Rousing Rambling

While on a business trip in California, I witnessed firsthand the problem of homelessness.     I arrived after a six-hour flight to the city of Los Angeles and took an Uber from the airport to the hotel in Santa Monica.     The curious tourist in me was taking in all of the sights on the drive, familiar store brands, banks, and other companies with familiar names.     I was trying also to spot differences, different cultural influences, and so much more in that brief ride.     Before long though, a sad reality struck me.   What I noticed not too far out of the Los Angeles airport was the large number of homeless lining the streets in gray tattered blankets.     Sometimes you could make out the person’s body, sometimes only a lumpy blanket.     Even in Santa Monica, there were many homeless in the streets.     At night, walking along the Santa Monica beach and pier, every few hundred yards was another homeless per...

 Remembering my Father My father passed away on May 31, 2022.  Many years ago, he had told me that when he died, he didn't want us to be too sad, and wanted me to tell stories about him and his life, so that we would focus on the good he had done.  I was honored to be able to deliver this eulogy to my father at his funeral Mass.   Good morning.   My name is Mariano, and I am the fifth of my parents six children. On behalf of Eileen and my brothers and sisters, I would like to thank everyone who has taken the time to accompany us during this time of loss, whether through the gift of presence in our homes, at the wake or here in the church, but also presence through messages, meals, flowers, and so much more.  Your expressions of love and sympathy are truly appreciated.  We also want to thank Father Jack Oliveira for his presence with my dad at his bedside on the day of his anointing.  My dad loved you so much and would be honored that you are prese...

Ecclesiastes 7:2 tells us that, "it is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart."  On this day after Thanksgiving, this passage speaks to my heart so profoundly.  Thanksgiving day is perhaps my favorite holiday, one that is about being grateful and being with those we love.  As always, this year I again enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving day.  There was an overabundance of food and drink, laughs, stories, sports, and family.  We ate in ways that we do not normally eat...and then continued to eat after we overate.  The wine jugs were refilled often.  No matter how many times we repeated, "I ate too much" we continued to eat some more.  Thankfully, intertwined in the moments of feasting, we paused to thank our God for all of His goodness to us.  Prior to our overeating, we stopped to give thanks, and to pray for t...