I got back from Washington D. C. one week ago and since then it’s been a whirlwind of activity. The trip with our 8th graders was wonderful. The kids were perfect. One major glitch that was no fault of our own and that was when our bus hit the side view mirror of another bus. Doesn’t sound like a big deal but it crashed into the windows along one side of our bus and blew out all the window. Frightening….you bet. Luckily, the glass did what it was supposed to do and that was to shatter instead of shard. Our entire bus was sprayed with little pellets that found themselves everywhere including hair and clothing.  Within an hour we were able to get a new bus and be on our way.

As usual, Gettysburg was awesome. We had Jim Roubal again as our guide. He is so awesome and he has a good memory. I have learned so much more as an adult about our country’s history by visiting these historic places. Of course, Mt. Vernon and the Naval Academy are cool too!

I really got to know some of our kids who are leaving us. They are genuinely nice kids and like the kids we had two years ago, I will really miss them. I also got to know some of our parents too and they were a blast too.

The school year is beginning to wind down but our parish is never asleep. We are already filling up for next year. Our pre-K and 1st Grade is on a waiting list and I imagine that we will be repeating this with the other grades too as the days move forward. I can’t even begin to express the pride I feel when hard work bears good fruit.

With the CSA (Catholic Services Appeal) beginning this weekend, I hope I can convince the Nativity community to be generous again. I would really like to put the roof repairs behind us and start working on some of the other things we need around here. Such as, our narthex! I would like to replace the cringing, put in new lighting, paint the walls, completely remodel the bathrooms, and rip out the carpet and replace it with tile. That’s all!

The festival will also be here before we know it and just about everything in that is pretty well set. Raffle tickets will be going out shortly and the new revamping of that should prove to be profitable provided that we execute it properly. By the way, the tickets went from a dollar a piece to $5 a ticket. the winnings are up too along with the odds of winning.

Thats all for now!

I’m not even going to apologize for not being daily on this blog. Let’s just say I’ll do what I can!

This week I will be leaving for Washington, D.C. with my 8th graders and their chaperones. This will be my third trip with them. They are so much fun and they are also exhausting. I’m not talking about the kids, I’m talking about the itinerary. All we do is keep moving, moving, moving. Funny how I never get tired of seeing the same thing over and over. D.C. is an awesome town. My favorite places are the Newsuem, Gettysburg and the Naval Academy.

The personality of the groups are different too. This years group is going to be a lot of fun. Last years group was pure drama. There were a few great kids in that bunch but there were a few stinkers. And you know who you are!!!

Now that we’ve turned off the Easter parade we begin our trek towards the end of the school year, raffle tickets and of course the Parish Festival! It never ends! And please God, don’t let it end too soon.

Hosanna, to the King of David!

With the beginning of Holy Week also begins a very busy week for the church. There are so many last minute details that need tending to and you would think after all the Holy Weeks I’ve been through I would know better. This year will be a bit different whereas I had to go through my old Holy Week scripts and change all the prayers. I am actually beginning to get the feel of the new rhythm that are part of this “big” change. I guess its always natural to whine about change.

I am hoping again for another great year atNativity. Actually a year that will produce even greater results. Our membership is up, attendance is up, the collection is up! Everything is going up! But in reality that could all change if things are not moved in a positive way. I guess thats always on the back of my mind. I am no so concerned about my success as I am about the parish. I also have to admit that there is some hope that when I do leave here, I will have made a difference in the lives of this community…and all for the good. So,….for my fleeting moment of vanity, there it is!

Going to New York City last week was an important milestone in my life. I came home feeling more appreciative of what have over what I don’t have. My dear friend in New York sort of awakened something in me that I was not seeing in my own life. It is simply this; I am where I am supposed to be! But sometimes I will need to get on a plane a bus or a train to go there and come to terms over and over again. In other words, getting away is refreshing!

As I live through this week, I will do what I do every Holy Week. I will submerge myself in His presence!

One of my best friends posted about how his weight loss helped him get rid of his diabetes medicine. His joy is shared to all and I rejoice with him. The days of putting insulin in my body were days that reminded me of all that was wrong with me. Even though I have (knock on wood) beat diabetes, I am still very cautious about what I put inside of me.
To be morbidly obese is a terrible disease. Not only physically but mentally and spiritually. For years I built an identity that revolved on my “largeness” therefore minimizing the person I truly was! I can honestly say now that looking back, I was miserable. But re-inventing my new self was just as difficult as creating the old self. So instead of creating an identity, I had to become who I truly was inside. And you know what, I like who I am now more than ever. If you are reading this and scratching your head in wonder, that’s okay! But if you get it…..even better.
I am experiencing what i feel is the best parish community I have had thus far. But there were building blocks and lessons learned in my formation as a priest. I can look back at all my former parishes and tell you that my buddy whom I first mentioned had a lot to do with building me to be the priest that I am today. He was tough but I learned so much from him. So, ingratitude to him and in tribute to his success, I acknowledge the wonderful generosity of his inner spirit who has finally “gotten” what he has needed to complete himself.

Twenty more days!

Hello friends. so much for pledging to keep the sight updated. I have been busy in a good way. My Lent has been off to a good start. Of course, I’ve had the usual landslide of funerals that often come at this time of the year. I am amazed at how many of my friends are dying. Some natural and some not so natural. but is it really natural to die in your 50′s?

Speaking of dying, I dumped my new doctor and went to see another guy. To my happiness, he is one of my former students at Bishop Noll Institute. What a terrific young man he has turned out to be. but of course, I am not surprised because he was always exceptional. It’s just that now he is the overseer to my good health. How many of you can boast that your cholesterol is 106?

Yesterday was the half way point for Lent. We have 20 more days to go and I so look forward to Easter. With the early spring I have been taking care of some of the things I normally do in late April. I had my carports cleaned, Living room and dining room painted and gathered up all the clothes I’m not wearing anymore for the Poor Box. I even cleaned out all the dead stuff from my outdoor planters and swept the patio. today I hope to do a little raking and maybe taking the root-tiller out to my plant boxes. Sure does feel good!

"Hey, I taste good!"

This past week was a whirlwind of activity and it really got my blood moving. And that’s a good thing! On Monday I had plenty to stress about. Getting all the last minute Mardi Gras stuff together, working on decorations for the hall and setting up the church for Ash Wednesday and really stressing about the new fish dinner menu items. I don’t mind people venting themselves to me about problems but dammit, be ready to offer a solution. When my solution isn’t good enough then just tell me what you’re thinking and you better be right. Work and prayer has truly pulled me through this week.

In the midst of chaos we welcomed the Holy Season of Lent. I am praying for calm. I AM PRAYING FOR SPRING! Yes, I know we’ve had a mild winter but I miss sitting outside on my patio. My critters miss going outside too. I would just love to have a few days of peace. Is that too much to ask. Apparently, it is!

I was very happy about the reaction to the new fish menu items. I have to admit I was bracing myself for a mountain of complaints but it didn’t happen. We did have the misfortune of serving some fish that was still frozen. Ouch! All it takes is one complaint to get the negativity ball rolling.  Hopefully we have solved that problem and pray that we don’t have this happen again.

I can only dream that it will be this easy!

Remember that commercial of the lady who falls and can’t get up? Did you know the original lady in that commercial died? Just a little fun fact to place in your pie plate. The whole thing on aging has kind of swung around again. this may 11th I will turn 56 years old. Not a big deal right? At least that’s what the older generations tell me. “Wait till you turn my age!” is the common retort from a member of that team. Well guess what, I’m feeling it now! So right now, in this moment, it’s all about me. I think I’m entitled.

All this started from a news report about when the anniversary of astronaut John Glenn made his trips around the earth. My goodness that was fifty years ago…..and I remember it. I remember it because John Glenn was probably my first hero. I remember having a color photo of him hanging on my bedroom wall along with a picture poster from NASA with all the astronauts on it. My fascination with all things “Outer Space” was a great fad that had a great run. But it seemed to diminish after watching the first man walk on the moon. I’m sure my interests moved on to something else.

As I look over my life in the past fifty years, I can recall so many things. I seem to be losing my innate ability to remember the itsy-bitsy stuff but I believe that is natural. I guess the one thing that saddens me is the way things die. I clearly remember the City of Gary as it used to be and not how it is today. There is plenty of blame to go around as to why the city is in ruins. But I prefer to look ahead with the hope that it can come back. Maybe not in my lifetime….but somewhere when someone who has a dream to make it happen.

Growing older is supposed to be the time when we become wiser, more compassionate  and more understanding. That is the state of my “growing older” that I wish to accomplish.

Moving and cleaning is GOOD!

I made an executive decision today. I decided to move my bedroom to the front of the rectory. this means putting my ginormous king size bed into my larger room. I’ve been contemplating this move for awhile and today it took all the energy I had to start it going. I made significant progress but I also knew that I would have to do some serious cleaning. Namely with the vacuum and carpet cleaner. I finally got to see where all the cats have been throwing up and where that dog I fostered made pee-pee all over the place. I am so glad I bought soil resistant carpet with pets in mind. Nasty, nasty, nasty! But it will all be good and by this evening I should be done.

But this all started a couple of weeks ago when I watched an episode of Hoarders on TLC. Yikes! I began to look at all my “stuff” and realized, this stuff has got to go. My biggest hoard is clothing. I have four closets worth of clothes. And they are good clothes. Some of them are off only one size and I paid a lot of bucks for them. I can honestly say that my weight does float 10 to 15 pounds. But there are some things I haven’t worn in a few years and now its come to this…..get rid of it!

But there is other clutter in my life too. There is a reason for my madness although I know its not the best reason. Let’s be honest and say its an excuse. We all have some type of clutter in our lives. Whether it be spiritual, physical or emotional. We all need to clean our “house” from time to time. I invite you to reflect with me. What are the things that are cluttering up your life?

BEAT THE PATS!

I’m rooting for New York Giants! Why?  Why not?! I love New York! In fact, I’m counting down the days until my trip in March to see some shows: Book of Mormon, David Letterman, and Spiderman. I also plan on visiting the Today Show, The 911 Museum and just do some shopping and other tourist kind of stuff. Yes….I love New York!

I am also so proud to be a Hoosier today as I watch all the reports coming out of Indy about how well organized the Super Bowl Events. I wish I could do this zip line I’ve been seeing. Everyone I’ve talked to who has been to the Super Bowl Village has told me how exciting it was. To top it off, God really blessed Indiana with NO SNOW!

So tonight I can hardly wait to watch the game. GO NEW YORK!

I was hoping to turn a new leaf and begin posting faithfully. Sounded good at first but in reality when I come home after 10 days of being on vacation, I always find myself thrown into the Lion’s mouth. Not that anything has been difficult or unusual to the ordinary parish priest but certainly a busy schedule resumes. AND, I thrive on it! Never a dull moment indeed.

This week my heart has been touched by sadness. One of my parishioners whom I had become close to passed away suddenly. Chris was 39 years old did not wake up last Saturday morning. The shock of his death sent waves throughout the community. Chris worked at Menard’s here in Portage. But he also worked for the community. Chris had a vision. He wanted to see the city that he lived in do good things. One of his pet projects was Rebuilding Together Portage. Chris and I were working closely on putting together a fund raiser that would help generate some dollars. RTP helps persons of low income to make necessary repairs to their homes that they cannot afford for various reasons, whether they were unemployed, aged, widowed. It is a classic case of stewardship that Chris awoke to and his mission was fierce.

His passing will certainly put a dent into the program but I am praying that his determination will be an inspiration to our community. I am hoping we, as a community, can collectively pick up the cross of grief and move forward and have great success in helping out those in need.