Moving house!

This morning, I saw this slow, methodic, moving experience on my driveway in Ireland. I hoped that he finally made it safely across without being crushed by a car tire or a person's careless footstep.

Mountainside Mass at Grotto

I had the opportunity yesterday evening of celebrating Mass at the shrine in Glenmask mountains. Around 100 people showed up on a wonderful sunny evening to pray and celebrate.  May Tuffey, a native of the area, now 100 years old, came from Chicago to participate as well. Here are some pictures:

A view from the mountainside grotto.

 

A view of the grotto

 

 

Horse sense

Even horses know how to enjoy a nice, sunny morning in Ireland
 

A Last phone call

He was just 23 years old and had his whole life ahead of him. He made his last phone call to his mother - her only son. His message was clear cut. He was doing it. he said goodbye and he did it.

Hundreds came to his home all day Sunday to sympathize with his parents. Hundreds more gathered today in the church where he served Mass as a teenager to say their own silent "goodbyes." Words failed everyone. People's presence tried to fill the vacuum for the family. Songs were sung that tried to be uplifting but nothing could cure the pain etched on his parents faces and that of his sister. A life ended. A light snuffed out. A great chasm left in its place.

(more later in one  of my columns for "Gulf Pine Catholic" newspaper)

Mass among the dead

Today, I had the privilege of celebrating Mass in our local cemetery, among our deceased loved ones. A great crowd gathered to remember, to pause, to pray, to give thanks, to celebrate lives well-lived and rewarded. Even among the dead, the sounds of nature resounded, reminding us of the ongoing cycle of birth and death, or life constantly changed and renewed.

Watching loved ones stand by the graves of family and friends as we approached to bless their loved ones graves, I could not help but think of all the thoughts that went through their minds. Gone, but not forgotten, formed and shaped by those gone before as they shape those yet to come. The cycle continues. Words are inadequate; example is powerful; remembrance is necessary; gratefulness is expected. Life is a mystery to be continued.

Return trip

I received an email from Delta airlines this morning, informing me that I could check in on line for my return flight to Gulfport, Mississippi on May 31, 2013. Obviously, when I booked my retirement flight home for January18, 2013, I had to book a return ticket as a return ticket was over half the cost of a one-way ticket. I still cannot figure out the logic or how a return ticket is half the cost of a one way ticket? But then again, there are so many things that defy logic. Also wondered why airlines allowed passengers to board a flight from the front even though it creates congestion in the aisle for those boarding later. I am told that the reason for this practice is that if you allow people seated in the back to board first, they will put their carry on luggage in the first overhead bins resulting in no space being available for the front seated passengers.
Anyway, I will not be checking in for my return flight so someone who might be on standby can have my seat.

Another big mystery

Today, in the Catholic Church, we celebrate the Feast of the Trinity - a real mystery. We grasp at  human words to try and capture or explain the mystery of Three Persons in One God.

When a young couple came to me to get married, I began by asking them two questions: How did you first meet and, of all the people you have met and dated, why is the person sitting next to you the one you want to spend the rest of your life with?  The answer to the first question is easy as everyone knows the occasion on which they first met their soul mate. the answer to the second question is more difficult because, no matter how a couple tries to answer it, they will never find the right words to capture or explain their answer.

If, as human beings, we find it difficult to explain the mystery of a human relationship, how much more difficult is it to explain the mystery of the relationship in God? Yes, just because, like all human relationships, words may fail us, but it doesn't stop us from trying to explain Mystery.