We Are All Children of God

HERS:
They say you can never go home again. I think our Roamin' adventure this weekend proved this saying to be true. This weekend we attended the 8:00 am mass at St. Patrick's parish in my hometown, Erie, PA. Yay, no singing at this one! This is the parish I literally grew up in. I have so many memories of St. Patrick's Church, St. Patrick's Grade School and St. Patrick's rectory. So let me give you some history... and not the church kind, but my kind of history with the church. My earliest memories of St. Patrick's is going to the rectory with my mom where she was the cook for the priests for a while and where she helped to clean the rectory with another woman. I remember joining her in the kitchen and playing on the old fashioned elevator that brought us to the different floors. I also have fond memories of accompanying my grandmother (Gram) to the cold basement of the rectory where she was the laundress for many years. She let me iron and use this apparatus called a mangle that had a huge roller and allowed you to press fabrics by passing them through this roller. As a kid I took great delight in spending hours with her as she washed and ironed the priests vestments, alter cloths and the priests clothes. Let's just say they went through a lot of laundry! Anyway, St. Patrick's was like home to me.

I have many wonderful memories of times at the rectory, years at the school and masses at the church.  I met my very first friend, Bridget Flanagan at St. Patrick's School. How's that for a good Irish lass? I received all of my sacraments at St. Patrick's Church, and on September 4, 1992, Lou and I were married at a candlelight ceremony in the Church. I remember countless Sunday mornings sitting on the left side of the church with my mom, gram and brother to attend mass. I recall that the priest who baptized me, Fr. Thomas Plunkett left the priesthood to get married and have a family when I was young. I recall that the priest who gave me my First Holy Communion, Fr. Thomas Miller left the priesthood to get married and have a family when I was young. I remember my parents getting a call (in the late 70s or maybe early 80s) when the church was damaged by a fire. I recall countless Irish festivals at the Cauley Memorial. And I remember in 8th Grade when a small group of us performed a mime at the Christmas Eve Mass to the song, What Child is This?". Yeah, that was strange, but it seemed perfectly normal at the time. My first job was at St. Patrick's Josephinum, the three-story bingo hall that used to be located on Fourth and Peach Streets.

So much of my childhood involves memories of the church, the school, the Cauley Auditorium and the Josephinum that it was beyond difficult to see the names of priests on the Pennsylvania Grand Jury's Report that I clearly remember and interacted with in the parish. As I have mentioned, since the report came out, I am struggling with my past fond memories of St. Patrick's Parish and the realities of what has happened.

I might have a little bias, but St. Patrick's Church is one of the most beautiful churches I have ever been in. It's main altar and two side altars are nothing short of spectacular.

The life sized Stations of the Cross are something I took for granted as a child but have a great appreciation for now. I guess as a child you think all churches look like this.

So this week included some very special guests. Lou and I were staying with our friend Lisa Slomski, who I went to high school with and Lou went to college with and who introduced us about 28 years ago. We attended mass with her and met up with Beth Wilczynski Reed, one of my besties from high school. While in the parking lot, Lou, Lisa and I were beyond surprised when we saw people literally streaming into the church. I read that the parish has grown from under 200 families to about 1,000 families since 2009.

So on to the mass. I had seen Fr. Kriegel's homily following the PA Report as it made it's way through Facebook. He bottom lined the issues of the Catholic Church by saying something needed to change with the Catholic Church and if it didn't, he no longer wanted to be a priest. From what we've been told, he has quite the following for masses as well. This mass was nothing short of a well-oiled machine. The mass was concise, the readings clear, the homily short and to the point. Fr. Kriegel even saved time by blessing the gifts at the altar as the ushers collected the offertory. It was almost too perfect. 

The homily - probably the shortest so far at just under four minutes - was very good in my opinion. Fr. Kriegel spoke of the funeral of a priest who died in Wisconsin. There were so many people at his funeral mass. The bishop and another priest were on the altar and when it came time for the gospel, the priest got up out of his chair on the altar. At that time a homeless man walked into the church and took the priest's chair next to the Bishop. Without missing a beat, the Bishop put his hand on the homeless man's hand and welcomed him. Fr. Kriegel wondered if he would do the same. Do we treat people the same no matter if they are rich or poor? Do we treat them the same if they are dressed up or dressed down? Do we treat all God's children the same? The answer is, we should, but... we probably don't.

He went on to talk about Mother Theresa Academy that is now in the building once known as St. Peter's School. This school has taken in 150 impoverished children from the Erie area to give them a grade school education. The goal is to reach 300 children. If the kids do well, they will attend high school tuition free. From there, they can attend tuition free college. He also spoke of St. Patrick's Haven. This is a place for 27 homeless men to sleep, shower and have breakfast. The point of all this? God doesn't judge people based on their looks or their income level and we shouldn't either.

Back to not being able to go home again. St. Patrick's will always hold a special place in my heart. As I looked around the church, I felt the familiarity of the church with the small "c"... the building. The altar I stood at with Lou as we were married... The Stations of the Cross we recited every Lent in grade school... The altar of Mary where we had a May crowning every year... The main aisle where countless coffins of family and friends where carried for their funerals... The choir loft we we stood in to sing for mass... The candle area where I would light candles with my mom and gram... The ceiling area that was destroyer in a fire... the confessionals where I received my First Reconciliation... the altar where I received my First Holy Communion and Confirmation... the main aisle I walked down to bring the gifts for Communion... the podium I stood at to say the Readings... the altar where the cloths my grandmother ironed would rest...

The Church with the big "C"... the people were all unfamiliar. The priest was unfamiliar. After mass, I tried to make a connection between my past in the parish and the present. I mentioned to Fr. Kriegel that I had grown up in this parish and that my mom and grandmother spent many years working at the rectory. The next logical question would be... What were their names?  That question was not asked. When Lou complimented Fr. Kriegel on the FB post of the message he delivered in his homily after the Grand Jury Report, he quickly told Lou that it had received 17,000 views. No, this was no longer my parish. I'm sorry to say, this felt more like a well-run business. Sigh.

The four of us moved on to Dave's Diner where we were joined by Maria Slomki Wagner, another VMA friend and her husband Kurt. Dave's Diner is the happening breakfast joint in downtown Erie. As soon as a table would clear, there was a group at the door waiting to sit at it. We all enjoyed good food and good conversation. I was so happy to have this group join us on our weekly adventure. 

I end with our breakfast "Us"ie...

HIS:
What would Jesus do, what would Jesus say?  This was a question asked by our homilist from mass yesterday at St Patrick’s Church in Erie, Pennsylvania.  St Patrick’s by the way is the church that Mary and I were irreversibly, forever and never to be separated wedded some 26 years ago!  It was so nice to be back at St Patrick’s which looked beautiful following a 2012 renovation.  I must say though that I am a bit pensive these days as to the church’s behavior as it pertains to the sex abuse scandal.  On one hand, I have a tremendous amount of sympathy and empathy for the victims of the horrible crimes perpetrated by officials of the church.  Not just the pedophile priests but the massive cover up by those who should have protected the abused and literally should have practiced what they preached!  On the other hand, I long for the church I knew as a child and young adult.  A simpler time when you could feel safe in the church’s embrace and trust in what it offered.  Sanctuary from life.

Even though Mary and I attended the church of nature last week, I still read the readings for the Twenty Second Sunday in ordinary time.  The Gospel according to Mark says, "Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written: This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines human precepts.  You disregard God's commandment but cling to human tradition." and “Hear me, all of you, and understand.  Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile.  From within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly.  All these evils come from within and they defile."  If those passages don’t directly address what the church is guilty of, I don’t know what will.  I read these words and it is almost like a how-to manual for committing sin and losing people’s trust.  WWJD?  Would Jesus forgive the transgressors?  Would Jesus forgive those who tried to cover up the sins of others?  Jesus teaches us to forgive.  JPII forgave the man who shot him.  I have asked myself if I could forgive someone who perpetrated a crime against me or a member of my family.  I am against the death penalty, but neither I nor my family have ever been the victim of a capital crime and been faced with thinking about that.  I like to think that I am strong enough to perform this incredible act of charity, but I just don’t know.

I had someone at work ask me if I thought the bible should be interpreted literally or figurative.  I instinctively answered, figuratively.  I think this week’s gospel offers some insight into this interpretation for me.  We were taught in this week’s gospel that Jesus makes the deaf hear.  I interpret this to mean not only that Jesus can provide hearing to the deaf but also to the hearing, providing us with the ability to hear his word.  What’s the old adage, “the Lord works in mysterious ways…”  I think the tragedy that is the scandal within the Catholic Church has made this deaf man hear.  The second reading today teaches us not to judge people by their social status or the way they dress but instead to treat them with the dignity of a person of God.  Our homilist mentioned that the parish is looking for volunteers to spend time at St Patrick’s Haven, a men’s homeless shelter.  They are looking for the volunteers to just spend time with the men there and to listen to them, to let them know that they are valued, someone hears them.  It is not what clothes they wear, they are children of God.  Isn’t that the way we should treat everyone?  Truly words to live by.  This stuff really isn’t rocket science!  Its not calculus, its not geometry, its not algebra and as Mary would tell you as it pertains to me, it ain’t even basic math.  Its common sense.  Treat others like you want them to treat you!  Its in the bible, look it up!

We were joined at mass this week by Beth Wilczynski Reed and Lisa Slomski.  Two Villa Maria Academy for Girls friends of Mary’s.  Lisa Slomski is also responsible for getting Mary and I together.  For that I will be eternally grateful.  I cant let this opportunity pass without saying a few things about this beautiful church.  I remember before we got married, Mary telling me how important it was to her that she be married in this church that meant so much to her from her childhood.  St Patrick’s was a bit smaller than I remembered it from the last time we visited.  This doesn’t mean that it isn’t grand.  The church appears to gleam following the 2012 renovation.  

The enormous stain glassed windows that flank the church are spectacular as are the life sized stations of the cross that ring the nave.  Not to be outdone, the organ in the choir loft is spectacular in its scale.  The building’s construction was begun in 1897 with the first mass celebrated in 1906.  Mary tells me there was a fire in the church back when she was a child, but there are no visible signs of this in the church now.  They have done a great job of mixing the old with the new and the church has a welcoming feel to it.  After mass we stuck around to take some pictures and were surprised to see several others doing the same thing.  Another surprise were the people streaming into the building prior to mass starting.  The church was packed when we walked in and we had some difficulty finding a place to sit.  Apparently Monsignor Henry Kriegel has quite a following in the diocese and people follow him.  He is quite charismatic.

Breakfast was at Dave’s Diner in downtown Erie.  We were joined not only by the Beth and Lisa but also by Maria Slomski Wagner and her husband Kurt.  Maria is another friend of Mary’s from VMA.  Dave’s is the happening spot in downtown Erie.  Very close to Gannon University, another of Mary’s alma maters, there is a young vibe that these old folks felt right at home in.  The six of us enjoyed a wonderful breakfast of eggs, sausage and companionship.  It’s a beautiful thing when there are shared experiences.  Nothing like old friends.  Live life like you mean it.

Here's our "Breakfastie"...

 And we end with our "Soulfie"...

Thanks for reading!