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gfrancieokay, I am feeling better. I sat in a car, eating chocolate, and reading a magazine article on "Elaines" *sighs*
What has Miss. Gennie been doing with her time, you ask? (okay so that is vanity talking)
Sunday, I went to mass, it was very crowded, for it was the Last mass for my parish priest. He is retiring. He has been a priest for over forty five years, and I want to stress, that he is one of the best examples of what a priest ought to be. Which is really important right now, considering the jokes that are made, and the comments one makes about priests. (not every priest is going to rape you) He did a short sermon, but then he began to tell us, how he came here. I knew he was from Belfast Ireland, and He had a number of siblings and he had preached all over western washington. He came over in the early fifties on the Mauritania, it was a six-day voyage and when he came into New York on September 21st. he was awe-inspired and over-welmed. He said, "the country was on wheels, back in Ireland we didn't have that many cars." He also spoke about seeing people with their ears pressed to these small boxes. He had never seen a transistor radio and people seemed really nervous and he thought maybe World War Three had started. It turned out to be the Play-offs for the world series. Another thing he had never heard of before hand. He thought about taking the train, but he was so tired after being on the boat for nearly a week, He took his first plane ride. He came into Seattle. Turns out he served at Our Lady of the Lake church, which is right by my house in Seattle. He served everywhere, but then he came to Saint Mary's in 1985. I remember that, I was about five and I really missed Father MacMahon (another Irish priest from County Clare) and here was this new guy. He ended up fitting in quite well. He was like an uncle. I always saw him at football and basketball games in high school. On various CYO fieldtrips he would join in the fun. I remember going on a trip to Victoria with him, and he was hamming it up with the kids while the adults were trying to quiet us down, when we were in the cathedral. I will miss him. He was always there for his congregation. Going to him for confession was never scary. funny often, and when you would come out, you truly wanted to do better. But he was always sympethic to the needs of his people. He was the one who actually encouraged my mother to get a divorce after she was at her wits end regarding the whole matter. He said to her (in this hilarious accent, which my whole family loves to imitate) "Well you know Theresa, you can give and give and if you are giving 100% and the other person refuses to give any, you can't do much, except let the person go. You did your best, and he has chosen not to, and unfortunatly these are the moments when you may have to divorce the person. I would, otherwise you are harming yourself and your children." Father Heffernan was a realistic man who knew how to deal with the balance of what the Vatican was saying and what the people needed.
ack, I have gone on too long.
But I would like to say, that I will miss him, greatly, I think he has done well. It is too bad he has to retire. Of course I bet he is tired.
also on a sidenote he and I share the same birthday, so I have always received a card from him! happy memories.
What has Miss. Gennie been doing with her time, you ask? (okay so that is vanity talking)
Sunday, I went to mass, it was very crowded, for it was the Last mass for my parish priest. He is retiring. He has been a priest for over forty five years, and I want to stress, that he is one of the best examples of what a priest ought to be. Which is really important right now, considering the jokes that are made, and the comments one makes about priests. (not every priest is going to rape you) He did a short sermon, but then he began to tell us, how he came here. I knew he was from Belfast Ireland, and He had a number of siblings and he had preached all over western washington. He came over in the early fifties on the Mauritania, it was a six-day voyage and when he came into New York on September 21st. he was awe-inspired and over-welmed. He said, "the country was on wheels, back in Ireland we didn't have that many cars." He also spoke about seeing people with their ears pressed to these small boxes. He had never seen a transistor radio and people seemed really nervous and he thought maybe World War Three had started. It turned out to be the Play-offs for the world series. Another thing he had never heard of before hand. He thought about taking the train, but he was so tired after being on the boat for nearly a week, He took his first plane ride. He came into Seattle. Turns out he served at Our Lady of the Lake church, which is right by my house in Seattle. He served everywhere, but then he came to Saint Mary's in 1985. I remember that, I was about five and I really missed Father MacMahon (another Irish priest from County Clare) and here was this new guy. He ended up fitting in quite well. He was like an uncle. I always saw him at football and basketball games in high school. On various CYO fieldtrips he would join in the fun. I remember going on a trip to Victoria with him, and he was hamming it up with the kids while the adults were trying to quiet us down, when we were in the cathedral. I will miss him. He was always there for his congregation. Going to him for confession was never scary. funny often, and when you would come out, you truly wanted to do better. But he was always sympethic to the needs of his people. He was the one who actually encouraged my mother to get a divorce after she was at her wits end regarding the whole matter. He said to her (in this hilarious accent, which my whole family loves to imitate) "Well you know Theresa, you can give and give and if you are giving 100% and the other person refuses to give any, you can't do much, except let the person go. You did your best, and he has chosen not to, and unfortunatly these are the moments when you may have to divorce the person. I would, otherwise you are harming yourself and your children." Father Heffernan was a realistic man who knew how to deal with the balance of what the Vatican was saying and what the people needed.
ack, I have gone on too long.
But I would like to say, that I will miss him, greatly, I think he has done well. It is too bad he has to retire. Of course I bet he is tired.
also on a sidenote he and I share the same birthday, so I have always received a card from him! happy memories.
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no subject
Date: 2002-07-01 11:41 pm (UTC)Lucky.
no subject
Date: 2002-07-02 01:41 pm (UTC)strange I know.
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Date: 2002-07-02 02:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-07-02 04:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-07-02 01:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-07-14 02:26 pm (UTC)Except Starbucks. They're Satan's burnt coffee house.
I knew a couple of priests who sound similiar to your parish priest. They were probably part of the reason I didn't walk away from the Church earlier than I did, more out of my faith in them and how they carried themselves than in any faith in the Church and it's teachings. And they also helped me come to grips with my need to walk away. Better to live honestly and take what I believed and move on than pretend to accept the whole faith and go through the motions. They were good men, I miss them.
no subject
Date: 2002-07-14 02:38 pm (UTC)Re:
Date: 2002-07-14 03:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-07-14 03:55 pm (UTC)Re:
Date: 2002-07-14 04:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-07-14 04:07 pm (UTC)Re:
Date: 2002-07-14 04:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-07-14 04:25 pm (UTC)Re:
Date: 2002-07-14 04:26 pm (UTC)