Fr Mike's Notes

 It shouldn't happen. In our technologically advanced society, how could something so horrible happen. Late Wednesday evening, January 29, 2025, an American Airlines jet and a US Army Blackhawk helicopter collided just outside of Washington DC.  Sixty-four people were aboard the jet and three soldiers on the helicopter.  There are no survivors.  What's worse?  It was reported overnight that some of the passengers on the jet were figure skaters who attended the US Figure Skating Championship in Wichita, Kansas over this past weekend.  They were not part of the champion skaters, but they were part of the National Development Camp -- young athletes who were seeking to improve their skill in their sport.  It shouldn't happen.  In a case like this, even saying things like "they didn't suffer" or "you just never know the time or day when God will call our name" do not sound like good answers.  Of course, there is still faith in God and hope for the...

  In my life as a priest of nearly 24 years, I have anointed numerous people with the oil of the sick.  It is an amazingly powerful Sacrament of the Catholic Church.  Some people may not think of how important it is, but let me give a little bit about just how powerful it is. First, it is an anointing for both body and soul.  Oil has been a symbol of strength and healing for a long, long time.  Even in ancient days, oil was used before and after battles, as a provider of strength to prepare the body for battle, AND then, a healing remedy for those who maybe were wounded or just tired after the battle itself.  In terms of healing physically, oil still helps muscles.  When someone receives a massage, the masseuse uses oil normally not only for the purpose of making skin pliable enough to knead, but the oil is massaged INTO the skin for it's healing  properties. Fast-forward to anointing of the sick, we have the belief that there is a physical healin...

  I have been noticing quite a bit of ugliness in the world recently, and unfortunately, I can sometimes be a part of it.  If there is one way that people can be super-ugly it's the sin of gossip. I don't think of those newspaper "Dear Abby" columns as gossip.  Those articles tend to come from letters that people send to the reporters who write them and the reporter gives their opinion or advice.  The gossip I am talking about happens when people are talking behind the backs of others with the intent to harm the reputation of others, especially if what is being said is untrue. Making false accusations about someone is also quite evil.  The place we have seen a lot of this is in the Church.  Back in 2002, a priest in Chicago was accused of sexually abusing some children at one of his assignments.  What came into the light of the media was that the fore-mentioned case was NOT a singular occurrence in the Church.  As a matter of fact, sadly, abuse of...

  January 27 and 28 are very special for me, as I remember a man and a woman who really impacted my life for the best. On January 27, 2023, Fr. Charles Watkins -- my closest friend of 25 years -- was taken home to Heaven after a year-long battle with pancreatic cancer. Ironically (yet poetically), Charles' sister, Barbara, died on January 28, 2008 after her own cancer battle. For nearly 25 years, Charles and I became honorary members of each other's family. I think there was only one or two times that he had to either go to Alabama (where he grew up) or to visit another extended family member when I could not join him. Every major holiday, birthday, vacation, day off -- we were together. My father would lovingly refer to us as "Mutt and Jeff." For some of you who had not known Charles' story, he was born in 1944 as a military baby in Oregon, but soon moved to Alabama with his parents Arthur and Bessie. Like many of his nieces and nephew, he was an accomplish...

  Way back in 1973, the US Supreme Court decided that the intentional abortion of babies within the womb should be legal.  For what seemed an eternity for many people, there have been millions of babies in that category -- aborted.  For nearly 50 years, many people sought and fought to get the Supreme Court to reconsider this landmark decision.  There were many years during this anniversary week of the original decision that pro-life members (those who believe that every human being has a right to live from conception to natural death) organized protest marches in Washington DC to the Supreme Court building.  These were peaceful in nature as one might expect from Christians.  I attended two in my years of ministry and I have to say it was a powerful experience -- to see so many people with a common goal to defend the human beings who were not SEEN to be human beings.  To some, when conception happens in the womb, a new THING is created.  Yet, sci...

Yes, I am very aware that I haven't posted in a week.  Time moves rather quickly.  I apologize to those of you who faithfully check. Today, January 20, 2025, we celebrated the birthday of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  King was outspoken in advocating for civil rights for every person regardless of the color of a person's skin.  To say he was a man way ahead of his time is an understatement.  Generations of African Americans were simply mistreated and looked upon as second-class citizens, a viewpoint that was very high during the days of the Civil War.  It took a long, long time for an African American the caliber of Dr. King to make even a little progress in a time when prejudice was still high.  In the early hours of April 4, 1968, Dr. King was assassinated in Selma, Alabama. His most well-known phrase that could actually sum up his life was "I have a dream."  His oration of that speech was powerful, filled with the Holy Spirit.  He was a...

  The Catholic Church's calendar time is always a mystery.  It's really dependent on when full moons occur.  Sometimes it sounds so pagan to me, but then again, I love the moon.  Why?  Because it's the closest Heavenly Body to Earth and you can look at with the naked eye without harming your eyes.  Remember, don't look at the sun without good protection from ultraviolet rays.  Although, in that regard, I did that one time in grammar school.  That was enough. According to a www.catholic.com article, we see that " On the Gregorian calendar (the one that we use), Easter is the first Sunday after the Paschal full moon, which is the first full moon on or after March 21. Easter thus always falls between March 22 and April 25. "  So, this year of 2025, astronomers, in paying attention to lunar cycles and phases, determined that Easter would be on April 20th.  That's pretty late to say the least.  But then that makes us work backward in tim...

  At this hour there are 6 wildfires blazing in Southern California.  Some areas of the Los Angeles "suburbs" have been overrun with devastation.  There have even been Hollywood personalities that have lost their homes.  I know to some people that sounds "so sad" when I've heard sarcasm in their voices as some of those properties were worth millions of dollars.  Still, I am truly saddened to see this stuff happening again.  It seems to be a way of life in the southwest.  It's like Chicago in the winter.  You know how bad it can become in terms of cold and snow; yet, we choose to live here.  No place on earth can be perfect ALL of the time weather-wise.  We all have something to be concerned about.  The Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico coasts including cities along the US southern border states always have a "season" for bad weather -- hurricanes and tropical storms particularly.  However, I know many people who simply choos...

  I received word last night of some news from the Vatican for the Church in the United States.  That makes twice in the last month! I verified it this morning that Robert Cardinal McElroy, former Archbishop of San Diego, CA, is moving to take over the position of Archbishop of Washington DC.  Now, while that has some implications with it, it's great news to me. As I look ahead to taking a sabbatical next year, I plan to be in the San Diego area and was hoping that the Cardinal might still be there to connect with him once again.  You see, I met him several years ago at my previous assignment in Matteson, IL.  His sister was a very involved parishioner -- a very talented and very well-known, yet humble person.  Patti died of cancer while I was away on vacation and when I received that news, I was asked if it would be okay for her brother (then Bishop) Robert McElroy of San Francisco could be the celebrant.  No trouble there at all!  However, it wa...

  It started in my early years of life.  I don't even really know how old I was when my father, Edward Daniel Novick, was diagnosed with a form of cancer known as Hodgkin's Disease.  To consider that technology and pharmaceuticals had not made a lot of advancement in those days, to say that dad was "Superman" is an understatement in my book.  Radiation and chemotherapy were given and were able to get my dad into remission.  But that was not his only cancer instance, plus he had other health issues (including a heart attack and open heart surgery in my college days).   After many years, I had been out of college, had a couple of jobs, went to seminary, got ordained in 2001, and seemed to be cruising right along in life.  In the summer of 2008, I became the pastor of a small parish about 8 miles south of my parents' home.  I also had gone on a vacation in August of that year before starting the new assignment.  While I was away on vacation...

January 2nd is the Church's remembrance of two saints who simply wanted the best for each other.  They were good friends already and when they were sent in different directions in their ministry, one wrote a nice reflection about the other.  The saints are Basil and Gregory of Nazianzen.  Both were bishops of the Church in the 4th century.   Gregory wrote of his best friend " We had come, like streams from a river, from the same source in our native land, had separated from each other in pursuit of learning, and were now united again as if by plan, for God so arranged it ."  These two men were outstanding preachers and defenders of the faith.  But it's the manner of their friendship that I really love.  " When, in the course of time, we acknowledged our friendship and recognized that our ambition was a life of true wisdom, we became everything to each other: we shared the same lodging, the same table, the same desires, the same goal ." I have told...

 I would like to say Happy New Year to all who read this.  It's difficult to say because as you may have seen first thing this morning in the news, someone in New Orleans decided to drive a truck through Bourbon Street about 3:15am.  As of the time of this blog (10:30am CST), 10 people lost their lives AND the perpetrator was killed by police an ensuing gunfight.  Just imagine the families of those individuals who lost their lives.  It's similar (on a much smaller scale) to the feelings people may have had way back on 9-11 in New York City.  Simply horrifying.  Please pray for the victims and their families. New years are supposed to be filled with hope.  As I look back at 2024, I have many reasons to be grateful in my life.  I continue to develop in ministry and I am very thankful for a lot of new friends over the past year.  In June, the priests of the Archdiocese had our convocation which happens about every three years.  They ar...