. Fr. Geno surprised me as I was expecting the classic younger priest with a soft hitting homily, and that is not what I got. I don't know if it's because FG and I have gotten older or if I just pay attention more to what is said than I did in high school. Fr. Geno's homily did focus on marriage and that is between one man and one woman. I don't remember the homily anymore, that's what happens when you let 2 and a half months go by with out blogging.

I picked up a fellow young adult and brought her to the Rosary Society Communion Breakfast, we were a touch annoyed that seats were assigned so that we couldn't sit next to each other but we worked around that. Fr. Geno was the guest speaker and spoke of how looking around the room he was reminded of how many people had lost loved ones since he was last at St. Anthony's. He mentioned that it is always hard for a priest to come back to a parish he has been at, as you're worried about who will be offended if you show up to something or not show up to something. He spoke about his new project that Bishop Serratelli lined up for him. It was a good explanation of the vow of obedience. Long story short Papa Arty sent Fr. Geno over to Rome for his doctorate and now Fr. Geno is in charge of the Diocesan office of Evangelization and the first and only Catholic evangelization center St. Paul Inside the Walls, a nice play on St. Paul Outside the Walls.

During his speech Fr. Geno reminded me of why I was attracted to him and youth group in high school. He knows how to reach out and bring someone to the Church. Maybe not in the traditional manner, but it works. More on FG in a later blog.

I might have been on as Extraordinary Minister at the 6pm Mass so that could explain why I was back for a second Mass. At the 6pm Mass Fr. Brian gave an excellent homily and I told him as much after Mass too. Fr. Brian had typed his homily and did not seem like his normal self, but that didn't stop the usual homily. (i know now why, all I'm saying is say a prayer for his overall health, nothing major, just a few extra prayers. Said health issue has been resolved, but he could still do with some prayers.)

Fr. Brian focused more on the marriage aspect than respect because as you know with marriage brings kids. Both priests mentioned the two becoming one though I think Fr. Geno focused more on it than Fr. Brian did. Fr. Brian does win for best line: "it's like chocolate and peanut butter, you put two different things together and get a resses peanut butter cup... chocolate and chocolate is still chocolate, it doesn't change or make something new" I paraphrased, but you get the point. He gave a few other similar examples. I thanked him after Mass for his homily and said, it's nice to hear it from the pulpit. He responded with something that I can't remember now, but it was along the lines of being a heavy hitter with the truth vs. being soft.

What stayed with me is that Fr. Geno seemed stronger in his defense of the Church than I would have expected from him while I was part of youth group. Granted he was newly ordained back then and I wasn't nearly as don't mess with the Church as I am now. Fr. Brian has only been ordained 5 years or so to Fr. Geno's 16, but both are around the same age and maybe that's the difference. We're all older, I tend to pay attention to what the priest had to say and making sure it's correct. ;) Either way I was happy with what I heard on Respect Life Sunday. :)

Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday

So now that it's almost a week away from Easter, I'll sit and blog about the homilies I heard. So I finished out the Triduum with the Vigil and was quite impressed with my new pastor. While not Fr. Brian's passionate take on the Eucharist and the Priesthood from Thursday night, it was a good homily. Fr. Martin and Fr. Brian are similar yet totally different.

Fr. Martin has seemed semi subdued in his homilies since arriving at the parish, however his homily from the Vigil caused me to remark "I think we got a glimpse of the real Fr. Martin tonight." It can not be easy for a man to pack his bags and leave everything he knew to come to a new country 41 years ago as was asked of Fr. Martin when he left Ireland to come to the States to serve the diocese as a priest, to be asked to do the same thing again shows how much the man loves the priesthood and reminds us of the vow of obedience. As I say the bishop says "jump" the priest responds with "how high?"

Fr, Martin started out his homily by telling us that he was strengthened in his own faith by us, the community of St. Anthony, coming out in great numbers on Palm Sunday, and the amount of people who came for the Triduum. The Church was not packed as it has been in the past but we did have a decent crowd at each of the sections of the Triduum. (Our parish is also 3 times the size if not 4 times the size of his old parish) Fr. Martin went on to thank those that help make the parish beautiful, the staff, Frank (who is in charge of the flowers and decoration of the church), music, servers, readers, Eucharist Ministers, and hospitality. Saved him from having the mention everyone at the end of the Mass, and it was nice to hear in the homily.

Fr. Martin went on to talk about those who have lost a loved one and how Easter is what reminds us that we are buried as a tired body, no soul... that death is a door way to the next life. He went into this by telling us a story of a 4 year old boy who was visiting the cemetery with his grandmother. As he started the story I turned to my friend Jerry and said oh "like Sean" as Fr. Martin mentioned that the young boy was running ahead of his grandmother. While running ahead of his grandmother the young boy stopped by a tombstone and started asking questions, "what's that, what does that say" The boy's grandmother explained that one part was the person's name, the other the date that person was born and the other date the day that person died. A bit further up the graveyard the young boy stopped at another tombstone and asked the same questions, the grandmother responded with the same answers expect this time, there was no date of death, this person was just thinking ahead. The little boy went home and was asked by his mother how he day was and the little boy answered with, "we went to the cemetery and there are people buried there that aren't even death yet." Of course the congregation laughed and
Fr. Martin moves on to how losing a loved one is hard and never easy but that we should remember that we are just a tired body when we are buried, that our souls go to Heaven to be with Jesus, Mary and the Saints, and saints.

Fr. Martin told a second story. He mentioned that we may not know but that he's a huge football fan and he spoke of how a few years ago, when the Giants weren't doing so well, some people took him to a game. He told of how he sat at the game surrounded by Giants fans and how he heard the Giant fans behind him cheering throughout the game. It was strange as the fans would cheer as the Giants would fumble the ball, which is of course not something you normally cheer for. Turns out that the fans behind Fr. Martin had their headphones on and were listening to the Yankee game and the Yankees were playing well in the playoffs. The church erupted in laughter. Fr. Martin finished up his homily with "in the same way that these fans were pumping their fists for their teams, we are to go and pump our fists for Jesus and proclaim that He is Risen."


So when Fr. Brian walked into the gym pumping his fist, I turned to Jerry and said, oh someone took last night's homily to heart. Fr. Brian looked at us like we were crazy but when we said, homily last night fist pumping, he laughed along with us. Easter Sunday was no different for Fr. Brian, he gave another kick ass homily. Like Fr. Martin he spoke of death and resurrection. Fr. Brian spoke of how Easter is reason death isn't bad. He started by having us take a moment of silence for those whom we knew who last in the last year, he had happened to lose his godmother this past year and his mom within 5 years. (Which makes me think that his mom died shortly after he was ordained, he speaks of how her proudest moment must have been when he was ordained, so she was alive for that.) Anyway, both homilies caused me to think of my friend, Katie, and how this would be her first Easter without her son, and then it made me think of her two aunts who had also lost children in the last two years.

After that reminder that Easter is what makes death not so bad, Fr. Brian focused on the Eucharist and that we should be there 52 Sundays not just Easter. He told us that Easter was the time to either commit or recommit to attending Sunday Mass. It was a very nicely put, get your ass to Mass, comment, and that is why I love Fr. Brian, he very nicely said to come to Mass, like you are supposed to. He tells you as it is and is offended if you don't agree.

He went on in his homily to speak about how at Easter "as the risk of sounding like a woman, I buy a new pair of shoes every year at Easter." Fr. Brian's shoes were nice and shiny so I assumed they were either polished or brand new. He spoke of how we should go get new shoes so that every time we put those shoes on we say, I'm going to be a better... priest, son, daughter, mother, father, friend, person. Fr. Brian then added in well in this economy maybe you can't afford new shoes, so get a new toothbrush and pray while brushing your teeth. Saying let no gossip or evil come out of my mouth.

The passion with which Fr. Brian speaks amazes me, like Archbishop Dolan (he's in my head because of his installation.) he is a happy man, a happy priest and that shows. With a last name of Sullivan, I'm assuming there is a fair bit of "Irishness" in him so he can be feisty you can say, but he always preaches to himself first and then the people. You will always hear him say, make me a better person, a better priest, us better people before he says ." make you a better person."

Fr. Brian's priesthood and personality have a tremendous gift to me, I just wish I was able to put it into words. I'm sure that Fr. Martin will have some influence on me in the coming years. I pray that both Fr. Brian and Fr. Martin are granted many years at St. Anthony's and that they continue to be great priests.

Holy Thursday 2009

My former pastor, Fr. George, and my current pastor, Fr. Martin, seem to be similarly minded when it comes to the Triduum. They each hand different parts of it to the vicars at the parish, both gave Fr. Brian the Mass of the Lord's Supper, Fr. George last year, and Fr. Martin this year. Much like last year Fr. Brian did not disappoint.

I have always liked Fr. Brian, and he just keeps getting better and better, I said many times I love him, and I truly do. Fr. Brian aka FB is one of the "later vocations" as in he was ordained at age 40 vs. age 25. He speaks simply and sincerely and doesn't hold back, he tells you to get your ass to Mass, not in those words but that's what he means,and he will say point blank this is what it's about, Mass is important.

It's been a few days since the homily so here's hoping the homily pointers I left myself will jog my memory. Fr. Brian started his homily by reminding us that Holy Week calls us to be holy, and that it allows us to ask what makes us holy, how can I be holy, why am I Catholic, what makes me Catholic, and how can I be Catholic. Each question can be easily answered by the Eucharist, and that's what Fr. Brian told us. He mentioned how do I stay Catholic, considering that we became Catholic at our Baptism, and I all I could think of was my Top Ten Reasons to STAY Roman Catholic t-shirt. I kept thinking is he going to mention my shirt, but he didn't he just answered all the questions with The Eucharist is what makes us Catholic and we need to live the Eucharist.

How does one live the Eucharist he asked or how does one be Catholic; by doing more than just showing up. Fr. Brian came right out and said how about you send a letter over to Fr. Jenkins at Notre Dame and tell him it's wrong to have a person speak at a Catholic college who think abortion is right. It goes against what we stand for. Fr. Brian put it much better, but the smile that came on my face as soon as he said send a letter to Fr. Jenkins had to be seen by him. If it would have been appropriate to stand up and cheer for a homily I think I would have. But Fr. Brian didn't just stop there he went on to tell us to defend marriage, true marriage between a man and a woman, and to defend traditional family life.

As I said last year the passion with which he speaks is amazing, and it's heartfelt. Fr. Brian went on the give examples of the priesthood and how our former pastor Fr. George gave of himself in many ways, most notably by giving a kidney to his sister Jeanine (who was at Mass that night with us vs. being at her brother's new parish, and by saying yes to the bishop. "It broke his heart to have to leave this parish, but he said yes like he has done throughout his priesthood." Without missing a beat Fr. Brian pointed out that Fr. Martin did the same thing by saying yes to the bishop and accepting the position at St. Anthony's. After 27 years Fr. Martin left his parish family and came to us, Fr. Brian of course added his humor into it by saying, he does have to live me with now and that's not easy.

Typical of Fr. Brian he does what the rubrics calls for, he preached on the Eucharist and the priesthood. He pointed out that each of the deacons have taken their own ministries up, be it baptismal prep, feeding the hungry, visiting the sick or welcoming people into Church and how they too are living their vocations.

Mass continued as normal for Holy Thursday. Fr. Brian likes things simple as he has pointed out to us, so that is how the washing of the feet happened. 12 people came forward after the 12 chairs were placed for them, Fr. Brian took of his chasuble and stole got down on his knees and washed feet. I don't remember if it was during his homily or if I read it somewhere, but I think it was during Fr. Brian's homily, where we were reminded that the King of Kings, the 2nd Person of the Holy Trinity got down on His knees and washed dirty smelly feet and we are called to Christ to others, we may not have to wash feet, but we need to be Christ to others. It was during Fr. Brian's homily that I heard it because I can hear him saying it.

It was a beautiful start to the Triduum, and I am truly blessed and quite happy to have such wonderful priests at my parish and in my life.

An Interesting Conversation

As I type the title of this blog I have the voice of the "polish priest" from my parish in my head. Fr. Marek came as a temporary vicar while we awaited the arrival of our new pastor. Msgr. Martin McDonnell came to be our pastor this past Thursday, the feast of St. Joseph. Fr. Martin, is off the boat Irish as in was born and raised in Ireland, in the county next to the one my mom is from, which means dad's county isn't too far away either. Oh the "million dollar" question is how long will Fr. Marek be with us. So far he's still here, and it's honestly strange to have 3 priests in the parish again. There were originally 3 priests at the parish when my parents and I moved in and shortly after that just two which is what we have had for a while now. Fr. Martin said the 12:05pm Mass on Monday and Tuesday, and I was beginning to wondering of Fr. Marek was still around, well he is, he said the 12:05pm Mass on Wednesday. He was greatly amused that Mary, myself, was reading on the feast of Mary. He gave a very short homily, with his accent and sitting in the first pew of the church, it was hard to understand it fully. For some reason our microphone system causes hearing issues, well more being able to understand the speaker fully issues, in the first 5 pews.

Anyway, I was walking out after Mass and Fr. Marek stopped to say hi and then asked about the retreat (our Women's Cornerstone retreat was over the weekend) how it went, how team is picked. Then he asked what I studied, and I said I was a religious studies major at Seton Hall and that I was thinking of going back either for theology, nursing, or taking a campus ministry position. Somehow the topic of me taking over youth ministry at the parish came up, I pointed out that our youth minister, Jen, is quite capable and does a good job. The topic of young adult ministry came up as well and I said Fr. George, our former pastor knew that was my soap box issues, I said I'd talk to the new pastor once he got settled instead of bombarding him with the issue right now. We continued on with how I was a part of the youth ministry program under Fr. Geno who is now in charge of Evangelization for the Diocese. The main point of that conversation was that Fr. Geno might know his stuff, which he does, but how with the letters STD (from Rome) after his name his statements hold more clout. I mentioned that I run into that all the time by not having my Masters degree. I was told to go study and get the letters after my name and that I should get young adult ministry started at my parish.

The rest of the conversation involved Fr. Marek asking me "who's the young strapping man that sits next to you at Mass?" I said oh that's Jerry, we do youth ministry together. Fr. Marek responded with, "oh just youth ministry, nothing more." I said no, Jerry's a junior at Seton Hall and has a girlfriend. Fr. Marek very quickly offered a "we'll have to get rid of her." I said no, I like her, she can stay. I nearly added that there is a young man closer to my age that I like, but I didn't. I went out to my car and texted Jerry because that story was just too funny.

However Fr. Marek's comments got me thinking, and my drive out to Harrisburg almost 2 weeks ago, a nearly 6 hour drive total will get you thinking, especially when you usually take that drive with your friend and discuss your life with her. It got me thinking of do I ask Fr. Martin to create a position for Confirmation and Young Adult Ministry or do I just let Confirmation fall under religious education. Our youth minister is currently the confirmation director as well, but she's a week away from having her first child, so I'm pretty sure she's only coming back for youth ministry next year. If I could somehow manage a way to get the Confirmation director position, added in with young adult ministry and well pro-life ministry, it could warrant a "full-time" salary with benefits, and maybe the diocese could pay for my Masters degree. My only issue is how do I ask my parish to pay me.

I always come up with great scenarios and then just let it bypass me or settle or something else. The more I try to get away from ministry the more I get pulled into it. After the retreat, and then having 8th graders ask me questions about the Passion of the Christ (Mel Gibson's version) and being able to answer then without missing a beat and just having the other "teachers" stare at me reminded that I do know what I'm doing. I just hate having to use a damn textbook to teach it. I don't want to settle for a DRE position, I'd kill the majority of the parents out there for not giving a damn about being Catholic. I don't blame the kids, it's hard to when Mom and Dad don't do crap to show them how to be Catholic. I have 8th graders who hardly know the traditional prayers of the Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory Be.

I hate when I get into this mood and don't know what to do with it. I'm reminded of how I wish to take the vocations stories of the priests that affected my life and put it into a book similar to Called by Name: The Inspiring Stories of 12 Men Who Became Catholic Priests by Dr. Christine Anne Mugridge, Jerry Usher.

I've been told I have a gift of writing. Fr. Brian heard my talk on the retreat and the first thing he said to me was "Catechism and personal stories, wow!" I've been giving retreat talks since I was in college, well high school, so it's almost second nature for me. I know it's a gift, I just wish I could use it more than I am.

Oh well I'm off to bed as I am going to visit my friend and her family in Albany today, about time my goddaughter got a visit from me.

Inauguration 2009

What I wouldn't give to be down in DC with a huge sign that says "you can't be CATHOLIC and PRO-ABORTION" Since I can't afford to be down there, I'll do the next best thing and post it on my blog.




I had hoped that the Bishops would have used this as a teaching opportunity, and I know that some of them did. My parish preached on FOCA this past weekend and Deacon George's homily was awesome. He started his homily by pointing out that he and his would be celebrating their anniversary on the 20th and how he unlike most men does not forget his anniversary. Deacon George said that this coming Tuesday there will be an historic Inauguration as the first African American will be sworn in as President. Deacon George pointed out that he is praying for President-elect Obama and that he hopes and prays that Obama does not start his presidency off on the wrong foot by passing FOCA. I had a feeling the good deacon was going down this road when he mentioned the 20th, and I've know Deacon George for about 15 year as his son and I were in our parish youth group together, I knew I wouldn't mind where he was going with his homily. I actually thanked him after Mass.

Deacon George took a page out of Fr. George book and did the whole "well George, why are you going down this slippery slope" question followed by his answer. His answer had tears of joy in my eyes. I was so happy to hear someone from the pulpit say defeat FOCA, and his reason just added to it. Deacon George pointed out that this so called "freedom of choice" act has no choice in it. He pointed out that Catholic hospitals, doctors and nurses would be forced to go against their morals to perform abortions. He pointed out that our tax dollars would be used to pay for abortions. He pointed that we as Catholics (he's learned from Fr. Brian to just say Catholics vs. Catholic Christians) have to listen to Jesus' call in the Gospel to stand up and defend what is right and moral, and that means life from conception to death. Deacon George is also the director of the local funeral home, he is very good at both jobs, deacon and funeral director. I don't remember the fully, but I can probably get a copy from him. He did mention the March and the parish prayed for those of us who will be attending the March and we prayed for President-Elect Obama and the other officials in this country to have a respect of life from natural conception to natural death. There is more to the pro-life movement than defending the unborn, and I am fully aware of it. It just pains me that we have elected 2 men who think "terminating" a baby is a woman's choice.

I have watched my friend Bridget's current pregnancy (mainly because we have a standing dinner/tv date) and it is amazing to watch her little girl kick the remote that sits atop her mom's belly. Interestingly enough when we talk about Obama, the little girl inside her mother's uterus kicks and kicks alot, we say oh there she goes, she doesn't like him, well he does think it's ok to kill someone in her position so I'd be kicking to say "hey I'm here don't forget about me." That little girl has nothing to worry about her parents have been married 4.5 years and the oldest in the family is 3.5 years old and baby #4 is growing nicely inside her mom.

Mr. Biden, I ask as a Catholic citizen in the US, that you re-think your stance on abortion and that one day you will return into full Communion with the Church. For now I will stand in prayer with the protesters who will be at the Inauguration and pray for the safety of this country most especially the unborn.

Christmas and the Feast of the Holy Family

A few weeks back my parish was greeted with the news that our pastor is being transferred to another parish as of Feb. 2nd. Considering that when the 6 year mark came up and Fr. George heard nothing we all assumed, including Fr. George, that we would have him for another 6 years. Alas the good Bishop said move and Fr. George as he has throughout his priesthood said, yes. We're losing a great pastor and priest, but as he says one never truly leaves as we'll be in his prayers and he hopes we continue to pray for him.

Anyway, this news added a certain twist to Christmas this year. For me Christmas just didn't seem like Christmas, I wasn't into it as I normally would. Granted getting sick with a stomach bug on the 23rd didn't help matters. As a result my mom didn't have her actual presents just some silly gifts as I call them, usable gifts, but not her actual gifts. I don't know it just didn't seem like Christmas.

Typical of myself I sign up to serve at Extraordinary Minister at the 4:15pm Mass, our overflow Mass for the 4pm in the actual Church and as EM at the 10:30 for the Choir. Fr. Brian likes to call the 4:15 the "no room at the inn Mass." I had a feeling that since this would be the last time Fr. George would be able to say the "gym Mass" that he would have be saying it. I got to hear his homily twice as my family goes to our "Midnight Mass" at 10:30pm, and as pastor, Fr. George had main celebrant rights. One of these days I'll get back to an actual Midnight Mass at midnight.

Fr. George's homily had a visual aid this year, a signing statue of the Grinch from Dr. Suess' How the Grinch stole Christmas. The homily started out with Fr. George telling us about his 7th grade CCD class and him trying to think of a way to do something special for Christmas, so they watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas, his favorite Movie and out came the Grinch who is a special one, he happens to dance to "You're a mean one Mr. Grinch." Now that Fr. George had everyone's attention he got into the meat and potatoes of his homily. He spoke of the different "grinches" we have in life, with the 3 main ones being greed, violence, and secularism. Each grinch had a person in the Nativity scene to look up to and try to change, as we're called to bring the Grinch to Christ. The first was to bring the Grinch of greed to Mary, as our Blessed Mother gave all that she could, especially with her yes to be God's mother. The next was the Grinch of Violence was to look to St. Joseph has he wanted no violence against Mary when she was found with child. The Grinch of Secularism was to be shown the shepherds and 3 Kings as these men gave what they could to God and brought Him to others.

Fr. George spoke about having sorrows in our lives and that they might not make Christmas happy, but that Christ is the light in the darkness. Overall it was a good homily and he spoke slightly longer at the "Midnight" Mass than at the 4:15 but over all the basic idea was that we are to bring the Grinch and others to Christ. That the Christ-child came for us and that we are to bring Him to others with our actions and lives.

So that was Christmas, the Feast of the Holy Family was an exciting day at the parish. As I was getting ready to go to Mass my mom calmly mentions that "Mass is in the gym." WHAT WHY? was my reaction, seeing as I only do "gym Masses" for the High Holy days of Christmas and Easter, I don't like not being in the actual Church. I got the short version of the story from my mom...

"Fr. Brian heard a pop while saying the Gospel" and then someone said fire, so Masses were moved to the gym. You'll probably get the story over there." I said ok, I'll probably will. So the story as told by Fr. George during his homily that Sunday was this...

As is Fr. George's custom he was in the church to greet the people going to the 7am Mass, he and Fr. Brian noticed that the bells weren't working so Fr. George said, I know how to fix this, I'll just reboot the system. Fr. George rebooted the system and said, oh good no more problems today. 10 minutes later as he was sitting in his office in the rectory he hears and sees Fr. Brian running through the rectory saying, I think he might have been shouting, "George there's a fire in the church." Now, the image of Fr. Brian in full vestments sprinting into the rectory is amusing and a few of smiled, but Fr. George added to it by saying that one of the parishioners swears they saw Fr. Brian hop the altar. So now I have an image of Fr. Brian in essence high jumping the altar in full vestments, I must say I did a good job of controlling my laughter, as it was a serious situation that we were talking about. What is believed to have happened is that while Fr. Brian was holding the Book of the Gospels he hear a pop from behind him and a few seconds later someone said "fire." We believe the pop was either the light on top of the manger exploding or something going wrong with the electrical wires on the Christmas trees.

Thankfully no one was hurt, Fr. Brian and a few of the parishioners (who happen to be firefighters) got the fire under control and some of the people at Mass thought to take the hand crafted Italian (read expensive) statues that make up the Nativity scene with them as they left. There was a fair bit of smoke damage done to the Church, she needs a paint job, but amazingly so that's all that got damaged, well and a Christmas tree, and the lamb statues each lost an ear but they were fixed and are now back in the Church.

Back about 12 years ago the church building was restored, well renovated and I remember Fr. Geno telling us that if "God forbid the church was to catch on fire it would be gone in a few minutes." I believe that was because of the "paint" that was used, as there was paper or something in it, anyway it's truly amazing that the church building only sustained smoke damage, it just looks dirty.

As was pointed out during Fr. George's homily the parish family came together quickly to help out and to adjust to what was happening that weekend. If the fire happened at any other time who knows what would have happened. The other Masses are usually packed, the 7am is our "no smells no bells" Mass, meaning it's the Mass without music on the weekend, so you never know what would have happened. As Fr. George said thank God it happened while someone was in the Church and thank God no one got hurt and that we have very little damage done to the Church.

Fr. George in his homily on the Feast of the Holy Family spoke of how we are family in many way, we have the human family that comes together when it needs to, with such examples of Sept. 11th and Hurricane Katrina and other such natural disasters, a parish family that came together in many ways this past year with our Jubilee celebration and with the fire, and of course we have our immediate families. In the shortest homily I have ever heard or seen Fr. George give, he got the message of yes we have our own families to care for, but there is much more to a family than that, we are a family as Children of God and we are called to care for each other.

Fr. George ended his homily by returning to his seat and telling us to mark our calendars as this was his shortest homily given.

This link shows the Beacon's story on us, the color pictures are better than the black and white ones. I didn't take any pictures of the Christmas altar this year, I will take some on Sunday when I am there and post them, but I think I might have one from last year if not I know I have the manger scene.

Real Men wear pink

That's what Fr. Brian told us at Mass today, and I couldn't help but laugh as I hear a comment along those lines almost every time a priest wears his "pink" or rose vestments. We had a member of the Salesian sisters talk to us today about the retirement fund collection. For a woman asking for money, she was quite entertaining and I was disappointed in myself that I had left my envelops (for the parish and the retirement fund) at home, but I'll drop them in the basket next week. Sister spoke after Fr. Brian gave us a short homily, not his shortest as that was his Exaltation of the Cross homily, none the less his homily was good as usual. I don't remember all of it as I suffered trough Bible study right after. Normally one doesn't expect to hear suffer and Bible Study in the same sentence, but alas for me the Bible study I was supposed to help run, has now become some time for me to the classic "offer it up" prayer of a Catholic.

Anyway back to Fr. Brian's homily, he spoke if his annual trip to the local mall, Garden State Plaza, and how how felt "loved" and "needed" as he past by the kiosks in the mall hallways. I almost asked him if he was in uniform aka wearing his collar, I was close, but not close enough to actually ask him, nor do I have the guts to ask a question in the middle of one's homily. I take it that he wasn't in his collar, because he pointed out that as a woman at one of the kiosks said to him something along these lines, "you're handsome, would you let me exfoliate your head." Fr. Brian's response was "for goodness sakes leave me alone I'm a priest." The woman's comment is made funnier as Fr. Brian is bald. Fr. Brian continued to point out some of the things he saw or heard at the mall, and the young man behind me and I were laughing because he works at said mall and I worked at the mall, so we knew all too well as did most of the people in the Church what Fr. Brian was talking about.

Fr. Brian pointed out that these people will only "love" us until the 25th but that God will and does love us long beyond that. That was the basic point of his homily, that God loves no matter what. I don't want to confuse what Fr. Brian said with what was said in Bible study, so I'm going to stop there as mentioning Bible study will set me off on a rant.

Exaltation of the Cross

Today we got a homily that "11 words long." Fr. Brian came forward to give him homily and simply asked "how much does Jesus love you"... Fr. Brian walks over to the pulpit and picks up a crucifix (Fr. Brian gives him homilies from the middle of the altar) and says "Jesus loves you this much." Fr. Brian placed the crucifix on a podium-like column and says "please kneel" the entire congregation kneels while on the organ is played Were You There. After about 2.5 verses Fr. Brian stands up and continues on with Mass.

Fr. Brian placed the focus on the Cross, what more could you ask for on the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross.

Get Behind me Satan! *updated*

So the title of this comes from the Gospel from Sunday Aug. 31st, it was the continuation of the Gospel from the week before. The idea of St. Peter being so good one day and so bad the next as always amused me, as well it really does sum up how must of us are. I was once told to read the Passion, and watch Jesus of Nazareth (the movie) during Holy Week to "make up" for what I thought was a "bad Lent" and to see whom I was most like. Sometimes I say Mary because of my name, but almost always when I think about it, I'm Peter. We all are, one day I can say OK JESUS, and the next day unfortunately deny Jesus, but when it comes down to it and it matters I say THAT'S RIGHT I'M WITH JESUS.

Interestingly the word deny comes up in the Gospel. "Deny one's self, take up your cross and follow me" are the words of Jesus we hear. Recently I've been leaning towards wishing to hear Fr. Brian's homilies, but Fr. George did a good job with this one. I laughed when the homily started because Fr. George did his typical joke to get everyone to pay attention and because I said to myself "I didn't read Fr. Jim's homily before Mass this week, must mean this one will be decent." It's usually true that if I read Fr. Jim's homily via his blog before I go to Mass that the one at St. A's is lacking. Fr. George's was decent, it didn't blow me out of the water, but honestly most don't.

Fr. George focused on the aspect of deny one's self which leads many times to taking up a cross that was expected yet unexpected and finally it all leads to following Jesus. I remember Fr. George saying that deny one's self meant we didn't need all the material possessions that we so often want and "need." He spoke about how when we deny ourselves something that we can gain from in. In denying one's self one is to cling to Jesus, hence why this line usually get quoted by people. Fr. George mentioned at one point and I remember this because I'm usually surprised when he touches upon the topic of "pro-life" activities from the pulpit. He spoke about how taking up one's cross means going against the tide in some cases and while those are not his exact words, it did make me think of the election and the "pro-life" movement. It was a basic stand up for what you believe in type homily, which I guess I need reminding of everyone once in a while.

The week before I happened to have Fr. Brian at Mass, and it tells you something that nearly 2 weeks later I still remember the homily. I happened to be sitting in the first pew, which I haven't done since my days at Seton Hall. I felt a little too close to the presider's chair, but alas that wasn't too big of a deal. The week before August 24th was the Gospel where Jesus commends Peter for knowing who He is and getting it right. Jesus does add in, this was revealed to you, which it is. Fr. Brian tied this into the apostolic succession and the succession of St. Peter to the current Pope. I remember Fr. Brian speaking about Humane Vitae and how we should read what the popes have written especially the current Holy Father and the last one. I laughed as Fr. Brian said that because I have read the writings of JP2 and I am currently reading Jesus of Nazareth by PB16 (as Fr. Brian calls him)and was reading Humane Vitae. Fr. Brian spoke of how Paul VI's document was prophetic in essence and he went on to point out 3 passages about how if artifical contraception was allowed that the country would do down hill, well as Fr. Brian put it, "I think he (Pope Pius VI) hit that one on the head.

What makes Fr. Brian's homily so interesting is that later on that night while a good friend and I were watching TV our other good friend called us to complain about the homily she got. (Side note the 3 of us earned the nickname unholy- holy trinity, as the 3 of us were RCIA sponsors and well for the most part inseparable in college) Any way my friend's homily was about how there were three major mistakes in the Church: Galileo, the Crusades, and Humane Vitae. I turned to my friend who was watching tv with me when I head her repeat what she heard and I said, oh no way, let me tell you about my homily.

At one church you have a good holy priest speaking about how Humane Vitae was a great document and that we need to read what the Popes have written and to listen to what they say, while at another you have a deacon who speaks of how the same document was a giant mistake in the Church.

This is why people don't know what to do, or what to believe. It amuses me that on on the same day these homilies were given that Nancy Pelosi was stepping in the largest pile of crap she could find. Props to the bishops who have used this as a teaching moment and those that continue to do so. It saddens me when people don't know or fully understand the Church that they were raised in, let alone ordained to a ministry in. People are confused because they can hear two different things and nothing is said as to whom is right. Thankfully the bishops came out and defended the Church and Her teachings.

May St. Peter continue to pray for us as we need it.

Some wickedly great homilies!

Over on Fr. Jim's blog there's a pretty good homily for today! Fr. Brian over at St. Anthony's had a good homily too, which is usually the case. Fr. Brian tied right into the whole "proud to be Catholic and proud to be American" aspect of the weekend. Humility-generosity-charity more to come on this in a little while!

Corpus Christi

Fr. Brian's homily was wicked awesome on the feast of "The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ" which sounds so much nicer in Latin Corpus Christi. Father started his homily off by giving us stories from his childhood that evoked summer, as it was the "unofficial" beginning of summer this past weekend. The first story told how Fr. Brian had heard the Good Humor truck going by signing it's usual song, he continued with how it brought back memories of when he was a child and he would tell his brother "you stop the truck, I'll get the money." Now to get the money that his father had up high so the kids wouldn't get it, Fr. Brian as a child would have to climb up on a chair and then stand on the arm of the chair to actually reach the money on top of the dresser. The congeration gave it's approval of the story by laughing when necessary.

The next story was about how when driving one day, he smelt the familiar smell of a BBQ, which officially meant summer was here or at the very least warm weather was here. Fr. Brian went on to say, these things bring good thoughts and memories to us. The next example he gave was simply, "Sunday Mass" and he was greeted with what he expected the "no Mass doesn't bring warm happy fuzzy feelings to me." Fr. Brian must have missed my ear to ear grin, because I love Sunday Mass, anyway, Father said point blank, "well it should bring happy thoughts to you."

Fr. Brian continued by saying that, "Mass, Eucharist, is the single most important thing we do each week." Again many just stared at him, and I sat there with an even bigger grin than before, because here was a priest ordained literally 5 years and 1 day telling people point blank this is why we're Catholic, this is the most important thing you do each week.

I don't remember all of his homily, but I do remember the passion that was in the homily, the fire that was in his words, to the point where he was chastising the congregation but not really. Fr. Brian reminded us to not be a spectator, and it reminded me of the shirt that says Catholicism: not a spectator sport. Since Easter Fr. Brian has been asking us to bring a friend to church, if possible bring someone who's away from the Church back home. He reminded us that Mass does not change from week to week simply because it doesn't need to. As Fr. Brian put it Jesus just may be perfect and doesn't need to change, maybe it's us that needs to change. We need to be open to what happens at the Eucharistic table.

Fr. Brian finished with "some day Christians will unite," and then he quoted from John's Gospel which also was the Gospel of the day, "Jesus said, 'Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood you shall not have life within you." As I heard the Gospel proclaimed I thought, Man I should have worn my Top 10 reasons shirt. I know I don't need a shirt to remind me why I'm Catholic I just like the looks I get when I wear my crazy Catholic shirts.

Fr. Brian told us to come back each week to feed our souls, the beginning of his homily dealt with death and souls, and he beautifully moved into the Eucharist being food, nourishment for our souls. We were told to mess with our friends or someone who asks us what our favorite food was by answering "I'm Catholic, my favorite food is the supernatural bread and wine for my soul, oh yeah and hamburgers too." Of course he got the chuckle from the pews, but it's true, Jesus should be our favorite food.

I knew from once I met Fr. Brian that I liked him, I change that now to I love him. He has yet to give me a crappy homily, and he's personable, you can talk to him, he'll ask you questions, and he takes such care of his sacred vessels and the Communion particles after he receives that it makes me tear up with tears of joy.

I've always been a Eucharistic-ly orientated person, this was brought to my attention during my time as SHU when I would sit weekly at Adoration. However, Adoration is not what made me appreciated being Catholic. One Easter I let my friend Matt, a Protestant, join my family for the celebration as SHU was quite picky about closing and when one had to be back, so Matt decided that going home to New Hampshire wasn't an option, so I said come to my place, as residents had to be off campus. Since I had taken Matt to Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday services for the Tridium and again on Easter Sunday, I decided I would return the favor by attending a service with him when we returned to SHU. So one Sunday morning we walked down the street to the church he went to while at school. Matt pointed out to me all the Catholic things I wanted to do, like bless myself, genuflect, and whatnot. I never questioned leaving the Catholic Church, I did question why I went to Mass, but I would never just stop going to Mass. The service that I went to with Matt was missing something, they sang songs, read from the Bible and prayed, but something was missing. I went to Mass that night and as soon as I walked into the Chapel I thought, that's what was missing, JESUS, Jesus was missing from that church. Literally, He was missing, there was no True Presence in that Church. I went to Mass that night so grateful to be Catholic.

We are doing as Jesus told us in John's Gospel and yes it seems weird that Jesus basically told us, "eat me", but that's what makes it a mystery, we won't understand it, and as Fr. Geoff said on the feast of the Most Holy Trinity, if I can explain the mystery of the Trinity to you, I'm doing you a great disservice. The same can be said for the Eucharist, I can't explain how it happens, I can tell you "in persona Christi" until I'm blue in the face, but we'll never understand it until we are in Heaven celebrating the best Mass ever!

I am proud to be Catholic and to believe in the Eucharist, and by the grace of God may that never change!

Thanks, giving, oops and wow

Those are the four types of prayer according to Fr. Brian in his wonderful homily this Sunday.

Thanks: thank you God for...
Giving: give me____ God
Oops: forgive me Lord for...
Wow: Wow God

Fr. Brian told us he would speak about Prayer and the Eucharist and like usual it was an awesome homily. In my years of actually paying attention to the homilies, meaning from College on, I have yet to find a priest like Fr. Brian where I actually remember his homilies. Fr. Bill comes in at a close second, Fr. George is slowing dropping in the ranks, but he is still up there.

Fr. Brian had a great tie-in of Prayer and Eucharist and First Holy Communion. It is so easy to see that he is a man of prayer and how much he cares for the Eucharist. Watching him "clean" his paten after consuming Jesus is a joy, he takes the time to wipe the particles into the ciborium and is just simply a joy to watch celebrate Mass.

more to come when I don't have 500 things on my mind, such as "it is wrong that all the jobs I might be qualified for, are not appealing to me."

Although "jobs are not appealing to me" is still on my mind along with other things, I decided to continue my thoughts on Fr. Brian's homily from 5/4/08.

I went to Mass on Sunday half expecting to hear the same homily I got last week on the Lion King and Jesus, I was thankful to see that Fr. Brian had the Noon Mass. That meant I was getting Fr. Brian homily, and I love his homilies. Fr. Brian spoke about the mentioned types of prayer, which he "came up with" on his own, and tied each one of them into the Mass. He was thankful for the kids making their First Holy Communion, for being at Church for his family, for the church of St. Anthony's, for Mass. Next came the "give me" prayers you know give me this, give me that, followed by the oops I made a mistake prayers. When speaking about the oops prayer Fr. Brian said, "not one of is ever far enough away that we can't come back to the Church." I may not have gotten it word for word, but his point was/is that not one of us is perfect that we all make mistakes, and we can all come back to the Church. This point should have been taken by some of the people, I was going to say parents, but that's too judgmental, in attendance, as it was obvious that some had not been to Mass in quite some time. The last section of prayer was the wow prayer, where Father pointed out the simple wow factor of prayer. He almost at once moved in to the Eucharist being the ultimate form of prayer.

How right he is, the Eucharist, the celebration of Mass is the "best prayer" we have. To hear the words "best prayer" and "Eucharist" come out of a priests mouth makes me want to jump for joy. I'd jump for a job too like I almost wrote. I wish I remember the actual ending of the homily because I thought, that was awesome! Fr. Brian continued on with the rest of Mass, coaching as necessary for those that hadn't been to Church/Mass in a while. I remember thinking, "oh good he didn't use the dumbed down version of the Eucharistic prayer." as he began the Eucharistic prayer. It irks me that people assume children can't understand the "big" words that are used in the Eucharistic prayer. I've heard the same prayers over and over again, did I get them at first as a child, no I probably didn't, but I still knew what happened when the priest said the words of the Consecration.

Fr. Brian has a very no nonsense style when it comes to saying Mass and I love it. Some priests like to ad-lib some of the words of the prayer, and for the most part it's ok, it won't kill me to think of it a different way, but Fr. Brian does not or at least very rarely deviates from the Rubrics. I can't put into words what this means to and for me. I am utterly speechless when it comes to describing my feelings about it. It's nice to not feel like the lone "conservative" on the Liturgy Committee anymore. I know that whether or not we actually say something, that for the most part we are thinking the same way.

Fr. Brian arrived to St. A's in September, that December I opted to go to the "new one" for Confession, Lent came and I let Confession slide, but the Cornerstone retreat took care of that and after much deliberation in my head about whether to go to Fr. George or Fr. Brian I chose Fr. Brian, and I am glad I have chosen him. I don't know why but I feel like Fr. George has stopped caring about what I have to say. Depending on the event or Mass Fr. George makes a point to say hi, Fr. Brian on the other hand will throw in a comment or two. Take the Easter Vigil when Fr. Brian told me I looked beautiful. Not the first time I've had an ordained man tell me I'm beautiful, but it still amuses me. It reminds me that they are human and well so am I. ;)
Fr. George typical of a guy didn't notice when I highlighted my hair, or if he did, he didn't say anything. Fr. Brian asked if I had changed my hair, I responded with yes, and if Fr. George wasn't in the room and if I knew Fr. Brian a bit better would have shot back a hair comment to bald man. Fr. Brian like Fr. Kevin takes the time to see what's going on. He'll remind me that he's praying for whatever I need. Fr. Brian reminds of why I like St. Therese, said, "if only I was a boy, then my vocation would be easy, I'd be a priest." Fr. Brian is one of the many good guys out there and I hope we get to hang on to him for awhile at St. A's, we need him.

Ascension Thursday

You know it's a good homily when I have to blog right away about it. Fr. Brian gave a wicked homily for the Ascension, quoting "P B 16" as he calls him. I don't know if I can do that yet, it's too close to JP2, but it's growing on me. Anyway, Fr. Brian spoke of a story involving two college softball teams and a tremendous story of what the atlethic word call sportsmanship and what the normal world would call being nice and what a Christian calls being Christ to others.


Go check out the link http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/columns/story?columnist=hays_graham&id=3372631

I will eventually cut and paste the story, but for now I'm being lazy. I will also add in the quote from Papa B16 that Padre Brian used. It was a comment the Pope made about the Ascension and how we enter Jesus when we enter Heaven. I am doing it no justice, I'm just putting in some key words so I can find it later on. I e-mail Fr. Brian and asked where he got the quote from.

Speaking of Papa B16, his speeches and homilies from his trip to the US are quite easy to read and digest, which I did not expect!

Latin Mass

My parish had a Latin Mass last Saturday in honor of our 100 years of being in existence. It as a wonderful experience to have old school meet new school. Thanks to Pope Benedict we're allowed to have Latin Masses said in a non Latin Mass church. I attempted to take pictures, but I felt strange as no one else expect the "official" photographer for our Jubilee was taking pictures. I did find the comments from the people afterwards quite amusing. Most of then expected to remember more of the Latin and I would turn and say oh I was surprised at how much I knew. The looks of why does a 28 year old know Latin would ensue and I would explain that studied Latin in college and that this wasn't my first Latin Mass.

I loved it, and despite the many "I don't want to go back to this" comments I heard, I wouldn't mind bringing back parts of the Mass, like how Communion was received, it was so much easier to receive on one's tongue while kneeling vs. standing. I was quite impressed that I could follow along with the Latin side of the program they gave us. Maybe it's my weekly Extraordinary Minister of the Eucharist duties that are finally getting to me, but it was nice to just sit and enjoy Mass vs. having to jump over people to get out to distribute Communion.

Even though we are a Novus Ordo church the women coming to the Mass were asked to wear something on their head. I wore my big purple shawl that also covered the top part of me. I wasn't wearing it on my head when I walked into the Church and some guy in attendance gave me a look, I placed it on my head once I got settled. I might have also gotten the look because I was one of very few "young people" at the Mass. Considering it was a Saturday afternoon Mass I was impressed with how well dressed the majority of people in attendance were. I think I saw two women wearing jeans, everyone else was in skirts, or dress pants and nice tops, most of the men were in pants, shirts, and jackets. I wonder what happens when these same people go to Mass on Sunday.


As you will see in this picture our church still has it's "back altar" in place, and when the comment "I wonder if they will want the back altar" was made to our liturgy committee last Monday I responded with "knowing the fraternity they will want the back altar." I nearly said, what else would they use, but I know better than to be sarcastic with my pastor in those cases. I do find it amusing that the conversation was pretty much ended once I added my comment in.
The altar was very nicely decorated, well undecorated as we had to take the flowers down and honestly the altar is gorgeous on it's own. The tabernacle which is covered by a white cloth, I apologize for not knowing the technical name, and don't feel like looking it up at the moment, is the tabernacle that we use on a daily basics, so it was nice to see it used like this too. As you can see we are still decorated for the Easter season, and normally the back altar has flowers on the top part of it. The altar we normally use is the one in the front. Fr. Brian, our parochial vicar made a comment when we were discussing that the back altar would probably be used and it amused me, while it annoyed others. The comment was "the altar is not a flower holder." I love my vicar and would have loved to see him partake in this Mass, but the Holy Father trumped and he was in attendance with a few teens from the parish at the Papal Youth Rally. I don't think the comment was directed at how our church is normally decorated, I think he was simply stating what the priest from the Fraternity of St. Peter would say and honestly it's true and people need to stop getting their panties in a bunch. I also find it strangely amusing that I was the only one from the committee at the Mass, and that is simply because I got tickets to the Papal Mass on Sunday.


Fr. Joesph Howard FFSP, from the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter was the main celebrant of the Mass, considering this is the Mass he says on a regular basis. Our pastor, Fr. George is on the side and I was excited to see him in full cassock and to have his biretta with him. While I have no idea what Fr. Howard was saying or doing at this point, I was able to follow the Schola Cantorum while they chanted. It was a high Mass which was great and I found the way Fr. Howard incensed the altar interesting, ovbiously he couldn't walk around the whole altar like the Novus Ordo Mass allows, but he stopped at the ends and incensed it there. I don't know why I found it so interesting, but I did.

I enjoyed watching Msgr., hence the red on the cassock and biretta, aka Fr. George partake in the Mass because he had to take the biretta on and off and carry it in. Again the simpliest things amuse me and keep me entertained. The young man, the altar boy, next to him was telling us when to sit and stand, that really amused me because at most "big" Masses it's Fr. George doing that. I must add that while I don't have a picture of him, there was one young altar boy who my mom and I both commented on how well he knew what he was doing. I also noticed how reverent this young man was especially when incensing the priest, servers and the rest of the people. I hope that he has a vocation, because that is what I thought when I saw him. I also found it interesting that Fr. George put his stole on for the Eucharistic prayer and took it off if I remember correctly before he went to receive Communion. Fr. George was the second person to receive Communion, the first being Fr. Howard, and Fr. George had to kneel directly in front of Fr. Howard who was directly in front of the tabernacle. Quite an impressive and humbling site.

Fr. Howard during the homily re-read the readings in English and spoke on the traditions of why the reading were picked and explained how we would receive Communion at the rail in front of the Blessed Mother statue, on our knees and on our tongues. I did find it amusing that the picture of Benedict 16th was also placed on that side and if it wasn't for him, the Latin Mass would not have been at our parish as Fr. Howard pointed out. It's also appropriate that it was the Fraternity that said the Mass as they began at the request of then Cardinal Ratzinger.

In this last picture Fr. Howard could be reading the Last Gospel, I'm not a hundred percent sure. Either way it's a great picture of how awesome his vestments are.


Over all the Mass was a great experience, and the only thing that was missing was the people's responses being in our booklet. While those like my parents would remember them, those like me who very rarely have been to a Latin Mass didn't know them. I told Fr. Howard that I know his chapel well because I know a family that goes there and we had a small discussion on how I know them. I dare say some Sundays I may find myself up at Our Lady of Fatima for Mass. There was food afterwards and there was also older vestments on display. The vestments compared to today's are impressive, there was so much detail put into them and it's no wonder that Papa B16 is leading us back to them. To have a Latin Mass one day and then a Papal Mass with the creed in Latin the next day made for an awesome and unforgettable weekend.

Cornerstone retreat

So this past Friday night and all day and night Saturday was my parish's women's cornerstone retreat. I don't know what to think of it. It was a retreat and a decent one at that, I just hear the words "you're beyond it" played over and over in my head. See last year MaryKay, my parish's pastoral associate told be point blank to not go on the retreat because "you're beyond it" so that made the tugging on my heart take a backseat until it rolled around this year and I said at the last possible minute I'm gonna go. After all it's a retreat, even it's one of the worst retreats I've been on, at least I can help them market it to my age group, bottom line a retreat is a retreat, you almost always get something out of it.

Not knowing what to expect except a lot of familiar faces from the "older" members of the church, I was honestly quite nervous about going. Interestingly enough all the candidates had a similar feeling. It being a women's retreat and with all the hormones in the room, it made for a weepy weekend. It was a roller coaster of emotions with all the witness talks, the Sacrament of Confession, and having one of the candidates mother die while we were on retreat. (Her mom was sick and in the process of dying and would have been 90 in September, so it was expected, but still caused a bunch of emotions in everyone else who didn't know about it.)

Typical of the "whoo-hoo Jesus loves me" retreats there was plenty of reassuring that Faith and God will help you through your life and what not. Also typical of these retreats are letters from home or in our case the parish, and knickknacks to remind you of the talks. I've never really been a big fan of these types of retreats and it was honestly hard for me to be in candidate mode vs. team member. Fr. Brian, who is quickly becoming one of my favorite priests, even told me to not use that as an excuse. Fr. Brian plays a big part in the weekend for me, but more on him later. Cornerstone follows the traditional route of a SEARCH retreat or at least that it reminded me of. So my thoughts were going to be loving yet critical, yet critical isn't the right word, because it has such a negative stereotype around it.

My thoughts are going to seem scattered and that's because they are, but I might as well start from the beginning. Cornerstone is marketed to the women of the parish, via announcements at Mass, and by some members of team giving a 2 minute talk on it at the Masses about a month before the actual retreat. Needless to say it wasn't the marketing strategy that won me over to go on the retreat, the constant reminder of it might have helped. As it was I waited until the last possible moment to hand my form it. Actually my dad handed it in to the rectory and somehow it was placed in the wrong box and by chance they, the team, found it the Thursday before the retreat. I don't ask, I just chalk that one up to a bit of some spiritual warfare, and I'll leave it at that, with God winning as usual.

So the time came to go on the actual retreat which takes place at the parish, well in the school. Thankfully we have a youth ministry room which is across the hall from the cafeteria, and a gym. The youth room offered itself as the actual retreat room where all the talks, small group sharing and large group discussion took place. In my humble opinion it was too much time spent in such a small room, well it's not small, but it's not as massive as a gym either. I didn't understand why they had the sound system set up for the talks, I have yet to use a microphone in that room, and everyone seemed to hear me just fine. So I think we could do without the microphone, it would also allow for more animation from the speaker. Seeing as they were constantly adjusting it, I don't see a need for it, but that's just me.

In doing as many retreats as I have for as long as I have, my brain went right to how can I make this better. Yes as Fr. Brian and I discussed I am a perfectionist, and I have to be right all the time, it's a fault and well I'm working on it. The witness talks, while good seemed to have two personalities, those that practiced and those that didn't. For someone who is as well versed in public speaking as I am, I tend to notice things like transitions, speed of speech, and well other little things like that. This is something I can help out with should I "discern" to be on team. Each witness talk picks a song, and they were all classic cheesey songs, even the theme song was cheesey. I know I've been graced with an array of Christian music artists, but I also know how to take a secular song by a band like U2 and give it a Christian meaning, actually I would just take most of Matt Maher's works and use them. He is wickedly talented, and Catholic! I walked in to hear a song we used when I was in high school a good 11 years ago, and that amused me and I pointed out that the last time I heard it in that particular room was when I was in high school, that comment wasn't appreciated by some, but oh well.

The food was AMAZING, it was all home cooked meals, so suffice to say that I've never had food like that on a retreat before, that is reason enough to come back. Cornerstone is one of those retreats you only go on once, so if you're coming back it's on team, and Lord knows they make up enough positions to accommodate everyone. The retreat itself was pretty decent, it was just the little things that got to me, and those are things that if fixed will only make the retreat better. Like I said it's a typical "Jesus loves me" retreat, and while I would have loved to have more Scripture quoted and Catechism quotes in the witness talks, they are what they were, and so be it. I would have loved to have seen time for one to reflect on the talk before moving into "table share" aka small group discussion, but that is something easily fixed, same with the Scripture quotes.

My next biggest issues comes from the closing Mass and the Mass of Thanksgiving. The sharing experiences from the retreat was expected, though not overly enjoyed. The only thing that got to me was Fr. George, our pastor, asking the women who were on the retreat to come and join him in the Sanctuary for the entire Eucharistic prayer. The traditionalist in me had a heart attack about 10 times over and the perfectionist in me said ok offer it up, it is a retreat Mass after all. I would have been fine had he don't done it for the Mass of Thanksgiving too. It's not allowed, and I don't like when you mess with the rubrics, so let's just say Fr. George and I are seeing eye to eye currently. It's nice to have Fr. Brian on board because based on Fr. George has said, Fr. Brian doesn't veer from the Rubrics and that I love, hence why Fr. Brian is quickly becoming of of my favorite priests.

Looking at the retreat this way I thought I was going to be more critical, but alas I really wasn't and everything that I had issues with is easily fixed. I did have a wonderful time on the retreat, and do expect I'll be on team. At one point someone said to me, that I didn't seem affected by the retreat, I said I was, I just sort of knew what to expect with all the retreats I've been on.

So back to Fr. Brian, the first night, we went around the room introducing who the candidates were, and Fr. Brian came to me later and said, "I'm surprised this is your first one, when you introduced yourself I turned to Fr. George and said, I'm surprised this is her first Cornerstone." I told him about MaryKay telling me it was beyond me and he just shook his head and that conversation had to end because the break was over. Later that night the Sacrament of Confession was offered, typically of myself I wondered do I go to Fr. George or Fr. Brian, I actually thought about it and finally caved to the ultimate tugging on the soul to go to Fr. Brian. Let's just say I was never happier to go to Confession, and to be clean afterwards. Thank God for such a wonderful sacrament, as Fr. Brian said we need to use it more. During confession we talked about perfection and I was told to leave some of that behind as I left. And for the first time in my life was given a classic as a penance, 5 Hail Marys. I smiled and laughed to myself as I went to say them, and said, what I don't think I've ever gotten that as a penance. Also typical of myself I was one of the last people to go to Confession, that was not the plan but Fr. Brian's line kept growing, and I just said, fine I'll wait. I think I've found my confessor. ;)

During the retreat we are given letters from home and the parish, the typical palanca (I probably spelled it incorrectly) letters and most of them did make me cry, which is what they do. However I got from from MaryKay which just annoyed me. I sat there appreciating the thought, but thinking how do you tell me one year, that I'm beyond the retreat, and the next year say I'm so glad you went on the retreat. In her letter she says "When you are young it's difficult to watch other people move ahead on their journey while it seems that you haven't moved very much." While I appreciate the thought, it's like she was telling me I was moving backwards. I was so annoyed with what I read that I had to take her letter shove it in it's envelope and reread the letters the deacons in the parish sent me. Yes I totally understand that my friends are in a different place than me, but I have never felt like I wasn't moving. I can look at my life and equate it to the poem Footprints, and "it was then that you carried me Jesus." Yes my friends have what I want, but God's plan works in different ways with each person He's created. Rereading her letter it doesn't seem as bad as I first thought it was, but it still annoyed me. Don't come preaching to me about my life that you know nothing about and don't assume we're alike just because I'm a woman in ministry. I'd gladly take your job, and I know a few others who would love for me to take it. I'm content with what I have right now. It's not what I wanted, but it's working, and I'm slowing regaining my trust in my gut which has been pretty spot on, thanks to being guided by the Holy Spirit.
Overall the retreat was a good experience for me, and I'm glad I went on it. I'll do whatever is asked of me for team, and no MaryKay I'm not writing my witness talk, which you told me to do as you left the coffee and desserts after Mass. If I'm called to do a talk I'll do it, if not so be it.

Divine Mercy Sunday

So today is Divine Mercy Sunday and my Confirmation class's(I'm the teacher not a student) service project weekend. We had a diaper drive for a local pregnancy recourse center at our parish. I spent most of my day at church and managed to get two homilies today, Fr. Brian and Fr. George. Both homilies have combined into one in my head as they had similar themes.

Fr. Brian started his homily by mentioning the decree that made the 2nd Sunday of Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday, continuing with love and mercy as his topics of choice. Father spoke about his own life, about how he felt as if he was/is always behind everyone else in many aspects of life. Some of the things he mentioned were repeating first grade, starting college a year later than his friends because he took a year off after high school, and how he was ordained at ago 40 and now 5 years later looks at the other guys his age and sees that they have been ordained for 15 years. I'm sure many of us can tell a similar story, and I know I saw much of my life in Fr. Brian's life, I kept thinking about how most of my friends are married and have kids, and of course I thought about my graduation from SHU. Talk about not being with everyone, long story short I didn't graduate on time, see my faith journey part 3 section for the full story.

Fr. Brian spoke of how Thomas must have felt left out, and that he gets a bad rap. Fr. George had a similar theme. Both priests spoke about how Thomas was out doing stuff whereas the disciples were hiding in the upper room. They both spoke about how we are each like Thomas in our lives. Fr. George spoke about the loss of someone, and how it's often the tragic losses or the losses that we think come to early that make us doubt our faith. I thought at this point of Fiona and Bernadette, my little saints, but their deaths didn't make me doubt my faith, they actually helped me realize that Heaven is our ultimate goal no matter what our age is.

Both Fr. George and Fr. Brian mentioned that Thomas was the only one to leave the room, Fr. Brian told us that he's wants to know what Thomas was doing. Fr. George said Thomas was courageous for actually leaving the room and doing the normal everyday things like taking care of having food. He also mentioned that we are called to do the same, that when things happen in life that we should turn to God's love and mercy and get back out and do the everyday things, and that we should bring peace to one another. Fr. George managed a way to tie all the readings, Divine Mercy Sunday and baptism (there was one at our Mass) into his homily. In his section on the second reading he spoke about gold being tested in the fire, and about how gold has a very specific point of purification. Gold that is taken out a few second too early still have some impurities and gold that is left in the fire one second too long is destroyed. The goldsmith needs to know exactly when to take the gold out, Fr. George of course tied this into God in our lives and mentioned how God knows exactly how much to give us and when to take us out of the fire.

Fr. Brian mentioned "suffering being a whole other ball of wax" I don't remember what was mentioned before it, it might have been about life not going the way we want it too. All I heard was suffering and thought, that's my topic Father. I just finished reading Amazing Grace: Stories of Suffering by Jeff Cavins and Matthew Pinto and in it are 10 stories of different forms of suffering, most of them being the classic losing a child or other family member or both a child and significant other, and being physically disabled, but some were not the normal ones you hear, one was about a man who was falsely accused of something, a person who had terrible migraines. Besides suffering there was a common theme of each person being chosen to more closely be like Jesus. I took a graduate course in suffering and literally suffered through it, I remember picking quietly suffering for my topic and having my professor (a doctor) tell me that no one suffers quietly. The topic of a dark night of the soul was mentioned, but I honestly think that no one in that class knew what a dark night feels like. I can't even say I have, but I can't think of anything else to describe what I feel like, nor can I explain what a dark night entails.

I look to St. Therese, Cardinal Cooke, Cardinal O'Connor and I see examples of quietly suffering, and also in Fr. Eugene Hamilton, whose story of being ordained literally minutes before he died of cancer in his early 20s brings tears to my eyes every time I read it. I look back to this class and on my life and on society in general and notice that there is not a whole lot out there on suffering and that suffering is barely mentioned or looked at in a way where one would want to suffer. I remember a homily given a few years ago on the Feast of Christ the King where the priest said, "without the Cross there is no Glory, there is no King." It's true without the suffering of Good Friday, Easter Sunday never happens. We speak so much on the Risen Christ and on Easter, but we over look Good Friday and the gruesome death of Jesus. Suffering can be beautiful, look at what God did with it. He took tremendous suffering and turned it into the greatest gift ever, Eternal Life.

Maybe it's time for me to actually write my book, Quietly Suffering and use my life as an example. No I have not suffered physically, or through the lose of a child, but I have been trough enough to know that life is not easy, and that you are allowed to question God's actions, you have to accept them, but you can question Him, as Fr. George said, God knows when to take us out of the fire, He only gives us what we need to be purified so we can be with Him.

and with that the Holiest of Seasons begins

So tonight begins, well last night technically, as it is past midnight, therefore making it Good Friday, the holiest of seasons, the Easter Triduum. Hearing the Gloria for the first time in 40 days and having happier music made me smile from ear to ear. Fr. Brian gave a wicked homily, and I wish I had a tape recorder so I could listen to it again. He went right with the Rubrics aka the rule book for Mass and spoke about the institution of the Eucharist, the institution of the Priesthood/holy orders, and charity/brotherhood of Jesus. Told ya he took it right from the Rubrics, he told us himself.

Fr. Brian spoke of Fr. Cantalamessa aka the preacher to the Papal household, as Fr. Brian said, that's something I want on my business card, not that where I am now isn't important, but really preacher to the Papal household. Having read Fr. Cantalamessa's Mary: Mirror of the Church and used in in my senior thesis, I knew the comment would be good. Alas, the comment I am thinking of didn't come from Fr. Cantalamessa, I can't remember the comment from him and that sucks for me, I think it had something to do with the priesthood, but alas I do not remember. It was a good comment I just don't remember it.

The comment I am thinking of came from some theologian from Notre Dame, I probably remember it because I thought "oh man Notre Dame, hope it's correct." I am fully aware that is the wrong way to think, but I did, so forgive me, it's what Jesus would/will do. Anyway, the comment was about the Sacred Triduum being about mystery not history. Mainly because the historical events of the Triduum can not take place again. Again my brain went to, "ummm yeah it does, every Mass is the re-presentation of the sacrifice of Calvary, so therefore it takes place again, albeit the un-bloody version of the sacrifice. It being said makes sense, but I tend to be literal in the Triduum, in the whole idea that Jesus isn't in the Church even though He's just hiding out in a different spot instead of the tabernacle. To me every Good Friday Jesus dies again, He goes down to Hell and on Easter Saturday night at the vigil He rises. I agree that we can never be in the Garden, on the Cross or in the Tomb with Jesus again, we are celebrating the mystery and that is what makes the Sacred Season so awesome.

Fr. Brian spoke about the institution of the Eucharist, and how we as Catholics are taught to believe that it is Christ's Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Holy Eucharist. He mentioned that is also a mystery and that we can receive Communion until we are "blue in the face" but until we accept the mystery into our lives and try to live it out, it's almost pointless. He of course went right in the the institution of the Priesthood/holy orders. Fr. Brian mention that behind him the ordained ministers of Deacons and Priest had over 90 years combined of service to the church. He spoke about each man, Deacon Jerry with his 9 years, Deacons George and Tony with their 13 years and our "Archdeacon" Dick with 22 years of service and of Msgr. George with is 27 years of service. Each man does a different ministry, each an important ministry, feeding the poor via the social services ministry, hospility and burying the dead, and comforting the sorrowfull, teaching CCD and pre-cana, Baptismal prep, and well just about everything under the sun that a priest could do, Msgr. has done it. Fr. Brian decided that his not even 5 years of service couldn't compare to his fellow priest and deacons.

I beg to differ in the 6 months that I have known Fr. Brian, I keep thinking, as much I loved Fr. Kevin, I love Fr. Brian and he reminds me of well me, and to some that is strange, but I know that Fr. Brian will not mess with the Rubrics, is very pro-life and very much wants to get something started. He's also a fan of youth and young adult ministry. Like I said he reminds me of me, and it does me good to have a man like him at my parish. Fr. Brian mentioned that through charity we are all called to partake in Christ's priesthood, we are all called to the things these men and their wives have been doing for the past 20 years.

Very rarely do I remember more than one aspect of the homily, so I took the opportunity to blog about it.

Mass itself was beautiful as usually, I would expect no less from a man who won't veer from the Rubrics. There are nit-picky issues that I have, which would be women having their feet washed, I've never agreed with that, as the Gospel reading once you get past Judas being the betrayer being read for at least the third time this week, speaks of Jesus washing the feet of the Apostles, and last time I checked those were 12 guys. I think if Jesus washed His mother's feet that one of the Gospel writers would have written that down. Alas I can really overlook that and move on until next year.

This year as in the past when the priest is processing around the Church with the Blessed Sacrament to move Jesus to the "garden" liturgical ministers are invited to partake in the procession. I never partake because I'd just rather kneel as Jesus passes me by instead of walking around church, the focus is supposed to be on Jesus not those of us behind Him. I partook this year, mainly because our Pastoral Associate, was sitting next to my parents and wouldn't let me sit or kneel. The whole time we walked around the Church, I kept thinking I want to do this on my knees, and for some reason my right knee, the knee on which my ACL was repaired, was sore as hell throughout the walk, I couldn't wait to get back to my seat. As I made my way back to my seat, the usual screwing up of the verses happened. Without fail the choir and the cantor sing a different verse of Pange Lingua/Tantum Ergo. My understanding is that as soon as the Blessed Sacrament hits the altar steps, which means the altar servers, that we start Tantum Ergo, which is what our cantor did. I laughed because I thought, every year this happens, have you not figured it out yet. Again something I eventually get over until the next time it happens.

What bugged me this year was the forcing me to partake in the procession around Church, it's just not me. In the long run it's not that big of a deal, but it just erks me that some people force on you what they think should be done.

What I love about Holy Thursday night is our version of Adoration, Jesus is hanging out in the "garden" put simply He is moved to a tabernacle that is surrounded by flowers thereby making it the Garden in which Jesus has asked his Apostles to pray and where He is betrayed. Normally I stay from the end of Mass say 9pm until the end at 11:45pm, this year I helped out with the decorating of the gym for our overflow Mass at 12:15pm for Easter Sunday, which was funny because this will be my 6th Mass in the gym so you would think I know where things go, but alas I don't always know everything, it worked out in the long run.

So I came home for about 10 mintues just long enough to eat some toaster strudels so I wasn't starving on my day of fast on Good Friday. I tend to not eat, expect for one big meal, much to the disliking of my mother. I went back to Church for some time with Jesus. Fr. aka Msgr. George had a new cd for Adoration, but it must have stopped at some point because it wasn't on when I went into church. I took that as the ok to turn my iPod on in one ear (the ear away from my mother) so I could listen to some of Matt Maher's songs like his Litany, I Love You Lord, and Adoration, all quite appropriate for Adoration. Once those were over I put the iPod away and proceeded to try and meditate or least get myself into a one on one conversation with God. It's hard to do with all the different noises around, but it works for the most part.

While sitting at Adoration, I kept thinking of a book I just read about how 12 guys became priests, and I thought, how cool would it be to know the stories of 12 priests who have touched my life and how they became priests. I thought at first oh 12's a lot, well I had 7 within seconds. Fr. Brian, Fr. George, Fr. Kevin, Fr. Geno, Fr. Bill, my other Fr. Brian, then I added Bishop Serratelli, Fr. Devin (a priest from my youth), Fr. Jim from SHU's campus ministry, Fr. Deneheny, (I totally got the spelling wrong, but oh well), that's 10 right there, Fr. Brando makes 11, and I can't think of whom I thought of in church, but Fr. Jim from Montclair's campus ministry is coming to mind since I just read his homily blog. So that's 12 right there, I'm thinking that would a great vocations tool, to have the story of 12 ordinary guys and their vocations. I don't care if they are just men, really anyone's story of a vocation will influence one discerning a vocation. St. A's tried something like that before, but I don't know if it worked to well, might be worth looking into.

The idea of writing/editing a book has long been on my mind, but I never really didn't anything about it. Maybe now is the time to do so. Maybe that's my vocation, to foster vocations. I've always said, I'd gladly give all of my sons to the priesthood, should God grace me with marriage and children.