Fr Mike's Notes

  Spring has arrived and not a moment too soon. With Spring, Easter is on the horizon, so is (domestic) opening day for Major League Baseball.  The parenthetical word is there because technically opening day was over in Japan between the Cubs and the Dodgers.  With the advent of so many Japanese born players being recruited by the U.S. and Toronto, Major League Baseball decided to give their fans something in return -- opportunities to see their countrymen and show their appreciation for them, in addition to the entertainment value. A few years ago, they started having a short series in London as well.  London opened their borders for the National Football League too.  There have also been football games played in Germany and Brazil.  At some point, I would expect the National Basketball Association to make the same efforts.  Some may say that they did that years ago with the Olympic teams that were able to use professional players -- a.k.a. the Dream ...

 Yes, I realize I missed posting on Monday for St. Patrick's Day, and then yesterday for St. Cyril of Jerusalem (another great doctor of the church).  I apologize for my tardiness. Monday was not an easy day just because things were busier than normal.  Yesterday, I just was not inspired to write. Today, however, I have something that needs to be commented on -- the Cubs.😅 Yes, their season has officially begun as they had two games against the Dodgers in Tokyo.  Unfortunately, they lost both games, i.e., they are already 0 and 2.  It's probably not a really good representation of what our team is capable of, however.   The Cub starting lineup is packed with talent.  There is only one rookie who may start the year on the main roster.  They also still have many of the pitchers they had last year.  While Justin Steele was not truly on his game today in Japan, he is still a great starter.  Add on Shota Imanaga, Jameson Tallion, Matthe...

 I can't say that Lent has started very well for me.  I tend to let worrying about details get in the way of my attitude on occasion.  Well, we are a week into the season and I've already had TWO occasions. To the naked eye and your average Mass attendee, everything at the Confirmation last Saturday was beautiful.  To those of us on my side of the cloth (especially in my eyes), it could have been MUCH better.  As hard as I tried to make things go off without a hitch (and that was my problem), we were breaking hosts at communion and ran down to the merest "crumbs" of the Body of Christ.  I simply underestimated the size of the crowd.  I even had a sleeve of hosts on the side in case it seemed like we might have needed them.  I should have/could have walked to the other side of the sanctuary to either ask the Master of Ceremonies to add them to the mix of ciboria, but I didn't.  Or done it myself, but I didn't. To make things worse for me -- I ...

 Lent has begun.  Ash Wednesday was its normal roller coaster of emotions.  Our parish offered 7 total services in all, 6 Masses and 1 Prayer Service with Ashes.  As usual, all were well attended.  It's not standing room only as it once was, but there were good crowds indeed!  Yet, my sarcastic radar gets turned up almost every year.  Why?  Because I don't understand the concept of simply waltzing into the church AFTER or between services to ask for ashes.  In other words, what I hear is "Father, it's not important to me to have time to spend in prayer with the community.  My life is too busy for that, but I need to look like it matters.  Just give them to me so I can keep moving.  Isn't it enough that I made the effort to even get here on this important day to show that I know the tradition?" Last evening, after the 5pm Mass at which I was the celebrant, there were several people who came late and missed the distribution of as...

Once in a while I find an old journal notebook and begin thumbing through it.  Today I found an entry from just after I began my ministry at St. Cletus.  Most of you know that while I was transitioning to St. Cletus, my best friend was battling cancer.  The entry was pretty explicit in my reaction to a bad night he was having.  I won't go into details as I can still feel his pain after two years and the dilemma I was feeling too. On another page, however, I found an entry that might have turned into a bulletin article or possible homily.  It was about Creation and the progression of time from Genesis onward.  I asked many questions about just how God's plan unfolded -- man's fall from grace, the great flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, Babel, Moses and Pharaoh, 40 years in the desert, the prophets and kings -- there is SO much. I've wondered at times whether it actually took God thousands of years to decide how He was going to restore man to grace.  Or was Jes...

 With Lent coming tomorrow, I tend to be compelled to talk about our weary and weak flesh -- human.  Today, I actually went back to the story of Cain and Abel, but then - for some unknown reason - I kept on reading into chapters 4-9 of the book of Genesis.  As magical as we imagine the creation of the world in chapter 1 and 2, and the stories of Adam and Eve in chapter 3, those next few chapters are at least a little bit dark.  Sure, we get to hear about Seth and his lineage, and how each had many other sons and daughters at incredibly old ages by the time they each die.  However, while the lineage ends with some hope, the first four verses of Chapter 6 can seem very contradictory going into verse 5. There are creatures that are referred to as Nephilim.  A footnote tells us that their presence is supposed to help us to account for prehistoric giants and a lead-in to the Great Flood.  It tells us that these creatures basically had their way with "the da...

 Today I had the good fortune to have dinner with a a very good couple from our parish.  They have been involved for many years and they invited me to a local "pub" for a cheeseburger special they have every Monday.  So, this is the second time I've eaten with them and only the second time at the establishment.  I'm not a big drinker of alcohol.  My guess is the husband might have been in previous years, but he is taking a daily chemo pill (for which he is doing very well physically -- thank God).   It's great to get together with people who understand the Church similarly to my understanding.  I was in a conversation recently with a few others who don't always agree with me.  Yet, the conversations continue.  I seriously don't mind debating with others as long as it doesn't become personal or an argument.  Respect for the other person's opinion is important.  And if that is not present, maybe the subject matter should not be b...

 I hope you don't think this is just another rant of mine, but I have to share with you one of the most incredible moments of this past week. For the past couple of years, our school children have done a few musicals on our gymnasium stage.  They worked very hard on all of the performances I've been privileged to see.  Two plays ago, it was High School Musical Jr., last year they did Annie, and this year they performed Frozen.  Of course they did not memorize the WHOLE movies each year.  They were hour-long performances.  All of them have been amazing.  There is SO much talent in our school. When I was in grammar school, I only remember being in one of these sorts of plays.  It was more historical in nature, not a feature film.  Maybe I only remember it because I had a specific role to play -- I was Lyndon Baines Johnson taking the oath of office of the presidency of the United States.  What was missing from my recollection of history wa...