April 7 Finan 6th c.

Thommy and John

good morning
i love you

Finan, a disciple of St Brendan.... and you too will be known by who your mentor is... and, just as important, by those who are your disciples. and we do acquire disciples, so be selective and then give them your all... starting, if your vocation takes you here, with your children....

Finan was the founder abbot of a monastery in Kinitty, Offaly. a disciple of Brendan and a founder abbot himself. pass it forward....

i love you
dad

April 7 John Baptist de la Salle b. 1651 d. 1719 c. 1900

John and Thommy

good morning
i love you

John Baptist de la Salle, born the eldest of ten children in a noble family. Grandpa has eight sibs, and there are 35 cousins among us [a couple already have died, including my brother Jimmy who died when he was five and i was in the novitiate] you only know a family of two children, the world's best brothers. and few cousins, unfortunately kept away from instead of often visiting for family and holiday events. i think that the smaller the clan, the more important the contact....

John Baptist de la salle studied in Paris - getting the best education available meaning his primary education was not only superb, he also excelled at it, his family and he optimized the talents and resources they had, together, for him.... as the eldest and a nobleman's son, John Baptist de la Salle was destined for the priesthood; tonsured at eleven and at 12 was named Canon of Rheims Cathedral - being canon was much more than, sometimes primarily, a positon of secular responsibility and authority, as well as a source of income.

1678 John Baptist de la Salle was ordained. He seemed set for a brilliant ecclesiastical career - well connected, well accomplished, refined, and scholarly. and then, the hand of God, maybe, put him together with Adrian Nyel, a man wo was opening a school for poor boys.

at first, John Baptist de la Salle was the benefactor for the school and its teachers. the school was failing. John Baptist de la Salle resigned as canon, distributed his remaining wealth for the relief of a famine in Champagne, and dedicated himself totally to this flagging mission to teach the poor. there are many paths that take us to our vocation - when you discern your calling, seize it with passion, dedication, your complete commitment and efforts

John Baptist de la Salle identified his first challenge to be the recruiting and training of the teachers. Gotta have the horses to pull the cart. and you have to find the right people; and train them, nurture them, mentor them. John Baptist de la Salle's first incliniation was to have all teachers be priests but when the man who was going to be the first Brother ordained died unexpectedly, he took this as a sign that it would be better if the teachers all be laymen/brothers. thus, The Christian Brothers :).

He founded the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools and established teacher colleges, including one at Saint Denis. Many parishes sent men to these teacher colleges so that they would return home and teach in the villages. John Baptist de la Salle was among the first to emphasize classroom teaching over individual tutoring. He also began teahcing in the vernacular (so sad for Latin, i guess). He saw how well his radical methodoligies worked, he started schools to teach others how to do it... Pass it forward!

John Baptist de la Salle introduced Sunday School in the Paris diocese. another way to provide service and have greater influence is to take a good idea and apply it to new arenas. he opened a school for delinquent boys ... and taught in the prisons.... when English mucky mucks had to flee their homeland, John Baptist de la Salle created schools for their children - a wholly different kettle of fish; and though these families, he more rapidly spread the influence of his schools and his teaching methods.

and when you are successful, you are guarenteed proportionate oppostion from the people already doing what you are doing better. the teachers, in this case, within the church and the secular circles sought to have John Baptist de la Salle's group disbanded. they instead bonded more strongly and persist to today teaching throughout the world.

anyone you know who is studing educaition should read John Baptist de la Salle's book The Conduct of Christian Schools. go to the original source document, written by the inspired author.... if you are forming a philosophy of education for yourself or your children, this is worth your perusal. do not forget the heart, the fire, the source of John Baptist de la Salle's teaching efforts - his faith and his vocation to serve God. he also wrote books about prayer and meditation. they are each worth a read - especially meditations for sundays.

In 1950, John Baptist de la Salle was named patron saint of teachers. when you teach others - individually or in a class, teach in the vernacular, the language of the student! and ask John Baptist de la Salle for his help and guidance.

i love you
dad

April 8 Brynach of Carn-Engyle 5th c.

John and Thommy

Brynach was an irishman who settled in wales... you are a nashvillian now in greensboro with family roots n nyc back directly through your great grandparents [all 4 nolan side] to ireland, west of ireland to be exacter....

Brynach built a hemitae and a church at Cam-Engyle, mountain of angels - - the place got its name because Brynach was in constant communication with the angles.

it may be necessary for you to go to another place for you to fulfill your vocation, to even discern your calling. and when you get there, don't forget to talk with the angels to help in that discernment. Uriel may be a confirmation name that has a meaning none of us understood when Thommy was confirmed....

i love you
dad

April 7 William Cufitella of Scili b. 1316 d.1411

Thommy and John

good morning
i love you

it talkes all kinds to make the world go round. it takes all kinds to round out each individual's fulfillment. two parents - God does have a good plan there. one parent is not enough for a child's fulfillment of your gifts, talents, graces etc. and the diversity of mentors and models helps you to identify your vast potentials and give you guidance on what to do and how to do it.

William of Scili is very different from William of Eskill.....

William started the pursuid of his vocation as a Franciscan tertiary. an option available to everyone one. our church has so many facilitators of our vocation, our pursuit of perfection, our desire for holiness. the tertiaries of various orders not only bind people together around a core of spiritualies, they also provide a smorgaborg of options for how to pursue our personal holiness.

William became a hermint in Scili, Sicily. seventy years in a little cell. imagine that! the little cell as home and hearth. a modus of spirituality, a way to better dedicate oneself fully to God. there are many ways to screen out the distractions and temptations that constantly rise up to pull us away from God and from doing what's right and good. learning to shut our ears to the prying and heckling and dissing of people who see our pursuit of God's perfections as a witness against them instead of an opportunity to also become closer to God instead of immersed in themselves of their wrong faith or their unfaith or their anti faith.

William lived on vegatbables - home grown or gifts. living on vegatibles does not sound so appealing to me but the discipline and simplicity of diet are ways to cleanse one self from distractions from God....

William left his hermitage to care for the sick and tend to the nearby church. what brings you out of your abode? why go forth? a better first question - what is happening under your roof? how are you living in your abode so that yo are better knowing, loving, serving God in your mano a mano with Him? so that when you do go forth, you're bringing the love and grace of God with you. to do what? care for the sick? help the church? your gifts of time, talent, and treasure to the Church?

Many people came to William of Scili for guidance and direction in their spiritual life. one measure of how you are developing, what you are creating within yourself to pass forward, to give back, to share and make the world a better place, one measure of who you are is what do people ask of you? what do people see in you that they desire you to share?

the people of Scilli heard the city's church bells ring and ran to William's hermitage - there to find him dead on his knees with his arms raised.... how will we be discovered at the moment of our death....? we do have some control over our last message, our last statement about ourselves, how we die, how we are found when we do die....

i love you
dad

April 6 William of Eskill b. 1125 d. 1203 c. 1224

Thommy and John

good morning
i love you

i'm always curious how it got decided which place became the object of the person's OF? William was born in St Germaine and spent a goodly part of his training and formation in Paris. if i were to be identified, i would hope it'd be William of New York (city). and i have spent so very little of my life living there; yet, i have spent my entire life identifying myself with NYC, an irish catholic boy from new york city. and you? [yeh, i know, at 17 and 19 it may be early yet. how would you want that decision made for you - since we don't get to name ourselve for history, that's what our legacy does, our family, friends afterwards in remembrance; or if we rise above the mass of the ordinary, maybe a biographer or a historian....]

1148 William became a Canon of Ssint Denis. Willilam adopted a more austere and regular life with enthusiasm. [my mantra is death by exercise, that's how much i am enthusiastic about exercise. i do love to write though. i do love to think and pray. the fasting part is not my forte - look at my waistline to prove that. still, it's past time for this william to become if not enthusiastic at least postive about a touch of austerity and a dab of regularity as well as some exercise.... ora pro me. et tu?]

William's reputation for canonical discipline and holiness spread to great distances. one advantage in living at a cross roads of commerce and academia - once seen or engaged, then the word spreads easily along the common channels....

The bishop of Roskilde sent his messanger [Saxo, an historian] to William to ask him to restore the discipline in the monastic houses of his diocese. There are several William saints as abbots; abbots who led reform. not unlike my career in healthcare. hospitals are analagous to monasteries - small communities within themselves whose members can drift from their iedeals and the purpose for their institution's existence. and before you realize what's happened, well, the place and the people have run amuk. restoring discipline and returning to the original mission is what this tigger does. and the example of so many saints who did simialr things within their vocation has helped me ground my efforts in fainth which also gives me the hope that this time, the upteenth time, we will succeed again.

William accepted this delicate task of renewal. and it is a hard struggle to lead people to change a comfortable and rewarding life style, a reinforcing modus operandi. but William succeeded at one monastery after the other. The difficulties, the challenges, the barriers to success - for William then and this William now as it will be/is for you - the oppostion of powerful people who have a vested interest in the status quo and oppose doing what's right and doing it the right way. there are also always interior trials - a crisis of confidence; the absence of the next good idea; a period without hope; the temptations to just quit and say it's just not worth my pain to solve this problem. there's also the accommodation to the new place and the different people - a prophet is not welcome in his own country so we go and work in 'foreign' places - where the climate, physical as well as psychological, is radically different: i'm a new yorker, and tuscaloosa, birmingham, detroit, new orleans, nashville, winston salem, et al. have been challenges of place and people very different from me....

For thirty years, William was abbot over these monasteries and accomplished renowned reformation. not, of course, without cost to him - e.g., having crossed some powerful people along the way, William had to lead denmark for a period until things cooled down. throughout it all he sustained the support of the bishop - - for any reformation, short term or long term, it's necessary to have the support of the significant stake holders, if not, it's a futile effort. reformation means you're going to anger and offend lots of people - by preaching reform you're also telling people that what they've been doing is wrong, bad, etc. not a message anyone wants to hear.

try out some of William's efforts in your own development because you too will be called on to lead based on not so much what you accomplish along the way but how you do so ....

i love you
dad

April 5 Juliana of Mount Cornillon b. 1112 d. 1258 Corpus Christi

Thommy and John

good morning
i love you

in this renewed era of Eucharistic Congresses it might seem quaint to remember the person most responsible for the establishing of the Feast of Corpus Christi. i remember Benediction [and tamtum ergo! or, from snow white, Hi Ho Hi Ho it's off to work we go.... that'd be a story from grandma about me.... we were at benediction only a day or so after seeing snow white. the priest, as the organ ramped up the tantum ergo, encouraged all to sing with enthusiasm. well, i sung with enthusiasm! my mother started to hush my Hi Ho as the other children joined in the popular refrain - yes, it was common for lots of children to be at benediction with their mother. well the priest had asked for enthusiastic singing, he got it, he apparently liked it as he overrode the mothers's efforts to hush the children. sing praise does not mean it has to be tantum ergo or gregorian chant.... :) ] and i remember worship at the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. both common occurences/opportunities through my college years. that waned in our practice - stll not common in these here parts, or any of the places i've been in many years.

Juliana. we don't get her family name. i wonder why? she had parents. even orphaned at age five, someone took care enough of her to have her placed in the hands of the Augustinian monastery at Mount Cornillon. The nuns at this dual monastery took care of the sick, especially the lepers. Juliana and her sister Agnes were sent to a dependent farm for nurturing, turtoring, and safety. Agnes died young. Julian grew up studious with an intense devotion to the Blessed Sacrament.

how do you figure such a devotion evolves and comes to fruition in a 13th c. child? might we want to recreate such development in our chldren today? with the sisters, Juliana probably participated in daily prayer times, probably in the chapel; in the presence, the real as well as spiritual and communal presence of Jesus. The Blessed Sacrament; He's really, truly, bodily present to her. to us. awesome phenomenon; experience! letting ourselves experience the Real Presence - it takes getting to the church; especially to Mass and our other liturgical services. immersing ourselves in the rites and rituals.... skipping those, being takien away from their routine presentation, letting them fade from our personal practice - one cost of the absence of pater materque. ..... the Mass of my chhildhood was in Latin, with the priest facing the altar which was against the wall; thus his back to the rest of us. the ringing of the bells at the consecration; the raising of the Host and Chalice above his head - it was high ceremony. and for benediction and the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament there was the golden, elaborate monstrance. .... such ceremony can capture the imagination, all the senses of the child [incense and all... the church smelled like a church. each Sunday we had high mass which had incense. all the time the candles were burning from many racks around the nave.] falling into a devotion of the Blessed Sacrament, responding to one's Grace and the invitation to come and devote oneself to Jesus qua Blessed Sacrament.... i can see it. can you imagine it?

In addition to her developing devotion to the Blessed Sacrament, Juliana poured over the books of Aquinas and Bernard and the other church fathers whose volumes were there on the monasteries book shelves. a learned woman!

Juliana, starting when she was sixteen, had a vision of the moon shining brightly on her, day and night; the moon with a dark band across it. day and night, haunted by this vision. an effort by the devil to distract her from prayer? a sign from God about something? .... go figure? how do you explain it? must have scared the heebi jeebies out of her? and how must her spiritual advisor handled it - so many personal spiritual experiences and to best understand them, put them in context, find the wisdom to embrace them, it is best to have a spiritual advisor. not any ole person but one steeped in faith and with the training and experience to guide others in their discernment..... Juliana came to seen this vision as the moon's being our Church Calendar and the band an missing feast day, ... specifically a day to honor the Blessed Sacrament.

what does Juliana do with such a vision and insight? a woman. in 13th c france. This vocation, to create this feast, permeated her life: a life of an ordinary nun in a monastery.... until she became prioress in 1225. and she spoke more openly and widely about her vision and the importance of creating a Church feast to the Blessed Sacrament. Eva, a holy woman, recluse, across the river (herself Blessed); and Isabel of Huy, a woman Juliania accepted into the community; then to John of Lousanne, canon of St Martin's church nearby. John consulted various thologians about the propriety of such a feast - one theologian, James Pantaleon became Urban IV. They found no theological reason not to have such a feast.

however, opposition arose to creating such a feast and to Juliana personally - one way to beat down a seminal idea is to beat up on the messenger. like you. you carry the seeds of baptism and confirmation - not only is your faith and religion beaten down all around you, you are personally impinged upon to stop acting like a Catholic and be like the rest of the people in your immediate vacinity..... in Juliana's situation, the religious was, as usual in that era and place, mingled with the secular - the running of the hosptial and property and charity funds (money, jobs, power). and with the personal standing of Juliana went the rise and fall of the possibility of the creation of the feast for honoring the Blessed Sacrament. she won some and she lost some. and she persisted! Her vocation was clear to her; Juliana's resolve, the strength of her grace, the support of prayers as well as some powerful people in the church and her own community helped her persist. [discern your vocation and be tenacious. build that tenacity by prayer and closeness with God; build that tenacity by bonding with family and friends, those who believe like we do and who authentically support your vocation for you and the greater glory of God. build that tenacity by joining within the church others with both simialr vocation and the desire to support such vocations. never alone. always with - God, family, church.

Juliana, with a few companions, were buffered from pillar to post - expelled from Cornillon, living on alms, finally being taken in by an abbess [who also got from Cornillon the remaining dowry that Juliana brought to that monastery.]. from this new safe place, Juliana espoused her cause. until she died in 1258, without seeing her efforts bring about the desired feast. still, because she pursued her vocation not alone but with God and family and friends and Church....

Eva carried on the effort. The bishop os Liege supported the feast. James Pantaleon Pope Urban IV and the rest, as they say, is history. Thomas Aquinas composed the ofice for the feast of Corpus Christi.

Juliana's story is inspirational.

a devotion to the Blessed Sacrament supports our faith.

connect to both....

i love you
dad

April 5 Becan 6th c

John and Thommy

good morning
i love you

Becan, one of the 12 apostles of ireland.
and you, how are yo urecognized for your contribution - to self, family, community, church, and country?
how will you be?
how do you want to be?
what are you doing to be recognized for your holy contributions?

Becan was a son of the royal house of Munster and a blood relative of Columba.
genes do matter. being connected to and involved with family is important -
separating from genes or family is a disservice to you, family; and it's dissing the Person who gave all that to you.

Becan is known to be one of the three greatest champions of virtue [along with Endeus and Mochua; also saints]
known for virtue. not a bad rep to have....

Becan, a leader of saints in an era of holy men....
it was a fruitful time for saints in ireland in the 5th 6th c.
your time has your own opportunities -
with whom you bond and bring your grace into the world does matter.

Becan's stories have him often working on his knees - probably true some/most of the time.
making all work prayer [and all prayer work] is part of the perpetual message of Becan and our Church.
Becan's ecstasies at prayer and work are renowned.

a brief bio blurb for one of The Twelve of Ireland....
maybe the stories extant aren't elaborate.
his impact is perpetually positive for each and all of us....

try him, you'll like him.

i love you
dad

April 5 Vincent Ferrer b 1357 d, 1419

Thommy and John

good morning
i love you

i'm only about two and a half weeks behind in my saints entries qua blog. been writing alot more than typing. short stories mostly. quasieautobiographical, of course - both a history dump and an emotional dump. there are some advantages to little sleep, one being lots of awake time :) for writing, reading [bio "MICK" aka michael collins; george carlin; andrew greeley; patterson; and clancy. a lot of stories there. and an HBR re: leaders and what leaders expect and how to deliver expectation. then there's the work reading, learning/looking for policies and procedures. when something goes wrong, the first question, how should it go? and the answer to that is in the policy/procedure - and when there is none that addresses that.... ooops.... even more room for improvement....]

vincent ferrer, famous - within church and in his era and in the history of europe's 14th c. because the history of europe may not BE the history of the church but it is inseparable... and as much as we want separation of church and state as a political maxim, there is no such separation for individuals, groups, and, thus, for the body politic...

vincent ferrer, famous for 'building up' and strengthening our Church. whatever we do either makes us better or not; makes our family better or not; makes our community better or not; makes our church better or not - - inseparable; inescapable - - even the denial of affiliation is an act, negative to self, family, community, and church; weakening each and all.

vincent ferrer - - preaching, missions, teaching, confessor, adviser.... and a partridge in a pear tree. we are each more than one participant in our own life as well as the life of others. son. father. executive. teacher. mentor. volunteer. knight. communicant [not qutie daily but an aspiration - charles boromeo parish, beautiful church in the modern american style.

y'all should know alot about vincent ferrer already. no, not just from the movie The Saint.
Vincent Ferrer, dominican. born in valencia spain - yes a bit of geopolitical history does you some good in knowing, understanding, appreciating st vincent. he was 17 when he entered the monastery near his home. [i was seventeen when i went into st stanislaus koska novitiate in lenox ma.... each of you are past 17 - and your discerning of your vocation is how? where? what?]

vincent ferrer made his entrance into the lives of many through the academic portal. soon after his final vows, he was commissioned to deliver lectures on phliosophy. see, the church honors the pursuit of truth along many roads. acutally, the discipline of philosophy is a precursor to the study of theology; maybe a sine qua non.....

upon being sent to barcelona [being sent, superiors, obedience, faith, trust....], he continued his scholastic studies and devoted himself to preaching. contstant study. pursuit of the mastery of the medium - preaching; too bad our priests aren't that committed to study or the talent of preaching.

he was assigned to teach at Lerida in Catalonia - he received his doctorate. yes, credentials are important. not only are they tickets to opportunities, tickets without which opportunities are less accessible. and, while doing his "work" i.e., his study and teaching and preaching, vincent ferrer 'perfected himself in the Christian life.' who we are, Catholic, is inseparable from what we are, e.g, student/executive. therefore, our efforts at anything is emeshed in our perfecting our Catholicity - our closeness to Jesus and our living in a way that perfectly emulates him. [of course you wince with the expectation of perfection. that's the pernicious anti catholic atmosphere you encounter. pursuit of perfection is our purose, why we are created - to know love and serve God in this world and be with Him forever in heaven. like the country song i heard again yesterday while driving thru west virginia and virginia; if you have a dream, a dream is so great that it seems unattainable, dream it anyway. if you don't go for the gold, not are you not likely to get the gold ring, you're not likely to be happy in whatever second class effort you're making.]

1394 [a time of two, more, ?, popes] Vincent Ferrer was Master of the pope's palace at Avignon. Vincent Ferrer, from this high platform tried to end the schism.... unsuccessfully.... ok, he flopped, and flopped big time... and still, remembered as building up the church? and canonized? what's that about?

vincent ferrer, with the pope as benefactor could have had/done anything in the church. e.g., he turned the red hat and asked to be appointed apostolical missionary - a visa to preach and teach anywhere....

vincent ferrer, after failing to bring the big wigs under one big tent, pursued his vocation - to evangelize.... nearly every province in Spain. and he went to france, italy, germany, flanders, england, scotland, and Ireland. in addition to the persuasion of his preaching, vincent ferrer was helped along with God's not so invisible hand, the power of miracles.

vincent ferrer lived to see the election of Pope Martin [my only Gavin side cousin's name] V.

i love you
dad

April 4 Tigernach of Clogher d. 549

Thommy and John

good morning
i love you

Tigernach. as the story goes... and who know how the story became and how much of the story in history and how much is the blarney of the bard to enrich the impact of the man beyond his times....

Tigermach was teh son of a famous general, Corbre [or not], and the daughter of an irish king, eochod. thus, of course, he was baptized by bishop st conleth of kildare... you two, each of you, were baptized by kevin o'connell, sj. friend from my novitiate days, he was already a theologian. he was a department chairman, college president, archeologist, and rich in talents, academic and liturgical. and he was/is my friend. i sure wish that when he came to preside over the wedding of your parents he had not assumed that all the bases were touched by the st francis chapel newman center chaplain. but, alas... he presided over the wedding. he baptized each of you in st elizabeth's of hungary, a national church now in the care of the jesuits, the same church where i was baptized. kevin also came to console and consult with me during the tragedy of your mother's divorce... a friend. you did get baptized by a mucky [maybe not a mucky muck but a mucky.... ]

Tigernach had saint brigid as his godmother. y'all didn't do so well. the honoree didn't make it to the church on time so your grandmother was the stand in. and your godmother chose not to fulfill her vows either to help raise you catholic; she followed her sister's lead to take you down a different path. i suggest you find brigid in your life as your mother qua ireland's mother mary....

while a youth, Tigernach was captured by pirates and given to the british king who put him in the monastery of Rosnat - what better way to make it unlikely that he'd show up like his father the general at the head of an army; what better way also to keep Tigernach's father at bay....

at the monastery at Rosnat, Tigernach took advantage of the opportunity - and he couldn't possibly have seen it as an opportunity going in, he learned to serve God, he probably discovered the one true God there, to, as we pray, we'll know love and serve with our whole heart mind and soul. what are the opportunities you have to rejuvenate your service to God, your reception of his Love, his graces, ....

He was returned to ireland and with his conversion passionate faith plus he status as the grandson of the tribal Ri and the son of the general, Tigernach was consecrated bishop in 506.

we become who we become by fulfilling the opportunities given to us to serve God.

i love you
dad

April 2 Bronach of Glen Seichis [unknown]

Thommy and John

good morning
i love you

Bronach is found in the martyrologies of Tallaght and Donegal - so she must have been around making a big difference sometime in our irish heritage.... look around Rostrevor, County Down....

a virgin. a virtuous woman who gave herself to God first and last. but not only, of course.

Saint Bronach's Bell.... an invisible bell that rang in Glen-Seichis, today its Kilbroyey, churchyard. of course the irish heard it and responded to it properly..
then, in 1885, a storm ripped down an old oak tree, a druid's tree maybe, but that's just my own addition to the legend, and in the branches was found a 6th c. bell...

the bell and st bronach's cross can be found in the parish at rostrevor....

go look for yourself, put your hand on the bell, caress the cross, ... join Thomas in becoming a better believer...

i love you
dad.

April 7 Cellach b 1104 d. 1129 aka Celsus McAedh

Thommy and John

good morning
i love you

here's a story of doing what's right, no matter what....
and in this case, the matter what was both personal safety and the preservation of generations of legacy - no small consideration in the life of the Irish [so even from me to you, no matter what, your legacy from me, faith and fortune, what little of each i have to offer]

while still a layman, Cellach Mac Aedha, got the hereditary abbacy of Armagh, in 1105, at 26. i'm sorry guys, i don't have an abbacy to give you. i have a bit of HCA stock that'll pay your way thru college. i have a bit of grace to pass thru. like sidhartha i can think, i can write, i can fast [tho not as well as the first two]. and all that i am and all that i have is yours; in the genes and in the stewardship of fatherhood....

Ceallach mac Aedha decided to end the scandal of religious houses being governed by secular rulers. separation of church and state comes early [or late, howerver you measure it, it came, for a bit and then a bit longer] to ireland. Ceallach mac Aedha was ordained and three years later, at 29, he was consecrated archbishop of armagh. not quite inherited but who he was, personally and familially, made it happen....

Cellach was a reformer. a change maker. whatever leadership role foisted upon you, or one you pursue, you by definition are a change maker. so learn a bit from Cellach. not only the how but moreso the why. alignment is one principle of leadership. so heeffected many reforms to restore ecclesiastical discipline. in other words, we're going to live by our principles and values and rules....

Cellach was such an effective bishop for armagh, all of ireland's bishops gave him fealty and learned from him and absorbed his authority of righteousness. leveraging the role of the pope, Cellach brought liturgical rejuvenation to ireland as well as ecclesiastical reorganization. the heart of our public faith is our liturgy. and we're not particularly good at it in most parishes and most dioceses. we are a faith of rites and rituals - read andrew greeley, both his stories and his sociological research. and when we get the liturgy right, when we spark the heart and envigorate the soul, then the rest seems to do just a-ok. .... as much as i don't like the pastor of spx, my evaluation of some of his personal qualities are really out of bounds and may be irrelevant; still i admire his liturgical leadership, no small reason for the growth of that parish.... that you were taken out of the sphere of influence is a shame; maybe a purposeful exile or not; but a shame and a great loss - which you can really overcome on your own; just do it....

Cellach ended the hereditary nature of the see of armagh by giving his crozier to and naming/nominating as his successor st malachy of connor. of course malachy paid for that radical change in the warring amongst familial/tribal factions in armagh. doing what's right does not always elicit right action by others. e.g., my coming to pick you up, waiting for the fulfilliment of the agreements made by your parents, did not always elicit the right action by the adults or children at 308 or 2502... c'est domage.

remember the secret of a father's love, my love, The Father's Love

i love you
dad

April 1 Cellach of Armagh 9th c.

Thommy and John

good morning
i love you

you'd think a biggy from the ninth century would have more to his bio than
abbot of Iona
founder abbey of Kells
archbishop of Armagh

one would think being any one of these would have been a lifetime's fulfillment....
goes to show you, you can't ever know when you've done enough
there's always more and better to do...

i love you
dad

March 31 Machabeo b. 1104 d. 1174

Thommy and John

good morning
i love you


a twelveth century irish saint... see, we did get a few after the seventh century.

Machabeo, abbot of armagh, at the monastery of sts peter and paul for 40 years. that's what we know - even from the several sources i found looking for more details.

saint. abbot for 40 years. armagh.
and that's only a little less than thousand years ago.

he is irish, that's good enough for me
just like for Cookie Monster, C is for Cookie and that's good enough for me....

sometimes much less than we'd like is good enough;
on this second sunday of easter, the story of Doubting Thomas, what is good enough for you?

you have more than enough.
baptism's graces given to you - no accident about whom your parents are
reconciliation and eucharistic graces; leaning, doing, living your faith, even as a child, let the children come to me.
confirmation. even in the pagan worship of choice and free will - you chose confirmation, John and Uriel.
the seal of the spirit, the gifts of the spirit....
and now, be receptive and receive, re-make your life in the image of your baptism and confirmation...

Machabeo. abbot of armagh. good enough for you....

i love you
dad

March 30 John Climacus b. 525 d. 606

John and Thommy

good morning
i love you

another guy who started after his vocation early. John Climacus was sixteen when he began her eremitical life. [don't you just love the vocabulary of saintliness? :) ] eremitical. say that fast three times!

sixteen. John Climacus was younger than you are now when he know what his vocation was AND bounded with his graces to pursue it. pedal to the metal.

John gets his name from the book he wrote:
The Climax
i.e., the Ladder to Perfection.
[coincident that we give the pinnacle of sexual experience the same moniker: The Climax...a ladder to perfection]
one rung at a time
gradual
progressive
a learned accomplishment

John Climacus' The Climax gives us his exposition of the ideal of Christian perfection
[to the extent we pursue the perfect climax, we should also climb the lader to christian perfection]
John Climacus wants us to learn or learn from the virtues and the temptations of monastic life
to assimilate, to transfer from his experience to ours. John Climacus gives many examples and lots of practical advice - try a smidgeon, you just might like it. and when you write your book of virtues and wisdom to pass on, you'll have another example of a missive that in its day [including today] caught people's attention and effort.

John Climacus was 70 when elected abbot of the monks at mount sinai - the monastery he joined only fifty four years earlier. stay in one place long enough and you will experience the virtues and vices - you will have the opportunity to absorb the virtues and combat the vices....

when you're sixteen or even 17 or 19, you don't think much about being seventy - even with grandpa on the north side of seventy at 81. find your vocation and the grace to pursue it then fixate on it, climb the ladder, pursue the perfect climax.... the really big shew, as ed sullivan would say... stand at the pearly gates welcomed by John Climacus....

i love you
dad

March 30 Tola 7th c.

John and Thommy

good morning
i love you

St Tola. apparently founder of the parish/diocese of County Clare - the home of the Gavins.... grandma's family. it is a small world, and everything is connected; some connections are closer than others. try this link for a picture of the acientness of our history... back to and beyond Tola....

http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/history/frost/chap9_dysert_parish.htm

and/or was he a bishop in Meath ireland who sent missionaries to europe. or were there two Tola?

anyway,
know a bit more about our geneology back to clare, we are west of ireland descendants - cork, clare, mayo, galway and sligo. galway bay - a touch of heaven on earth; on the edge of the emerald isle.... aunts uncles and relatives galore....

know who you are from whence you came....

i love you
dad

March 26 Lasar 6th c.

John and Thommy

good morning
i love you

our irish saints, almost all from the 5th and 6th c, seem to often cluster - less than seven steps to kevin bacon; with our irish saints, it seems like there were only two steps to a Kiernan and maybe only four to Patrick. it's so important with whom you give your time; not only what you give also how and what you receive....

Lasar. a virgin. no small deal now; a bigger deal for a 6th c. irishwoman. the irish princess warrior was/is an ideal/expectation. the madonna of heroes and tribes. so a virgin; giving oneself totally and exclusively to God. no doubt married people, espicially in the sacrament of their marriage, not only give themselves to God, but also personify his Love. virginity is another sign of commitment, of honesty, of integrity. then chastity in marriage if that is your vocation....

Lasar, niece of st Fochera. [neither of whom make the online catholic encyclopedia...]

Lasar at Clonard. under the tutelage of Kiernan and Finan.

it does matter with whom you hang out.
it does matter in whose hands you place your education, your development.
it does matter where you do all this.
McGuinness would be/woulda been better than gds.
not everyone at clonard were virgins or became monks;
but all were better for the opportunity than those not there.
faithful fulfillment is not an afterthought nor should it excluded from the criteria for any choice...

we know what and where and with whom for Lasar.
fill in your own blanks for her.
she's worth at least a short story, ya think?

i love you
dad

March 27 John of Egypt d. 394

John and Thommy

good morning
i love you

John of Egypt - just for the last hour i mixed up in my muddling with John Cassian. oh well... there is a place for proof reading and then doing some thinking before clicking the publish button; and then the benefits of the edit button....

John of Egypt. a hermit and prophet. i used to think, probably until i was past thirtysomething, that hermits were isolates. certainly they persued their asceticism in a solitary fashion; in a hive/cell in the desert of egypt [redundant?]. the pursuit of perfection. responding to the grace of his vocation and going full bore to the Nth degree. do not be afraid to pursue perfection. anyone who tries to dissuade you speaks with devil's tongue. any time you recoil for the challenge of perfection, know it is the devil pulling you down. seek the best, excellence, fulfillment, the maximum attainable [not "your best" but The Best; and each day pursue better.]

John of Egypt became a hermit at twenty. a timely saint for each of you to consider. how are you going to be pursuing your vocation at twenty? dedicated to perfection. pursuing the best. shunning all the asides and giving your talents and graces their head?

John of Egypt walled up his hermitage and spent his life reading and studying and learning and praying and communing with God, His angels, and His saints. Plus, John of Egypt, through the window in his cell, would receive penitants, he would preach to large crowds on sunday, he'd prophesy.... be open, receive, maximize, and pass it forward.... a pretty good formula, no matter your vocation. anything less, actually, is not only cutting yourself short, you'd be dissing God.... Family... and Church....

i love you
dad

John Cassian b. 360 d. 435

John and Thommy

good morning
i love you

John, you in particular should get to know this namesake of yours.

John for baptism - half of the grandfather duet. your mother and i agreed, even before we agreed to get pregnant, that if our fist chld were a boy, we'd name him after his grandfathers. [i was named after my grandfather; my father, too, was named after his grandfather. you became a variation on that theme. you got a name from each of them. if you'd'a been a girl, you would have been monica jones; monica from my side of the family, my grandaunt as well as the equally inspirational mother of augustine]

John you also chose for your confirmation. [i'm guessing sr luke's teaching you in kindergarten that your real name was not Jack but John and that John the Baptist and John the Apostle, and so many other saint John's are taking good care of you..... i'm guessing some of that stuck at least to confirmation at the cathedral in nashville. and to repeat the replication of your baptism name, you chose uncle ken to not only be your Godfather but also your confirmation sponsor. [in addition to what you owe God in your multiple vows; how much do you owe uncle ken in the matter of keeping your word, your Vows?]

John Cassian was the son of a rich family. not unlike y'all. maybe we're not wealthy or super rich, but you gotta admit the houses, the education [still being paid for], the material goodies, the many opportunities form cash and contacts... you two too were born into a rich family....

John Cassian's parents made sure he got the best education. and in the fourth century, as well as the 21st, the best education necessarily includes faith and religion as integral to intellectual as well as personal development. [getting your catholic education cut out of your lives after the eighth grade, well, certainly not what was promised at your baptism or committed to in the divorce decree... but for y'all, being without faith formation is apparent in the hole in your personae as well as the languishing disspiritedness in the face of disappointments....] Look at John Cassian's beginnings, like yours. and discover how you can still fulfill the graces and gifts and resources you've been given....

John Cassian, after excelling in his liberal education - education in faith, literature, science, history, math; liberal in the only really good sense of the word - he and a friend went on a pilgrimage - like maybe y'all will take a semester in europe or the holy land or somewhere else. an chance to to and learn even more about yourself and your opportunities. John and his friend found an answer to their vocation in the monastery near bethlehem. because he was young and he aspired to perfection, John Cassian went to the desert, he did the Xtreme study of holiness. not to be by themselves in a self seeking but rather they sought the holiest of men, to visit and learn from the best. whatever your vocation, identify the best and learn from them, model after them, improve upon them. no sense trying to define the basics or even the first tiers of perfection by some solipcistic selfcenteredness. many have gone before you and have shown the best way[s]. dissing them or avoiding them or not pursuing them you do to your detriment.

John Cassian wound up in Constantinople as a disciple of John Chrysostom; who raised John Cassian to deacon and made him a member of the diocese's hierarchy. when John Chrysostom was exiled, John Cassian was sent to Rome to get the bishop of rome to intervene on Chrysostom's behalf. it was probably in rome where Cassian was ordained a priest. ... follow your vocation. pursue the best mentors. work for and on behalf of those who are the best. and you never know where riding the tail of a comet will take you. fersure to new and better heights.

history loses track of John Cassian for about ten years. in 415, he shows up in Marseilles. voila! where he founded two monasteries - one for men, one for women. John Cassian brings eastern asceticism, monastecism to the west. a grand example of Pass it Forward. you have been given many talents and blessings. how do you pursue your own perfection - by hitching your wagon to the right stars? and how do you pass on what you have been given, not only making the next person even more better, also in the process making yourself a better man?

John Cassian's influence permeated our western church, our entire culture. by what he did. with whom he did it. and by writing about it all. by passing on what he learned to posterity. learn. do. teach. write. be more like John Cassian. John Cassian's two most important writings deal with the institutes/rules of monastic life and the principal of deadly sins. Be good/ do better AND avoid/reject sin/satan. They are entitled: "De institutis coenobiorum et de octo principalium vitiorum remediis libri XII" and "Collationes XXIV".

John Casssian got some of it wrong - a bit of semipelagianism seeped into his writings; a bit too much on the free will... sound familiar? i'm sure that the original latin is the best way to read him; but perusing the available english versions would be worth your while - especially the sections on free will and moral life.

Not only the life of John Cassian, but also his writings. take advantage of what he's done for us. if only a sampling....

i love you
dad

March 26 Garbhan, abbot, 7th c.

John and Thommy

good morning
i love you

a few people, some of whomn are not irish, say that the irish saved civilization.
from the western island frontier of europe,
the monasteries of irelad preserved our learning, disseminated our learning
we went from the bards to the scribes
how are you preserving your learning?
better, how are you pursuing your learning? fulfilling your talents?
fully taking advantage of your graces and gifts and resources?
how do you know you're doing good and right and enough to say to yourself,
i am a good young man
and know how you define that, how you demonstrate that?
at your age, yes grades are one criterion - -
and grades less than an A, given your gifts and resources, are a disappointment
and as much a statement about your zeitgeist, your milieu, as about yourself - -
no, you are not alone in this duty
you are responsible to the degree you have not leveraged your graces to overcome the barriers you confront:
know that if you are not getting As then your are not fulfilling your destiny
[well, one yoda-ism along with celtic culture]
and if you are not fulfilling your talents and gifts,
then how do you reach out to the resources that are kept away from you,
or that you are maybe avoiding to assuage the demands of some tempter[s] in your life?

Garbhan, an abbot remebered in Dungarvan, Ireland,
whose monastery helped preserve culture and learning,
didn't do it by himself, of course, none of us can.
he had his benefactors whom he reached out to,
and one thing i've learned in any charitable effort,
it's unlikely to get a contributon if you don't ask,
and if you do ask, you are often surprised by the generosity of the gift.
so
ask.
at a minimum, respond to the offers to help. be open to the graces and resources God's given you.
[no matter what the threats are that make you cower in the presence of grace]

life in 7th c. ireland wasn't peaches and cream, especially for the monks and their communities.
there were powers that would have rather not have this source of light shining in the midst of their darkness.
not unlike the challenge you face.
get to know Garbhan, at least ask him to say a prayer for you
given the fabulousness of miracles for which our irish saints are known,
watch out for the kind of help he'll give you....

i love you
dad

March 26 Mochelloc d. 639

Thommy and John

good morning
i love you


what if, 1500 years from now you're remembered
remembered that you were a saint
saintly enough to be a patrion saint of a city
and that's all.

might you assume that in your day, you did much good worthy to be remembered....
what much good are you doing to be remembered like
St Mochelloc, patron saint of Killmallock, Limerick, Ireland.....?

i love you
dad

March 26 Margaret Clitherow d. 1555

Thommy and John

good morning
i love you

She was almost Fran Boone's patron saint/confirmation name. [i don't know how it's happened. three times i've been some part of a woman's coversion process. maybe for your mother it had nothing at all to do with me; tho she's converted after each of her weddings. she didn't convert quite right away; after john's birth, actually. .... and then there was fran. she didn't want me to tell her family that we'd met on line (making it hard to answer the normal question 'how did you meet?') and from there to our dating to our getting serious to know one another, her attracted in part to my religiousity and connecting to my daily reading of the saints, my attention to patron saints - and that's how she got introduced to margaret clitherow, business women's patroness AND a convert herself. and Fran did convert and is still engrained in catholicism. then came charlene. [three women with womanized men's names?] also an Easter confirmation and her permeating her religiousity into catholicism, even still. well, two out of three is pretty good.... ]

Margaret Clitherow. Margaret married the well to do John Clitherow, a catholic man, bore him two children and then converted... and did so in 16th c. England. faith and love entwined; living her new faith in the midst of extraodinary reasons why she coulda shoulda stayed protestent but didn't . something special about responding to the gift of faith even when loved ones, family, close friends make it so very clear that they are opposed to your catholicism. maybe you can find some connection with her yourselves.

Margaret Clitherow raised her children as devout catholics. She took over the business her husband struggled with and made it succesful. and, at risk to herself, her family, and her legacy, Margaret took in fugitive priests - to protect them and to help the catholics of the area have access to priests.

She was eventually found out. she was given a few chances to recant. you are always given a chance to turn in your faith to accommodate the people around you. you can be bribed - i'll be nicer to you if you act/belileve/practice your faith like me; you can be threatened - i'm not going to talk with you, your going to be austracized, i'm going to be broken hearted unless you give up the practice of your faith... Margaret got all that and more. the consequences were truly torture and death - because she dared to be a Catholic in a protestant community. you have been tortured for being catholic in a protestant/secular school; you have been threatened and bribed for being Catholic, for considering Catholic principles in the face of anti religion, antiCatholicism. and it is understandable why you have given in to such powerful forces. maybe it is better to surrender. i can't see why or how but maybe for the moment it seems to be. and you know in your aching heart, your depressions and futilities that it is the wrong way to go. so talk with Margaret. talk with her as if she were your mother of faith - imagine how her children talked with her when they were all under threat. find solace and strength in her.

Margaret suffered a heinous torture and death. resolved to here death to be faithful and forgiving. you can be faithful, continue to love your loved ones and friends who torture yoiu, and even forgive them... without having to reneg on your baptism/confirmation - which some of those now against your catholicism vowed to support - without giving in to temptations to make nice and go along, you can keep your faith and relilgion and be part of the family and friend community... harder maybe, but faith, love, hope, and forgiveness make it work ... talk with mother Margaret, she'll help you ....

and remember the secret of a father's, your father's, The Father's Love

i love you
dad

March 25 St Dismas

John and Thommy
Good morning, i love you

The Good Thief. the thief who became good. just think, at the very last moments of life, there he was, just by chance?, on the same hill, in the same crucifixion trio, with Jesus. his buddy Gestas heckling Jesus just like everyone else, right to the end, on the threshold of his own death, if you're the One, save yourself, save all three of us, get us the heck outta here. Gestas didn't get it. are you lilstening to the crowd around you [even if that's a crowd of one]? or, like Dismas, do you get it [finally ... again...] ?

Dismas. do what's right, no matter what. no matter who is heckling you. no matter how long you've not been doing the right thing - reconciliation, i'm sorry, i forgive you, i'll do better i promise always our opportunity. another saint who gives me hope. another saint who challenges your rejections, your wrong and sorrowful choices. it's time for the good boy to be more like the Good Thief....

remember the secret of a father's, your father's, The Father's Love...

i love you
dad