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!