Homeless . . . but A Ray of Hope!

A light!

And sounds!

Human voices and laughter!

Out there in the middle of nowhere, in the midst of this darkness - a light!

A ray of hope!

Obviously we headed in that direction.

And entering that well lighted building, the haunting aroma of Italian cooking filling the air, we brought the merriment to an immediate halt.

Gathered was a group of maybe ten, twelve. Obviously they were just finishing their dinner and still had a healthy supply of wine with which to deal before departing.

And suddenly - silence.

They all looked up and across the room.

Looked squarely at these two strangers who had just walked through the doors.

They looked at us!

And we greeted them.

And they continued to stare.

Obviously, in a place like this at an hour like this wanderers just did not drop in.

But we did.

And so we attempted to explain what had happened and what had brought us to this moment.

And they listened.

And smiled -- and then chuckled -- and then began laughing.

And then they began to stand and ready themselves to leave.

One of the group took the remaining wine and handed it to us. "You need this more than we do. Enjoy!"

And at that point the owner of the establishment presented himself. He had heard our saga and now was inviting us to sit, relax and enjoy the wine.

Like we needed more wine.

Food, we requested. Can we get something to eat? 

But, unfortunately, the owner informed us, the kitchen was closed. The cook was cleaning up and preparing to go home. Day was done.

But we can still sit, relax and enjoy the wine.

But we really needed food.

Anything?

Perhaps a sandwich?

He agreed to go back into the kitchen and see if she would be willing to produce a couple of sandwiches before heading home.

Momentarily he returned and with good news. She would fix up a couple of sandwiches and then head home. We would have some solid food!

And wine!

The owner brought out stilll another liter of wine for us to continue enjoying, relaxing and as something to wash down the food that we were about to enjoy.

And then the sandwiches emerged.

They were huge!

We would have some solid sustenance to tide us through the night.

The owner sat with us and we enjoyed conversation, food and, of course, more wine.

We asked about a possible place to stay but, unfortunately, he could recommend nothing.

Those park benches back at that little rustic train terminal would have to serve as our resting place for the night.

Meantime, for now we had a new friend and a reason to be grateful.

Hospitality was real, alive and active in that countryside that night.

And we certainly had wine!

. . . And come back soon for the ending of this saga! 

Meantime,

keep praying

and stay safe.

And Homeless Again . . . The Saga Continues . . .

Train stopped.

Out in the dark and in what then seemed certainly like the middle of nowhere.

Something was going on and I was about to find out what. 

Leaving my traveling buddy behind with the wine in the dining car, I headed off, traveling through a couple of other cars before I caught the sight of the conductor. He was working his way through the cars, moving in the direction toward of me and so we were headed directly for each other.

He caught sight of me.

And instantly those Italian arms of his began waving as he cried out to me to get off the train!

Apparently, he had made radio contact with another train which was headed to Rome. Both trains stopped at this common point. We could switch trains and get to Rome at a still reasonable hour.

Only, I could not just get off the train.

I had to get back to the dining car and get my friend moving as well.

As soon as our eyes caught each other, I began yelling to him to get our stuff and get moving.

To which he responded, "But we haven't finished the wine yet!"

No time for the wine!

We had to get moving.

And so we did, disembarking the Naples non-stop and heading in the direction of the train on its way back to Rome.

We stood on the ready to climb into the waiting train.

Only to watch in total frustration as it began to pull away!

We had delayed a bit too long and someone concluded that we were already on that train.

No choice, then, but to get back on the Naples non-stop.

And so we turned around to head back.

Only to see this train begin to pull away as well!

Obviously, the conclusion was that we had successfully made the transfer.

Only there we stood.

In what really seemed like the middle of nowhere.

Evidently, it was a train station - country type station.

There was a sizable canopy providing a covering from inclement weather, a couple of park benches for sitting, some overhead lighting and an actual desk with someone behind it!

Someone who stared at us in total disbelief.

He was obviously shocked to see us standing there. From his outfit, he must have been the station manager, ticket seller and whatever else.

And he was closing up shop and getting ready to leave but now there were these two wanderers with which to deal.

We explained to him and he explained to us.

Now we would just have to wait there for the 5:00 AM train to Rome.

Could we get a cab?

Your kidding, right?

Could we hire some local to drive us to Rome.

Seriously?

Could we get a place to stay?

Those benches will just have to do.

Some food?

Look around.

What do you see?

Nothing - right?

Well, welcome to the Italian countryside at night.

Enjoy!

Our only glimpse of human life was packing up and heading home for the night.

See you in the morning.

Well, with no where else to go and nothing else to do, we decided to make something of a pilgrimage of the time. A pilgrimage, by the way, is traveling with God in charge; one's GPS, so to speak, is God who is free to call the shots.

We started walking down the dark deserted road, nothing on either side but the fields; nothing in front or behind but the empty road.

And the darkness.

We were making very sure not to turn off that road in any way. We needed to get back to that terminal.

We prayed.

"Hail Mary, full of grace . . . "

The words poured forth and we fingered our way through the Rosary.

And then up ahead we saw it; we heard it.

A building!

And lights!

And laughter!

Sounds of people, of life.

It was some sort of Inn or Tavern!

Out there in the middle of nowhere.

In the middle of the night!

. . . And come back soon for still more of this saga! There is definitely more!

Meantime,

keep praying

and stay safe.

And Homeless Again!

True!

The incident I wrote about in my last blog was not the only time in my life that I was homeless. There was another time, a very dramatic time.

I found myself homeless due to some surprise sunshine and Italy. What a combination!

It was October, 1990, and I was in Rome for Sabbatical  Studies at the North American College. The Sunday in question came early in that October. I and a couple of other Sabbatical Students got scheduled for concelebrating Mass outdoors, in St. Peter's Square with Pope John Paul II. We were also charged with assisting in the distribution of Communion.

And it was pouring rain!

Drenching rain!

And there we sat trying our best with plastic to keep ourselves somewhat dry.

The Holy Father, of course, was unfazed by the rain as he was safely located under a canopy, all nice and dry.

As the Mass progressed, the rain stopped.

And then it happened.

As the Holy Father lifted the Eucharist, at that moment of elevation, the sun came bursting through the clouds.

Don't know how he managed that but it was really effective.

All of a sudden what looked like a drenching, dreary day was transformed into a brilliant, sunshine filled, beautiful October day.

A fine sort of day for a trip out into the countryside.

I convinced one of my classmates to join me on a Sunday afternoon trip out to Orvieto.

We took the train. I had an Italiarail Pass, good for travel anytime, anywhere in Italy. My friend bought a round trip ticket to and from Orvieto.

For those who do not know - Orvieto is out in the countryside, up something of a mountain, a somewhat quaint village with a reputation for fine, dry white wine and a mammoth church, gorgeously constructed and with a reputation for some medieval incident in which a doubting priest experienced a bleeding host to convince him of the real Presence. That secured its reputation as a place to visit!

Our plan was to spend the afternoon, enjoy some Orvieto wine, check out the church and finally head back to Rome before the final train out of Orvieto. Back in Rome we would enjoy some pizza and wine at one of our favorite tavernas in the city and then be back at the College at a reasonable hour.

And so at the appropriate time we headed down the mountain to catch our train.

Which was late.

No surprise in Italy!

When it finally arrived, it was not only late but also crowded, jam-packed. Seems a whole lot of others had the idea of heading out into the countryside on this beautiful, October day. We would not even stand a chance of finding seats. We would stand.

And that I remember well. We got ourselves located between cars, hanging on to the railings, doing all we could to keep ourselves steady and secure.

Again, for those not familiar, there are a couple of train stops in Rome. The main one, the one we were aiming for was Termini. From there would be a simple bus ride, getting off almost at the taverna right on the Tiber and then the climb up the Janiculum Hill to the college.

Train stopped.

The stop was the one before Termini.

Not ours.

But almost everyone got off.

The train almost totally emptied.

We were able to get seats even if just for a few minutes.

And, when we got moving again, the conductor was able to walk down the aisle checking tickets.

He came to us.

I had my Italiarail Pass so I was good for anywhere, anytime.

My buddy showed his ticket and the conductor just shook his head.

He pointed back in the direction from which we had just come.

"Rome," he declared.

To which I responded, "Termini."

To which he responded, "No!"

Seems we were not stopping at Termini.

Seems there was only one stop for Rome that evening and we had just missed it.

Seems we were now on a train headed nonstop to Naples.

Arrival midnight!

Return train to Rome - 5:00 AM.

Not exactly what we had bargained for when we set out for our afternoon in the countryside.

But that is what we were getting.

And so we decided to make the most of the situation.

We headed to the dining car to get some food. There would clearly be not pizza at the taverna that evening.

And no food in the dining car either. The crowd that did manage to get into the dining car on the way from Orvieto to Rome literally cleaned the place out of food.

But there was wine!

In Italy always wine!

And so we could at least enjoy some wine while we laughed at our (mis?)fortune.

And then suddenly somewhere out in what seemed like the middle of nowhere, the train stopped.

Something was happening.

But what?

Have some more wine!

. . . And come back soon for part two of this saga! There is definitely more!

Meantime,

keep praying

and stay safe.

June 6, 1964 - - - Homeless!

Fifty-six years ago now and I still remember.
And, of course I remember, that day, June 6, 1964, was the day on which I was ordained a priest.
So, it being a rather significant day in my life, how could I possibly forget it.
Even some of the smaller details of that day still hold in my memory.
And here are some of the smaller details, likely also either unknown, ignored or outright forgotten.
Up until that very morning we who were about to be ordained remained in the seminary, St. John's Provincial Seminary in Plymouth, Michigan. Since it was a Provincial Seminary, that meant that it housed students from all over the Province of Michigan.
However, by the morning of June 6, 1964, only those from Detroit still remained.
Oh, and one exchange student from the Philippines.
The others had already gone home for their ordinations in their home diocese around the state. Underclassmen had also already ended their academic year and gone home.
Only we remained.
We were not going home or anywhere.
They kept us there, at the seminary.
Maybe they were just being careful with us.
Or maybe their were trying to make sure we would not run away at the last minute.
Who knows?
Anyhow, this was the one day, the first and last day when, for breakfast, we could order anything we desired!
Awesome!
Real bacon and real eggs!
And warm toast!
And then we got ready for the bus ride.
The seminary provided our transportation into Detroit to the Cathedral where the ordinations would take place.
We had to go by bus because, legally(?) we were not allowed to own cars until after ordination.
Of course, after ordination we would need our own cars rather quickly and so, unbeknown(?) to the authorities, when we were home for Easter that year, most of us bought cars. We actually got to see our new cars in May on visiting Sunday when our families drove out to see us in our shiny,  new cars.
But they would really not be ours until after we were ordained.
And we would need them rather quickly, especially since we had that seminary-provided bus ride to the Cathedral.
But after the ceremony, we were no longer seminary responsibility.
We were on our own.
And so, on the glorious day, families arrived at the Cathedral in two cars - the family car and our cars. We needed after ceremony transportation because while we were engaged in photo-ops and a brunch with the Archbishop, families headed home.
We were on our own.
And to remedy that dilemma, our cars were brought and parked nearby. Someone made a note of where the car was parked and as we ended the ceremony and processed down the aisle oh so reverently, almost unseen, members of our families reached out to us, not necessarily to touch the newly sacred, but to hand us car keys and location notes.
We would have transportation.
And we needed it.
Another small detail I remember - we were informed that, because we were no longer seminarians, we would need to have all our stuff out of our rooms that day by 5:00! I think someone may have said "Please."
But the Seminary needed the rooms back to start getting them ready for the next class.
So, in my very own car I headed from the Cathedral directly back to the seminary to load up my stuff and head out.
Back home - I thought.
And late that afternoon I arrived at the door of my family home with a car loaded with stuff, almost all of my life belongings.
I entered the house which was filled with laughter, noise, music and many, many other sounds.
There was a party going on.
Of course there was.
They were celebrating - me!
And then my dad saw me standing there.
Another small detail remembered.
He came up to me and asked, "What are you doing here?"
"Well, I thought I would come home," was my logical reply.
"But you can't stay here, " came Dad's response. "We have no room for you. We have company from out of town, you know. We gave someone your old room. You can't stay."
And so there I was.
June 6, 1964 - Ordination Day!
And as it was ending I had a car filled with stuff.
And no place to go!
With a party in "my honor" going on.
But I couldn't stay.
Oh! OK, it really wasn't all that harsh.
Dad invited me to get something to eat.
And I could use the phone, call the parish. Maybe I could stay in the rectory guest room.
Have a drink! Get some food! Greet your guests!
And then, so long!
See you tomorrow.
June 6, 1964 - homeless!
Remembering some small details.


Stay Home!
Stay Safe!
It isn't over yet!

No Going Back

Public Masses are set to resume in the Archdiocese of Detroit as is also happening in many other places across the country and also across the globe. Together with that the other day the clergy of Detroit had a Zoom Room teleconference with the Archbishop. In this session he unveiled some plans and proposals for the future shape of the Church of Detroit. I will not go into detail in this regard as the plan is for the Archbishop to unveil this proposal before the entire Archdiocese on Pentecost. I do not intend to steal his thunder!
However, let me just say that we will not be going back to the way things were before the pandemic hit.
And we shouldn't.
And having said that, let me set before you observations and ideas of my own for moving forward.
One item, in particular, stands out.
From these days we should have learned something, and if we learned well, then we should act on what we have learned.
One very strong lesson - modern technology can help us.
Use it!
We talk a lot about building communities, about reaching out beyond our doors, about sharing the Good News creatively.
Well . . .
Look at some of the things we have been doing in these past weeks.
Live streaming Masses - mostly Sundays but in some cases also daily. Before this entry into this strange and brave, new world, we already had Masses for shut-ins as well as a daily Mass that could usually be found on something like EWTN. So, in a sense this was already familiar territory. However, we breached some important new frontiers.
Parish communities were live streaming.
Parish members and staff were discovering that they really did not need expensive, sophisticated equipment. Most of the needed tools were already at hand.
And we could stream live and local to our own people, our own communities.
All of a sudden so many began to discover that, if they could not get to join the community for Mass for whatever reason, well, the community could join them in their very own living rooms. OK, maybe the streaming sites did not have much by way of communities due to the Stay Home, Stay Safe, but as we begin to reopen, familiar faces will once again populate those now empty buildings.
And if we continue the practice of regular, weekly streaming of parish Masses, our members who cannot physically join us, can still feel a part of us. No longer will they need to watch some strange faces from some unknown places, listening to unfamiliar voices.
Community can reach out beyond our walls and into the homes of our parish families.
Why should we stop this?
And that streaming thing - well, it goes for the Cathedral Masses as well.
How wonderful that our bishops, the true "fathers" our our faith families can be streamed into our homes. I know many folks who not only watched Mass from their home parishes but they also joined the Cathedral Mass.
Why loose that?
And when it comes to those bishops - here in Detroit every Wednesday evening one of the bishops would live stream praying the Rosary.
We talk about the importance of prayer and especially of family prayer. It is a constitutive element of the domestic Church. And here we have entire families of families, led by one of those chief shepherds, joined in prayer.
Why should that stop? Smaller praying communities can build and strengthen the larger faith community.
And I know that in a number of parishes, to manifest a sense of support and solidarity, pastors and members of pastoral staffs also provided regular messages of inspiration - again live-streamed and then available through social media like Facebook.
Another good idea - simple faith outreach.
And who can predict how extensive such methods of outreach might become?
Instead of returning to the way things were, we ought to hunger for and commit to the discoveries we have made, the tools we have found, the lessons we have learned.
And there is still more.
Just days ago well over 200, actually close to 300 priests were able to join the Archbishop for a Zoom Meeting.
No longer need distance or weather conditions be allowed to be barriers to getting together. Meetings can still have live participants but they can also broaden to include those who, for one reason or other, cannot actually be present.
We have learned to Zoom!
Let's keep on Zooming!
In recent days and months around here we have heard the cry and challenge to Unleash the Gospel.
Well, in these days of pandemic what if we accepted that God is giving us some valuable lessons and tools to enable and empower us so that we can effectively, in Twenty-First Century fashion, Unleash the Gospel.
If lessons have been set before us, we would be foolish not to learn.
If tools have been handed to us, it would be foolish not to use them.
No going back!
Church - time to look ahead!


(And, by the way, if you might want to print a copy of this to give to your own parish priests and parish pastoral leaders, go right ahead. It might give them some ideas for moving forward. Feel free to get the word out. My ideas are for you and for free!)

And Stay Home; Stay Safe!

We'll Remember Always . . .

Graduation Day!
Only this year for  so many who are graduating, especially from college, university or grad school, that memory will not include a walk up those stairs and across that podium.
This is the reality of Graduation in the Era of Covid-19.
A number of colleges and universities are live streaming ceremonies. Graduates, families and friends can join in, watching from the safety of their own homes and vicariously giving a shout, round of applause as a name is called and a graduate distant from that ceremony swings her/his tassel to the side indicating, "I've made it!"
But while this option is available, a lot has been said and written about how this year's graduates are missing out on some critical moment and experience in life.
This year's graduates?
What might we even mean by that?
This year's graduates - from what?
In the year 2020 we have those who have gained advanced degrees - doctorates. They are definitely graduates.
We also have those who have attained their Masters Degree in one field or other. Graduates.
And there are those who have achieved a Bachelor Degree - also graduates.
And then there are high school graduates and grade school graduates and even sometimes middle school "graduates" and primary "graduates."
Oh, and let us not forget about Kindergarten grads and the real cute ones, Pre-school graduates.
We have a whole lot of graduates and graduations these days.
Let me take you back some years, back to my time and my experiences and my graduations.
First of all, back in that day (which would be my day) there were no pre-school graduations because there was no pre-school.
The whole educational process started for some of us with kindergarten. For many even this was not available or an option.
Anyhow, kindergarten meant that you got ready for the full brunt of grade school. It was a sort of warm up and it neither required nor provided anything like a graduation.
So, by the time I was six, I had already not been provided with two of today's graduations.
Yet, somehow, I survived.
The grade school that I attended had no divisions identified as primary and secondary or middle school. It was simply grade school, from grade one to eight.
Thus, there was also no reason to even think of any graduations anytime before grade eight.
And it was a parochial school, run totally and completely by nuns.
And we had a high school as well, right there in the very same building, just a different wing.
And the assumption was that we would simply complete those first eight grades and continue on, seamlessly, for four more years in the same place and process.
So there was also no need for an eighth grade graduation. We were just moving around the corner.
However, all around our neighborhoods there were friends of ours who went to different schools and having graduations. We were feeling somewhat deprived. Anyhow, some clever and rebellious among us (was I one of them? What do you think?) came up with a kind of substitute for our missing graduation.
We would wear class ribbons.
Those things probably got lost in time but back in the day, my day, various grade schools marked their graduates with class ribbons. They were simple things, two ribbon bands, two colors, class colors, worn over one's heart and marking the wearer as a graduate.
We at least had visible class ribbons much to the dismay of the good sisters.
Then came high school.
And I  reached graduate stage at the local seminary high school.
And there we were informed that there was no need for graduation because we, as seminarians, were just moving from one grade to the next, most of us in the very same building (again!)
But the rebellious among us rose up yet again.
No graduation - fine.
No ceremony - fine.
But after our last whatever on the final day of high school, we scheduled ourselves to go out all together to a fancy restaurant where we, as a class,  celebrated our achievement by ordering steak dinners.
That was a splurge of significance, five dollars each not counting tip. (Remember, this was back in the day.)
So I arrived in college still technically never having actually graduated anything.
But college, St. Mary's, Orchard Lake, did have graduation complete with caps and gowns, diplomas, ceremony, the stroll across the stage, honors convocation,
At long last I did graduate!
And went from there into major seminary, which, of course, is grad school.
I suppose we had a graduation after completion of that program.
Only instead of graduation, this was called ordination.
But my education process was not yet completed.
I found myself a few years later journeying to the campus of Notre Dame to work in grad school on a degree in liturgical theology.
After that educational  leg of my journey was complete, there was once again, after all these years, the opportunity for a full graduation, this time with a Masters' Degree.
Cap and gown, honors, diploma and all in that stadium flanked by Touchdown Jesus.
And this time I said, "No, thanks."
Just send me the diploma.
And I hopped in my car and headed back home.
I skipped that opportunity.
So, looking back over the years I have experienced a whole lot of missed graduations.
And know what?
I survived.
And you can too.
After all, true success is not about a piece of paper but what ones does over a lifetime with the hard work behind that piece of paper - what one does with life itself and the opportunities and challenges it offers.
Graduation is a moment.
Education is a lifetime.
Don't let that opportunity slip by.



Stay Home!
Stay Safe!

Return to "Normal" - Should We?

That is the increasing cry these days as we move daily further and longer into this pandemic.
"Let's return to normal."
"How much longer?"
"Why can't we just get back to . . . "
Return to normal!
Is that what we really want?
Is that what we really should want?
After all of what has unfolded in the past weeks and months, do we just want to go back to the way we were before it all?
Should we want to just go back?
How about going forward?
How about realizing some long held dreams?
How about being bold enough to make long called for, long awaited changes?
How about refusing to simply embrace the old status quo?
Can we actually dare to make changes to the way things were and start to build the way things should be?
As a society, as the Church can we dare to be different? Better?
This pandemic has brought the world to a halt in so very many ways, ways unimagined just weeks or even days before.
What if . . .
What if we prayerfully began to see this as a time of Grace?
When we journey through the Scriptures, we find a people willing to search for the Hand of God or the Message of God in life's occurrences. They also believed that in times of adversity, God had something strong and important to reveal to them.
They were not always good about listening or immediately accepting the message but when they finally did, they found themselves enriched.
What if we gave that a try?
What if we used some of this down time to search for God's Wisdom as it may be being revealed and discovered in our present circumstances.
The world has virtually come to a standstill.
Life as we knew it is at a standstill.
Virtually everything - yes, everything - that we held as value has suddenly been called into question.
We have an historic opportunity to rethink, reevaluate, reexamine everything.
We do not need to get back to the way things were.
We can move forward rather than backward.
But we need to pay attention, to listen, to see this as a time of Grace, of God.
What, truly, is important?
What, really, matters?
What should we let go of and what should we cling most vigorously to?
And here is the true bottom line.
What would God like to see from us as we reopen?
What is God's desire?
Get that. Not our desire but rather God's.
And if we are to enter into that question, we must recognize our need to pray - really pray and not just utter some words.
Looking back at our yesterdays, it seems to me that we can find a whole lot of what we wanted.
And that meant a whole little of what God just might have wanted.
In our process of reopening of our, or wait - should that not be God's - world, what should stay and what should go. What belongs and what really does not fit.
What must we do to make things better and what must we rid ourselves of?
And as we dare these thoughts, we need to make ourselves bold and daring.
God is no coward.
And God never settles for the status quo.
God's Spirit is fire and whirlwind.
Young dreaming dreams and old having visions.
And that Peter who said, "I do not even know Him," standing on that portico before the multitude declaring, "You do not know Him -- but you need to!"
Visions and dreams.
Of a nation truly committed to the ideals of our founders.
Of a world truly committed to becoming one world.
Of a Church truly committed to embodying His Way.
Of families truly embracing one another.
Of each of us truly accepting the freedom to be responsible for. . .
Catherine of Siena, that great Doctor of our Church, so many centuries ago so boldly challenged her time with words that can challenge us still.
That Dominican Preacher declared, " Do not be satisfied with little things, because God wants great things!"
Back to normal, to the way things were.
Please God, stop us from doing that!
Help us to be better than that!


For now, please Stay Home and Stay Safe!