John and Thommy
good morning
i love you
St. Finbar
September 25
Born in Connaught. the where and when of our birth follows us forever; shapes us; defines us. Nashville or New York City - also a reason the place of your baptism is important; in our case the very same font for two generations... a tradition?
Finbar, a not uncommon Irish name still, was the son of an artisan and a lady of the Irish royal court. our parentage, our lineage define us, too; even moreso. your parents? not an artisan dad am i - Ken got any of those genes in our family [i wonder what talents Jimmy would have blossomed?]. how would i be described? a healthcare executive. sounds a bit pretentious. hospital ceo is accurate - one of the titles along the way. a psychologist is also accurate - and my not being licensed is a drawback [don't ever miss the opportunity to be licensed and then maintain the license; a license is a life long ticket, even if you don't use it; it's always a plan B] and then what else might i be called? :) i'll leave the labeling of your mother to you - though also not finbarian, i.e., not of an irish royal court....
Finbar was baptized Lochan. to be called something different from the baptism name is not uncommon... John was Jack until Sr Luke told him that John was his real name; and your parents acquiesced to your preference. Thommy is not Willliam or Bill because your mother did not want two of such in the house. the 'Th' is the spelling because of my novitiate classmate Thom Savage persuaded me that dropping the 'h' did not make sense to him; same as Judi Fraenkel keeping the 'i' rather than changing it to 'y' - if there is to be a shortening then why change the spelling? made sense to me. it still works
in Finbar's case it was a religious decision. during his education at the monestary at Kilmachil, the monks named him Finbar - white hair. [alas a name i might have taken years ago :) ] then with the new moniker came also nicknames.... you've gone now to montessori school, overbrook, spx, gds, now gds [other] and gc - within each school you are shaped and named, by teachers or peers or, usually both. i was Billy for so long [am still occasionally from my aunts]. somewhere around fourth or fifth grade i introduced myself as Bill and it stuck ok with peers and new teachers. in the sixth grade i volunteered to be a Tom as there were several Bills in the class. frank mcguire, our teacher, said there was no reason for that, he'd make it clear to whom he was speaking. [something i guess your mother could/would not do?] i also wanted to try on Tom for a while. but did not get/insist on the chance. in the seventh grade there was a small coterie of football players [and 'in' guys] who started to call me 'piggy.' being as round as tall the name had potential to stick. at the enc of a tackle in practice one day, i persuade the ring leader of the derogatory put down to stop doing it - a bit of weight on top plus a couple of well placed hurts. and ever since it's been Bill. and no where along the name was there added, even briefly, a sweet handle. [and you?]
Finbar became a priest amidst the monks and took a pilgrimage to rome. do take pilgrimages - like our ones to Notre Dame and to St Elizabeth's of Hungary and to visit grandpa or to go to a Nolan event. take the chance to go, like John and I did, to Ireland - the world is a very small place now. go to the source - NYC, Ireland [counties west], Rome, Holy Land... and to the spots in the city where you are today, at whatever today. there are shrines or cathedrals or holy, sacred places. in greensboro, that might include the lunch counter, too.
On another pilgrimage to Rome, the Pope was prepared to consecrate Finbar bishop. even in the seventh century, word traveled to the Pope about this worthy servant of God. the Pope found a man to be a shepherd for the irish in his flock.... but Finbar told the Pope that he'd had a vision that God wanted to keep that privilege to himself. we irish do tell a good story! Finbar was thus consecrated from heaven. :) as, ultimately, is so with each set of vows. our baptismal vows. our confirmation vows. as you consider your vocational vows - also consecrated in heaven; made not only to other and church but also to and with God.
Finbar preached in Scotland and in southern Ireland... Cork! our home county. He got to Cork via a spell as a hermit on an island at Lough Eiroe and then on the river Lee where he developed the monastery that became Cork, of which he was the first bishop. the inherent entwining of God-Church-Family-Community....
The monastery under Finbar's shepherding became famous and attracted many disciples.... remember the monasteries of the seventh century, cities of a special nature. think maybe of the various cities in the USA that have grown up around/because of the company that was planted on that spot; or further back in our history, the cities that grew up around the spanish missions. the growth from the seed of community into city....
When Finbar died in 633, the sun did not set for two weeks at Cloyne. many miracles are attributed to this saint. Miracles Finbar brought during his lifetime - - what grace of God do you bring during your lifetime? and after you die, e.g., like Grandma or Jimmy or Aunt Monica, what grace of God because of you will stir others to experience miracles? much more common i suggest than we imagine....
i love you
dad
