Rousing Rambling

  April 21, 2022 St. Anthony’s Shrine, Boston, MA      I have developed quite a love for St. Anthony’s Shrine in downtown Boston, MA as a place where I have experienced the merciful presence of Jesus on more than one occasion.  It is known to many as “the worker’s chapel.”  I first came to know them while working in the financial district as a place to attend Mass on holy days, but also as a place to seek mercy in the sacrament of reconciliation.      It was there several years ago that I confessed to a priest that I wasn’t honoring my father.  I told him that long periods of time could pass without me making an effort to reach out to my father and speak with him.  My penance was to pray for my father, and to begin to offer small acts of kindness toward my father.  As a result of that confession, I spent years making Monday nights my designated time to spend with my father.  It brought me...

 Learning My Life Truths  Several years ago, I made the decision to spend more one-on-one time with my father.  The reason was simple.  Sometimes, he was a hard man to love.  I never quite figured out if my father loved the art of debate, or if he enjoyed pushing people’s buttons…or maybe a combination of the two.  Months could pass by without me reaching out to my father, or paying him a visit.  One day, in the Catholic Sacrament of Reconciliation (or confession, for us old-timers), I confessed to the priest that I wasn’t living the fourth commandment, “honor thy father and mother.”  I explained to the priest that I loved my father, but didn’t make time for him in my life.  He instructed me to do two things, to pray for my father and to begin to perform small acts of kindness for my father.  I took that instruction to both love my father from afar (prayer), and more intimately (acts of kindness)....

July 6, 2015 Rosa Parks Circle, Grand Rapids, Michigan 38 th Convention of the National Association of Pastoral Musicians Public Concert with the Cortez family   While sitting in Rosa Parks Circle, in Grand Rapids, MI, attending an outdoor concert by Jaime Cortez and family, I watched a homeless man take his place at my side with a tin container of spaghetti and another container of some other food.   Clearly, one or two of the hundreds of people in attendance at the outdoor event had given this man food to eat.   As he sat there eating the spaghetti with his hands, he seemed to be content.   He was clearly tapping his foot to the beautiful Catholic songs of the Cortez family, their Spanish rhythms and percussive beats evoking joy. Every once in a while, he’d break out into a little seated dance.   He seemed to be enjoying the spaghetti, as he pulled each handful to his mouth to eat.   I have to admit, shamefully, that I was a little grossed out wa...