Dear Friends,
One of the blessings of being a Diocesan Priest (which means that I will always be assigned to serve the people of the Diocese of Cleveland) is that I’m not too far from home. I still get to be a part of my family. My parents along with some of my brothers and sisters came to mass on Christmas Eve and I surprised my mother by wearing the Vestment that her and her sisters and brother gave me in honor of their mother and father. Mary plays such a big part on our faith journey and she is in a special way a mother to priests. I got to spend a great evening with my mother last Sunday. She was going to Sears to return something of my dad’s and they gave her a gift card. I found this sweater I really liked for like ten bucks and an ipod jack for my truck, and when I went to buy it she handed me the gift card and jokingly said “his loss, your gain.” After that we went to Kohls and I picked out a couple things on sale and we both laughed as I tried on all these different old man hats and skaters hats and ear flap hats. And then when I went to check out and pay, she put her stuff with mine and picked it all up. I told her “mom, this is like the good old days.” We walked out and the snow was so beautiful and sparkling it almost looked fake. We had a great evening just catching up and laughing. There’s nothing like a mother’s love. I’ll have to share with you another time a funny story about one of my favorite Christmas memories of my dad under the tree. A priest friend once said to me “spend as much time with your parents while you still have them.” And I guess I write this to all of you just to remind you and encourage you to take that quality time with your parents. And know that if you are missing your mother or father that “the ties which knit us together in this life do not unravel even in death.” Every time we come to celebrate the Eucharist we are surrounded by the community of angels and saints and they are here with us.
God Bless, Fr. Michael
Upcoming events:
-“Solemn Mass for Life” for those who can’t make it to Washington DC for the March for life is January 22, 2010 at 7pm at the Cathedral with Bishop Lennon (I’ll be concelebrating)
-My presentation on “Lessons from Rwanda for America’s Abortion Holocaust” at Holy Family Stow. Mass at 7pm followed by talk at 8pm. Friday January 15
-Immaculee will be doing a retreat at Walsh University Friday, January 15-17, 2010. see Immaculee.com for more info.
