Ah, me. I just got back home from a wedding reception. I practiced the time-honored tradition of "dine and dash."
   My niece was married today in Chicago (couldn't go because of a funeral at the parish) and the reception was here in Schererville. I picked up my aunt on the way to the hall and we went for dinner. Got there about 5:50 p.m. Left the hall at 8:30 p.m. Full, had a chance to visit with some family, and ready for sleep and Masses tomorrow!
   One of the BIG surprises was the "appetizer and meal entertainment." We had a soloist who accompanied himself on a number stringed instruments. His songs were so mellow and his voice was just wonderful. So many times, I have been to receptions where one could barely hear the conversation of the people at the same table.
   The music and singing tonight was great "cover music" to the dinner conversation.
   I have got to see if I can use him at a parish event some time. He would be well-received.
   Well, that's all you're going to get out of me tonight. I was up early this morning, had Mass and then a funeral and then afternoon confessions and the reception. I'm beat and am going to hit the sack soon. I'll be back tomorrow night!
   And, by the way, congratulations Nicole and Mark! May you have many happy years together!!!

   Some people would call this fourteen year old the biggest goof ball in the world. Others, hopefully, will look at him and say, "I want to be like him."
   When I read the article earlier today, I was amazed and was also taken back to when I was first ordained.
   After ordination, I was assigned both to a parish as well as to the local Catholic high school. It was there, during my first year, that I had an interesting discussion with my high school freshmen.
   I told them about something that had happened to me the evening before as I was Christmas shopping. I was at Service Merchandise (long gone, now) and I had used their computerized selection process. I entered what I wanted, the quantity, and then went to the area for pick up.
   When I picked up my items, the clerk boxed them up and thanked me for coming.
   Big problem.
   I never paid for them. I needed to do that at the register.
   The clerk insisted that they were already paid for because otherwise they would not have been sent up for me to retrieve.
   I had to insist on paying for the items; whereupon, he called a manager to "settle the dispute."
   My students were incredulous that I would have done that. Some thought that it was good that I told them I hadn't paid. Most, however, agreed that when the employee told me that the items were mine that I should have simply left the store without paying for any of them.
   I told them that was not the kind of person I -- or they -- was called to be. We are supposed to be people of integrity. There is an old saying: Character (or Integrity) is doing the right thing when no one is watching.
   There were no store police around. I knew what the right thing was and I was going to do it.
   So, on line today, I read about Zach Nash, a 14 year old golfer that disqualified himself from an event where he won first place. The reason, afterwards, he found out that he had one to many clubs in his bag. Not that he had never used the one. That didn't matter. The rules were the rules. He could easily have gotten away with keeping the prize, but he was a lad with integrity.
   I hope that the young people of today who read that article -- found here -- think he did the right thing. Sadly, I fear, too many will think the kid messed up, should have kept quiet, and should have kept his award.
   I think this young golfer did a great thing.
   I am proud of our young people who do the right thing, no matter the cost to themselves!

   This morning, I received an email from someone who reads this blog on a regular basis. The email, basically, asked what happened to me? Why did I not leave a message last night?
   Which I thought was really weird, because I did leave a message last night.
   So, I surfed to the blog and, lo and behold, there was no message.
   But I know that I left one.
   So I went into "administration mode" to find out what had happened.
   I zoomed over to "Edit Entries" and found last night's entry.
   Somehow, when I saved the message, it time stamped the message correctly. However, it glitched on the date. It entered August 32, 2010.
   Of course, it would not display because there is no August 32nd.
   But, for some reason, the program must have thought so when it date stamped it that way.
   A quick manual entry of the date and last night's entry appeared.
   How many times in life surprises come our way.
   Sometimes we just say, "that's weird", and be on our way. Sometimes they are very easy to fix.
   Other times, surprises can be befuddling, or frightening. They may not be so easy to fix.
   Here's to innocent surprises. Here's to quick and easy fixes.
   For the stuff that's harder and scarier, do not forget that we have help available to us. The Lord will see us through anything if we just ask for help. Don't forget that. Count on Him!

   Today was really nice. I was able to take my "day off" today.
   In all actuality, in today's world, a priest does not often get his day off. We work hardest, of course, on weekends when many people get time off. Weekdays are not much better on us since there are fewer and fewer priests nowadays.
   That is why days such as this are a real treat.
   In terms of a "day off," this will be my last one for the next couple of weeks. But I will be doing a bit of traveling over the next couple of months on business, so that is a bit of a break for me as well.
   In the meantime, I am going to continue my day off by keeping this short.
   I leave you with the following prayer request: let's ask God to stop this heat and make it cooler!

   Well, here it is. The last few hours of the last day of August. Time, once again, has proven how it inexorably flies!
   It just amazes me how fast time can go.
   We have been in school for a week and a half already -- in many ways, it seems as if we have been in session for a month or more. Don't get me wrong, though. I'm not complaining. The school year has begun remarkably well. All is going smoothly.
   This week we are in the midst of "call-outs" for our fall musical, Honk, Jr. It is a really cute musical that has quite a moral to it.
   The weather continues to grind on our teachers and students. I am praying really hard for cooler weather to usher itself in. It looks as if we may get our wish in the next day or two.
   Many people I know tell me that we will be complained about the cold in a couple of months.
   No here!
   I cannot stand hot weather. Cold is always preferable in my books.
   Just keep the ice and snow away. Other than that, it can get cold any time it wants.
   Hmmmm. Wait a minute. Let me retract that statement some. I plan on going to Florida again the first two weeks of January. If Florida is as cold this coming January as it was last January, I will be a bit of an unhappy camper!
   As always, it comes down to this: we take what we get.
   God gives us the day. It is up to us to use it and to give him thanks and praise for it. Is it too hot for our taste? At least we are alive to experience it. Too cold? At least we are alive to experience it? Too "whatever". At least we are alive.....
   Get the picture?
   What was your day like today?
   Did you remember to thank God for it? If not, you have a few hours left before the day is over.
   God bless...

   Today was not a really good day for me. This weather -- the incoming fronts -- has played havoc on my sinuses.
   So this afternoon around 3:00 p.m., I called it quits. That is unusual for me. I'm usually around the office later than that and many times in the evenings as well. But I just had to go to the house and sit back and nurse my headache.
   While I was doing so, I thought I would get lost in a mindless treat.
   The other day I went to the bookstore to use a couple of gift cards that I have received over the past months. Lo and behold, I decided to purchase a Blue-Ray version of the 70th anniversary of The Wizard of Oz. I put that in this afternoon and watched it.
   Wow.
   They really don't make movies like that anymore!
   I enjoyed the movie and got to thinking about some of the implications of it that I certainly would not have thought about when I was young and saw it for the first time. Those include:
The Yellow Brick Road -- we have been hearing the past couple of weekends about how the path to the Kingdom is narrow. We need to remain on the path if we are to have any chance of reaching the Kingdom of God.
The Wizard of Oz -- Many people treat God as if He were some kind of wizard. The great and powerful Oz will give me whatever I want. God is not like the great and powerful Oz. He does not play games with people's lives. He is much too loving for that.
The Wicked Witch -- The devil is just like the wicked witch. He wants, desperately, to keep us from reaching the Kingdom. He will do everything in his power to distract us, to waylay us. Do not let him win.
The Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Lion -- God puts people into our lives to help us on the way to the Kingdom. Sometimes those people are the last people on earth we would ever consider. Sometimes those people look way too weird for us. But God places them in our lives for a reason, a very good reason. We should not be afraid to allow them to aid us.
Somewhere Over The Rainbow -- Don't we all want to go there? God calls us to set our sights higher, to reach for things unseen, to long for Him in ways that will keep us moving toward Him.
   That's about it for the insights I had today. Just remember, God calls us all to His Kingdom. Stay on the path, resist the enemy, accept the help of friends along the way and never lose hope of going home to the Father because "There's no place like home. There's no place like home. There's no place like home!"

   If you went to Catholic Mass today, you would have celebrated the Twenty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time.
   In doing so today, someone lost out on their feast.
   For today, August 29, when it doesn't fall on a Sunday, is the feast of the Beheading of John the Baptist.
   This is truly a study in human nature.
   We have a king. A king who is a sinner. Specifically, the king married the wife of his brother. And the king knows that he is a sinner, because he listens to the words of John the Baptist as John sits in the king's prison cell.
   We also have the king's wife, who is incensed that John should have such a sway on her husband. So much of a sway that her husband just might listen to John and get rid of her.
   The king is brought down by lust and pride. He was at a party where his wife's daughter dance greatly aroused the king's interest. He swore to the girl that he would give her anything, up to half of his kingdom. When the girl sought from her mother a suggestion for a gift, the mother immediately requested the head of John the Baptist.
   The king was mortified. He felt John was a great prophet.
   However, the king was also proud. He had made an oath in front of important guests and he felt that he would not be trusted by others if he did not make good his oath.
   Not being able to stand up for what is right, he dispatches his soldiers to behead John the Baptist.
   They don't call them "capital sins" for nothing. Pride, greed, gluttony, lust, sloth, envy, wrath. These sins can be and are the downfall of many people.
   Yet even when we are tempted by those deadly sins, we do not have to succumb to them. No. Jesus gives us the grace that we need to reject the temptation and to do what is right.
   John the Baptist lost his life because the king would not stand up for what was right.
   We can stand back and judge him for his actions, call him a bad man, and never learn from that story.
   Instead, we need to use that as a wake-up call for ourselves. When we feel as if we are trapped in sin, all we need to do is reach out to the Lord and ask for His aid. He is unfailing. And He is stronger than sin. He can -- and will -- help us if we but ask.
   Reach out to Him today!

   

Me.

   

Me.

   

Me.

   

Me.

   

Me.

   Isn't that what so many people are absorbed in nowadays? The "World of Me?"
   And yet, as Christians, that is the last thing that we should be interested in.
   Rather, the readings at Masses this weekend remind us that we should be about others.
   God challenges us to give of our gifts to others. To dedicate ourselves to the service of the poor, the needy, the powerless. In short, all of those people who could never, in a million years, pay us back.
   That message goes so contrary to our human nature.
   But as Christians, we realize that we are called daily to rise above our human nature in its basest forms and to do what the Lord asks of us.
   The payback? Yep, there is one. The payback is that if we serve others, God will reward us at the end of our days.
   Fame, fortune, accolades of all sorts? Those may be nice here on earth, but they are fleeting and finite.
   For myself, I'd rather have the reward that is eternal.
   I choose God. I hope you do so as well!

   Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. There is hardly a sport's bone in my body. And that may be why I do not understand.
   But what if I am right?
   As I was coming back from an appointment this evening, I had the occasion to come down the side streets to the parish. My trek took me near the high school. In the distance ahead, I could see why the traffic was so slow. There was a police car in the middle of the street and the officer was directing foot traffic as people crossed the street from the parking lot to go to the opening football game for the high school.
   If only people would show the same enthusiasm to go to church!
   After all, when was the last time that you saw police directing traffic so that people could pack into church in order to worship.
   But when it comes to the weekend worship that we call sports, traffic jams abound.
   When did we loose sight of all that is truly important?
   I know that sports have their place. They help to build up individuals. They can teach leadership skills. They garner people scholarships so that they can go on to higher education.
   But do so many people have to worship at the field?
   Is God not more important than a football? A baseball? A basketball? A hockey puck?
   I cannot tell you the number of times people come to a Saturday evening Mass and see me in the foyer beforehand and ask me to cut short the homily so that they could go home and catch the game.
   We have to quit cutting God short.
   We have to begin giving God His due.
   Or else we will become so lost that we will no longer care.
   And that, my friends, will lead to dire -- and eternal -- consequences.
   So, to all of you who spend time on the field tonight, may I ask you a favor? Would you spend just a third of the time you spend at the game tonight at a worship service this weekend? Go to Mass. Go to church. Go to synagogue. Go and worship God, who gives us all. Yes, even sport's talent.

   If so, you might want to know this:
   By Matthew Shaer / August 26, 2010
   "Garmin, an electronics manufacturer headquartered in Kansas, announced today that it would recall 1.25 million Nuvi GPS units, 796,000 of which were sold in the US. According to Garmin, the affected Nuvi units use batteries – built by an unspecified third-party manufacturer – that could cause the device to overheat and possibly even catch on fire."
   "Only a select range of Garmin devices are affected. They include Nuvi units bearing the model numbers 200W, 250W, 260W, 7xx and 7xxT – xx in this case being two digits. Garmin has set up a site where you can check whether your Nuvi device fits the bill; US and Canadian customers can also contact Garmin at 866-957-1981."

   It always saddens me to hear about problems in families.
   Sometimes that problem is abuse. Physical, sexual, emotional. You name it.
   Other times the problems in the family stem from divorce.
   Still other times it is because of substance abuse of a parent or a child.
   Another one was reminded to me this afternoon while I was at the house eating lunch. I had the television on and was watching the news at Noon. A commercial came on regarding Missing and Exploited Children.
   This has been a burning "cause" of mine for many years. I pray often for these kinds of children.
   You may not be aware of this, but every 41 seconds -- that's right, I did not make a mistake, it was not 41 hours or 41 days, it was 41 seconds -- a child "disappears" from his/her family.
   Sometimes it is because the child ran away. Other times it is because the child was abducted by a stranger. Still other times, the child was "abducted" by a family member, often because of a separation or divorce among parents.
   Sometimes that child is living in the same community yet no one can find the child.
   Other times, the child is taken from the country.
   All these children -- runaways or abducted -- end up exploited in one way, shape, or form. Some of them end up being pimped out and sold for sexual favors. Some end up hopelessly addicted to substances. Others have their lives torn apart because they are forced to live away from a parent.
   One in 41 seconds.
   Have you thought about how many seconds it has taken you to read this blog entry?
   In that amount of time, a few to several children have turned up missing.
   Do you want to do something about it? If so, go to Missing Kids.com and find out how you can learn more about this terrible social ill and, perhaps, what you might be able to do about it.

   I am not sure I have much to offer tonight . . . just a bunch of random thoughts.
   Today was the end of one full week of school already. We began school last Thursday. Can you believe it. Five days of classes have already finished. Before the students (and faculty and staff) know it, we will be on Christmas vacation!
   The weather has been quite nice the past couple of days. Although it's supposed to heat up again by Friday, it is still much better than the weather of the past several weeks. I know that many of you dread winter, but I, for one, am waiting for the cold. As I am so fond of saying: "You can always put more on. You can only take off so much -- before they call the police!" That is why I prefer cold to hot.
   With time flying, the Church has created a new timeline. With the recent approval of the new Mass changes, we (priests, liturgists, musicians) have a little over a year to prepare for the inauguration of the new language. The new Mass texts are set to take place with the First Sunday of Advent 2011. As Cardinal Francis George has stated, "“From that date forward, no other edition of the Roman Missal may be used in the dioceses of the United States of America." It may sound like a lot of time, but that year will go quickly. Perhaps too quickly.
   In order to help our preparation, the priests of the Diocese of Gary will spend their entire convocation in October (17-21) studying the new texts as well as preparing ways to help educate the faithful. I am beginning to pray, already, that (1) all the priests embrace these changes positively and (2) the faithful embrace the changes just as positively. In all seriousness, the new translation "fixes" some terrible translation problems that crept into our present text. If you pray the Mass in other languages, those translations are much more faithful to the original Latin text. Our English translation, on the other hand, often strayed far from the Latin texts.
   It amazes me how our economy is still faltering, jobs are hard to find and keep, and the stock market is as volatile as ever. I sometimes wonder when it is ever going to straighten out. It certainly seems to highlight the old thought and/or fear that there is no "returning to normal."
   I finally got a haircut today. It has been a while since I have been able to get to my barber. When he asked where I've been, I told him that by the time I would be able to go to the barbershop, it would be too late in the day and they were already closed. I told him I got so desperate last week with my hair hanging over my ears that I tried to cut it myself. As he was cutting, I told him that he was kind not to mention how badly I screwed it up. He paused for a brief moment and said, "I figured you already knew. But don't worry, in a few more minutes I'll have it all fixed up again." I may be a Jack of All Trades, as I mentioned the other evening, but I think I may have learned not to attempt to do my own hair anymore!
   Well, that's it for my random thoughts for tonight. Okay, maybe one more: Get well, Virginia!

   This morning was a lot of fun at our first All School Mass of the new school year.
   At that Mass, we gave a special "Welcome" to 142 students who are new to our school this year. That is really exciting. We also welcomed two new teachers.
   At the Mass, we also celebrated the feast of St. Bartholomew.
   That is where the "didja know?" comes in.
   I asked the students if they knew why, while we were celebrating the feast of St. Bartholomew, the Gospel was clearly speaking about Nathaniel.
   Didja know why? Didja?
   I'll tell you.
   Scripture scholars believe that Nathaniel IS Bartholomew. Bartholomew, in Hebrew, means Son of Talmai. So Nathaniel was the son of Talmai.
   These interesting tidbits and the way they are presented at Mass, I believe, can make the faith fun and interesting.
   There is so much to learn about our faith. But it does not have to be presented in a dry manner.
   I would hope that, after going home, one or more of our students would have been able to tell the story about Bartholomew and Nathaniel being one and the same.
   I see an analogy to our faith in all of this.
   There is so much to learn and, yet, God only reveals Himself to us a piece at a time so that we have the opportunity to reflect upon Him and to learn more from Him.
   Ultimately, we learn that we, like the apostles of old, are called to be sent into the world.
   By the way, "apostle" literally means "one who is sent." Didja know that?
   Let's do all that we can to learn more about our God so that we may respond to His invitation to serve Him faithfully.
   And, by the way, to all our new students and faculty, let me say one more time:

   After all, I practically bragged this morning to Deacon Joe before the 6:30 a.m. Mass: "I don't have much on my calendar at all today! Just morning Mass, try to get in to see my aunt, and the Knights of Columbus meeting tonight."
   Oh, Mike. When will you learn?!
   As soon as I said that, my day went off the rails, technologically speaking.
   I realized this morning that an appointment I put into my Outlook calendar at the house last night did not appear on my calendar at the office this morning. It really puzzled me.
   Then, I realized that anything I attempted to put on my office calendar was not even being saved to the data file.
   After a couple of hours of walking back and forth to the house and my office computers, I was able to isolate the office problem. I had recently installed Google's calendar sync application so that I could put my calendar on my Google page.
   BIG mistake.
   I had waited for them to release the application so that my calendar would update again. We have switched to Office 2010 and there are several software applications that have not caught up to the new structures yet.
   Well, Google sync appeared to be working fine.
   However, when it updated my calendar, it was keeping the data file locked so that it could not be modified. Exiting the program fixed that problem.
   Then it was on to the house, and that's where my day went from bad to worse.
   It appears that the synchronization between my house computer and my office computer has broken. Further, my network profiles defaulted to my machines instead of the network profile directory because they could not synchronize.
   The fix? It appears that we're going to have to blow away my profiles and "rebuild" my desktop. Most, if not all, of the data will still be there, but registrations, index files, et cetera may have to be re-entered. Can everybody join me in a rousing, "Why is this happening to me?"
   But, you know what, as awfully nerve-wracking this day has been, I am alive and in relatively good health. I want for very little (except for a sound computer system) and have little about which to worry.
   I am much more blessed than many people I know.
   I should be looking at ways to share my joy rather than my gloom.
   St. Rose of Lima did all of that in her life. She rose (no pun intended) above adversity to dedicate her life to the poor and the needy. She did not complain. She loved God's people and served their needs.
   I hope that I can learn from her example.
   In the meantime, if I snap at you in the next day or two, you'll know why!

   I would like to amend last evening's blog post.
   When I wrote, "Jack of all trades, master of none," I totally forgot about prayer.
   There are many things at which I am not very good; however, prayer is not one of them. I think I'm rather good when it comes to prayers -- especially prayers for others.
   I get people asking me quite regularly to pray for them. I always say I will.
   I remember one time someone hearing me say that I would pray for another person who asked for prayers as they were leaving the church after Mass. I assured the person of my prayers. The one who overheard came up to me and said, "Do you even know that person's name?" I had to admit that I did not. Then the person said, "Well, how can you know who you are praying for?"
   Hmmmm. Good question.
   However, I have an even better answer.
   My angel!
   I really do believe in angels. I believe that God gives us angels to watch over us. He gives us all a special angel to protect us, our Guardian Angel.
   A long time ago, I also asked God to give me a Recording Angel. It is that angel's job to write down the names of all the people who have ever asked me for prayers. That way, when I pray, I can always ask God to consult my list of people as I keep "all those who have asked for my prayers" in mind.
   I really, really, really do believe that those person's special requests are being honored as I "remember" them in prayer.
   And that is not because I have discovered some spiritual loophole or because I am really great at prayer. It is because there is a God who loves us so much that He does not want any of us to go without. He does not want any of us to suffer. He does not want any of us to feel abandoned.
   If I asked for a Recording Angel, I believe that one was assigned to me. And if I ask that angel to make sure to write down the name of a person who asks for prayer, well, that angel writes it down. And if that angel does not, he will not have to answer to me. He will have to answer to his "boss." So I am sure that my angel keeps the records in good order!
   May God bless you this evening. If you ever have a prayer request, please let me know. I'll make sure that I add it to my list! [Marge, I've added your request to my list already. I'll do more than "squeeze in" a prayer for your Aunt Mary. I'll be remembering her regularly in my prayers.]