Feb 23 Peter Damian b. 1007 d. 1072 c. 1893

Thommy and John

Good morning
I love you

This past weekend was an adventure. Friday I spent with people wanting to be better at advocating for the mentally ill. In the room were licensed professionals, paid advocates [people paid by the state or by private contributions], and men and women who live with the illnesses. Imagine the mentally ill. Imagine the mentally ill advocating for themselves and their confreres. For their rights. For fundamental respect. [the fact that some people must advocate for fundamentals is a statement of how far we have yet to go. And the beginning of lent is a good time to consider what we will do for/with them.

Friday evening I kept on driving east and stopped at the atlantic ocean. It was cold and windy but I touched the ocean. I walked to the end of the boardwalk and listened to the surf, was enveloped by the total darkness where I reached out and felt like I touched the stars. All night long I listened to the sounds of beach silence! Deo gratias.

And before dawn, I stared out to the east. Into the forever darkness - except for the sprinkle of stars, the sliver of moon, the undulating reflections on the surface. Then came the thin line of red-orange, layered with striations of blue. The dawn brought more and more reds and yellows and blues - more light; more sights of ocean and sky and beach and that one boat fishing straight out before me. A glorious dawn. Deo gratias.

I took my time getting started - it was Saturday morning. I relished the rising warmth and the glorious colors; the delicious salt air and the sounds of beach in the morning. There were very few people walking along the beach. A couple of dog walkers. One mother and child [about 3 y.o.]. a few couples. Less than a handful of others walking along. And, of course, a jogger. There were also two guys sitting on surf boards as the ocean gave them only lolling vibrations.

None of the churches within a short commute had a Saturday morning mass. I don’t get it. Are we so short of priests? Do priests with ‘the morning off’ not say mass? How can it be a parish, a house of Catholic worship without a daily mass? Plus, the few breakfast places were closed - they too are seasonal. I didn’t want to eat at the Marriott but did enjoy their view of the ocean.

I headed back to GSO about nine-ish. It’s a straight shot from here to there and vice versa. I was on I-40 maybe ten miles, cruising along in the right lane. There wasn’t much traffic going in either direction; much less headed west. An SUV was stopped along the side there ahead. A couple of people were walking toward the oncoming traffic - and it seemed like they were waving for help: or was it the older kinds, seemed like late teens, just waving at the passersby?? At 70mph a decision to stop and offer help has to be made quickly or the opportunity is lost. And, at 70 mph, pulling off the interstate is not an easy maneuver. [I remember from drivers’ ed that 60mph is 88 ft/sec.]

It was about 0915 when I pulled over. The cluster began to come my way - I was about ten car lengths from them. I pulled over so the grass line was at the center of the car and went backwards at about 8mph. The lady reached my car when I was half way there. I’m guessing she was about fifty. [her son told me later that she went to high school with Michael Jordan; even dated him before he was any good at basketball. You figure the age.] She told me that they needed help - flat tire, spare flat too, no cell phone, would I take her son to next exit with tire to be plugged. She offered to pay me. Sure I’ll take him and tire and thank you for the offer but no thanks on that part.

The tires for SUVs are large! But even with golf cart and clubs in trunk, the concord has enough room. It took me more time to clear off seat space for the two [yes two, this woman is no fool, I could be a crazy man.] brothers - David and Gerald [18 and 19 though the 18 y.o. looks about two years older. We left behind the mother, her mother, and two teen age sons. I estimated we’d be gone an hour - I did not know where the next exit was and if it had a tire store.

At the first exit, we tried three places - the first did not have a garage, the second was closed [it’s building neighbor suggested a place a little down the road], and the third was closed. The boys were good conversationalists and the chit chat was easy. Here’s how small the world is - - - the boys’s two older sisters have graduated from UNCG and both live in GSO. The family was on their way to GSO for the 3rd birthday of one of the daughter’s sons.

We headed back to the first exit east of where we met. We stopped along the way to let the mother know what was happening and what we planned to do. David got out to cross over to tell his mother. Gerald got out telling me he was going to stay with his mother. Both boys came back. I told him that his mother is right to have them stay together - I could be a crazy person, I’m not, but I could be, and they are better off taking care of each other. The town we stopped in was one familiar to the boys - their aunt lives there. The first and second places were also closed on Saturday. But “Dad’s tire” was open - being run on Saturday morning not by Dad but Dad’s son - maybe about 16ish. It took him about fifteen minutes to fix the tire.

We were back to the SUV about ten thirtyish. Then the boys struggled for the next hour or so with how to use their car jack. Ultimately it took using my car jack to get things done. As we watched the boys change the tire, the mother and I chatted some more. She again offered to pay me. I demurred and said I knew that she would do something good like this for someone else - pay it forward is such a wondrous way to live….

I didn’t get back to GSO until about threeish. And then rolled into my typical Saturday - sans weekend movie [nothing playing that I wanted to see that I hadn’t seen]. I decided to join NASCAR folks to watch the race - a bit of a change of sport for me but having spent more time with NASCAR fans in the last year, there’s more joy in watching cars drive in circles for hours while fans eat and drink. I must admit, Darrell Waldrip makes watching more personal. He was in the lamaze class I attended with your mother - his daughter and John have very close birthdays. Even I knew who he was when he and Jenny walked in. living in Nashville, it wasn’t uncommon to see celebrities; it was more common for me to see them and not recognize them; but I recognized Darrell Waldrip. He introduced himself as Darrell Waldrip, I work in a small car dealership in Franklin.

Sunday was 0900 Mass and girlschout cookie day. It’s been a few years since I’ve bought cookies for myself. I’d eat boxes and boxes of chocolate mints [or a couple of the other classics] in one sitting. So, instead, I ask the girls who are selling if they have some service that they do to which they could bring boxes of cookies. This particular brownie group goes to Dolan Manor. So, I bought a few boxes and asked that they bring them there next time they go…. The rest of Sunday was coffee, papers, brunch [it’s official - there is no restaurant in town that does eggs benedict the way I like’m.], more paper, so exercise, then I didn’t watch the Oscars - this year more about liberal political values than usual.

Monday was a blur. Today is coming to a close with bright sunshine and some time with you and Peter Damian….

I love you
dad
2-24/25-09




February 23
Peter Damian b. 1007 d. 1072 c. 1893


Peter Damian is a biggie. Not Irish. Not a Jesuit. Not a John, Thomas, or William - - duh. I don’t know how I’ve come to recognize Peter Damian as a biggie. Nor do I remember when/how I became familiar with him. Just part of the water of Catholic upbringing, I suppose. I don’t remember any Peter Damian parish along the way, either.

Peter Damian was a man of great vehemence in all he said and did; it has been said of him that "his genius was to exhort and impel to the heroic, to praise striking achievements and to record edifying examples...an extraordinary force burns in all that he wrote". In spite of his severity, Peter Damian could treat penitents with mildness and indulgence where charity and prudence required it.

Peter Damian was the youngest of a large, poor, noble family at the beginning of eleventh century Ravenna. [Ravenna is also the name of the theatre place not far from Buffalo Grove - named for the Italian city of great cultural renown.] As such, Peter Damian was merely another mouth to feed and little apparent value to the family or the community. An elder brother protested so vociferously that Peter Damian’s mother refused to suckle the babe. [Imagine that?! Actually, John was brought along from as soon as we knew Thommy existed to anticipate with joy this younger sibling. We have pictures in the birthing room [Thommy was a VBAC.] as well as with the pregnant mom - John was enthusiastic about this coming sib. I have joyous memories of John at his brother’s bedside in the hospital; John at Thommy’s baptism; John and Thommy, world’s best brothers!] But, for Peter Damian, he nearly died from simple neglect. A family retainer fed the babe and shamed the mother back to her duty.

Unfortunately for all the children, Peter Damian’s parents left him an orphan at an early age. He was first adopted by a brother who ill-treated him, under-fed him, and used Peter Damian as a swineherd. [the prodigal son came to realize that the pigs at his father’s farm did better than the servants where he’d become a destitute servant. As badly as Peter Damian appears to be treated in this version from Catholic Encyclopedia online, he was with family, he did have a roof and food and work.]

The child Peter Damian showed great piety and remarkable intellectual gifts. In time, another brother, the archpriest at Ravenna, took him away to be educated. Peter added this brother’s name to his own in grateful recognition of his kindness. How do we decide to take names; to give names; to properly accept the names given to us? It sure would be better to have Peter Damian’s story about how he obtained and nurtured his piety. We start off with a story of life, unwanted, unbuckled, used and misused by a brother - - but, Peter Damian acquired piety and nurtured it for himself and sufficiently remarkable that the archpriest recognized his brother’s gifts and potential….

Peter Damian made rapid progress in his studies. [Can the same be said of you? You have comparable gifts and much greater resources at your disposal. Not to mention your progress in piety?] By 25, Peter Damian was a famous teacher at the University of Parma - as well as a man much given to fasting and other mortifications. [and what fasting and mortifications are you given to, especially as we take the step into Lent? Fat Tuesday’s pinnacle gets going in less than a couple of hours - go for it! And then…. ???? ]

About 1035, Peter Damian chose to retire from the world, to escape the scandals and distractions of the university life. During his discernment process, Peter Damian met two hermits of Fonte-Avellana. Their detachment and spirituality led him to join their monastery. [How do you learn and develop your detachment and spirituality? Who do you name as your inspiration, your guides, your models, your spiritual directors? This is the time for you to embrace such people for yourself.]

Peter Damian was immediately clothed with the monastic habit at Fonte-Avellana. His fervor was remarkable - although he went to extremes of penance that affected his health: yep, even too much penance is a bad thing. [as is too little.]

Peter Damian was appointed lecturer for his fellow monks at Fonte-Avellana and nearby monasteries. In 1042 he wrote the life of St Romuald. [A prolific correspondent, he also wrote dozens of sermons, seven biographies (including a one of Saint Romuald), and poetry, including some of the best Latin of the time.] He was soon appointed successor for the Prior of Fonte-Avellana; which he became in 1043 until his death. A man with propensity to extreme penance became a prior of wise moderation of the rule. Peter Damian also founded several other monasteries. In each of these, Peter Damian established a penitential exercise as part of their routine. Peter Damian also instituted a siesta to offset the fatigue from the night office.

From the seclusion of cloister, Peter Damian watched closely the fortunes of the Church. [From wherever you sit and pray, you should watch closely the fortunes of our Church. From that, evolve your contribution to us, the Body of Christ.] When Peter Damian looked around in the mid eleventh century, he say a Church, especially the clergy, in great need of improvement/reform. [look and see for yourself. Into our Church - I.e., into a mirror? Our clergy? Our laity. Our us? What do you see that we need? Enmasse and in particular. Then, of course, what will you do for us/yourselves in/for our church? Pray. Of course. Not only for us who are not yet perfect, who have not yet put aside our sinful ways; but also for yourselves.]

In 1045 [remember schism, too], Peter Damian wrote Gregory VI to do something about the scandals of the church, especially the bishops of Pesaro, Fano, and di Castello. In 1047 Peter Damian attended the Lateran synod which decreed against simony. [Simony, not one of our better practices! Look around today, see what our 21st c. weaknesses are. Help us become better together. Begin with our own penitential practices.]. In 1051 Peter Damian published his treatise ‘Liber Gomorrhianus’ about the vices of the clergy. [Imagine a bishop turned investigative reporter within today’s Church. Not a way to win friends (of the kind of people you shouldn’t want friends to begin with).] For cover, and with aplomb and chutzpah, Peter Damian dedicated the book to the Pope.

In 1053, Peter Damian was asked to weigh in on the validity of simoniacal clerics. [Like, is Roland Burris’ senate appointment valid? ‘Liber Gratissimus’ said yes - it took the Church about a hundredandfifty more years to definitively answer.]

In 1055, Peter Damian attended a synod at Florence where simony and clerics incontinence were condemned again. [Take a look at the write ups in the Times about the change of Archbishops in NYC. Part of the story line is that Dolan is another example of the line of continuing more conservative Church. As evidence is that Dolan supports Benedict’s and JPII’s stances on abortion, birth control, celibacy, men priests etc. et al. However, such fundamentals are, duh, fundamental. Scripture and, AND, and. and tradition form the bedrock of our faith. Consistency, persistence, Truth….]

In 1057, Peter Damian fell grievously ill for seven weeks of terrible pain. Then, suddenly, miraculously according to him, Peter Damian recovered.

In the fall of 1057, Stephen X made Peter Damian a cardinal prince of the Church for the diocese of Ostia and the administrator of the diocese of Gubbio. Now, Peter Damian, by position, was the Church; well, the personification of the Church. And from this new perch, one he resisted until the pope threatened him with excommunication, he had a new point of view. [Maybe one that Abp. Dolan has partially acquired from him - servant of the clergy; responsible to recruit and improve the clergy.] Peter Damian was a writer. He sent a stirring letter to his brother cardinals exhorting them to shine by their example [Dolan said happiness is the best recruiting tool.] [each job is different once you are in it than when you look at it from outside, especially when you are watching someone very good at their job, it is not as easy as it appears to be. The responsibilities are different. The stakeholders are different. The expectations are different. You bring who and what you have been and must discover more in yourself and from those around you, especially those newly around you.]

Mid-eleventh century: schism in our Church. Peter Damian, prince of The Church was vigorous in opposition to the antipopes. Even as a many of reform, he looked to the core of our Church and took his cue from there. When the Cardinal of Ostia stood up for the Church, he lost his advocacy against the powerful antipope Benedict X; Peter Damian retired to Fonte Avallana for the time being.

In 1059, Peter Damian was legate to Milan to rectify scandalous simony and incontinence; benefices were openly bought and sold; clergy openly married the women they lived with. Many in Milan’s recalcitrant clergy squealed that Rome had no place in telling ‘the church in Milan’ what to do. [Sound familiar?] Peter Damian boldly confronted rioting laity in the streets of Milan. He persuaded them of the rightness as well as the righteousness of the authority of Holy Mother Church, whose seat, the Chair of Peter, was Rome. Is Rome. Peter Damian’s solution, very Irish, very Jesuit - - after penance, he re-instated the benefices to all who re-established themselves congruently with the Church’s expectations of our clergy. For which Peter Damian got static from the poobahs in the Vatican. Unfortunately, when the pope died, and the substantial backing of the Church’s leader shifted. It took until 1066 for things to be properly rectified. [Persistence. Catalyst. Leadership.] During this time, Peter Damian was asking for his release to return to the monastery. The Popes needed him. He obeyed. Even the biggies obey. [maybe that’s one reason they become biggies, because they are obedient to the Truth, to the core….]

In 1061, another schism which Damian tried to prevent. The Regent of Germany resolved the split, in no small part due to Peter Damian’s argument.

In 1063, Peter Damian participated in s synod at Rome at which he was called upon to settle the dispute between the Abbey of Cluny and the Bishop of Macon. In that period, the role of Bishop vis a vis that of the Abbot, the place of the Diocese vis a vis the Monastery, was crucial to the proper functioning of the Church. [Today, it’s the Bishops and the Universities; even the Bishops and the Hospitals. Ultimately it is the Bishop that determines what is Catholic and ultimately what is permitted within his diocese. Still, the order religious do not report to the bishop but up to the pope via their order. A matrix organization par excellence - one of such complexity that for it to run amuck so rarely should be the news story. But when the local conflict does not resolve, it becomes a substantive threat to the fabric of our church.] Peter Damian traveled to France to resolve the issues.

While in France, Peter Damian involved himself in the renewed effort by the antipope to gain Rome. He advocated for the Regent to take up the claims again - twice. Even the best cannot be right all the time - but, he stayed right with the Church, and, duh, the Church with him.

Peter Damian left France and returned to Fonte Avellana. In 1067, Peter Damian was sent to Florence to settle a dispute between the bishop and the monks of Vallombrosa who accused the bishop of simony. This type of problem persisted for at least a century. Peter Damian misjudged the case and supported the bishop. Ultimately the pope himself had to resolve it.

In 1069, Peter Damian was sent to Germany to prevent the king from repudiating his wife. [A long aside about the sanctity of marriage here….] After accomplishing his mission, Peter Damian returned to Fonte Avellana - where the pope left him in peace for a couple of years.


But how “successful” was this outcome - - as Catholic Online puts the story: Henry IV, the young king of Germany, had married Bertha, daughter of Otto, Marquee of the Marches of Italy, but two years later he sought a divorce under the pretense that the marriage had never been consummated. By promises and threats he won over the archbishop of Mainz, who summoned a council for the purpose of sanctioning the annulment of the marriage; but Pope Alexander II forbade him to consent to such an injustice and chose Peter Damian as his legate to preside over the synod. The aged legate met the king and bishops at Frankfurt, laid before them the order and instructions of the Holy See, and entreated the king to pay due regard to the law of God, the Canons of the Church and his own reputation, and also to reflect seriously on the public scandal which so pernicious an example would give. The nobles likewise entreated the monarch not to stain his honor by conduct so unworthy. Henry, unable to resist this strong opposition, dropped his project of a divorce, but remained the same at heart, only hating the queen more bitterly than ever.


This story is, of course, personal - for me and for you. Skip down from king to ordinary laity, us. We marry [well, I thought I had married.]. Vows. Sacramental. Marriage is a matter for the couple [beyond the individual, the individual is at the bottom of this hierarchy once the person makes the vow], the clan, the community, and the Church. All are involved. In the same way that parents vow for the baby at baptism, the couple vows for the clan/community/church at marriage - and thus the obligation is beyond self and couple but also family/clan/community/church. … When one seeks a divorce, the church/bishop/pastor/parish/clan/family should be actively, personally involved in preventing such a step. [Pre-emptive involvement is another topic. Resolution of the source problem is both a pre- and post- divorce-thought responsibility for all of the above. … . Pay due regard to the law of God. Pay due regard to the natural law. Pay due regard to the Canons of the [our] Church. Pay due regard to one’s own reputation [Unfortunately we have lost the place of shame in family and Church and among friends. Unfortunately, divorce is no longer a shameful outcome.]. Reflect on the public scandal a divorce causes. [Well, not only does a little guy’s divorce not cause scandal on the tiny island of one’s personal universe, there appears to no longer be scandal for any divorce of any person of any rank and public standing. A dreadful loss for all of us - one for which you have paid dearly.] … . The nobles admonished the king not to sully his reputation by such unworthy conduct. In our world, that would be the role of our friends - to admonish us not to take such an unworthy road. [Alas, if the Lords and Nobles don’t do it, how do our friends know that it is expected of them?] … . The King remained married….

BUT. no, AND, The King also remained the same at heart, a douche bag, hating his wife. Was staying married the right thing? The good thing. The best thing? My answer is unequivocally, yes. [a far aside. One difference between your mother and I had to do with homework. She railed against any parental review of homework - or else it would not be your homework. She also encouraged your use of the word processor and its spell check. Did that make your homework Microsoft’s rather than yours? …. A boy asks his mother is she thinks he could pick up that big rock there. Sure, she tells him, if you use all your strength, you can lift it up. The boy goes over to pick it up - digs in, pulls up, strains, and tries several times. But he comes back over to his mother telling her I can’t pick it up. She returns with him to the rock and together they lift the rock. The mother explains - sometimes using all your strength means asking for help. Or, as I would put it, use all of the resources God has given You.] “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood…. “ and the King took the one, then, most traveled. Unfortunately, in 1992, your parents also went down a very different road in a very different/lonely way, the road most traveled. I believe, I know, that the King did the right, good, and best thing.


In 1072, Peter Damian was sent to Ravenna to reconcile the people with the Pope. The bishop there had led the flock to support the antipope. Fever overtook Peter Damian in his home town - he lay ill for a week at the monastery of Santa Maria degl’Angeli, where he died.

The cultus of Peter Damian started immediately upon his death. In 1823 Leo XII extended his feast to the universal Church and pronounced him a Doctor of the Church.


i love you,
dad

Feb 18 John Pibush d. 1601 bl. 1929

John and Thommy

Good morning
I love you

Too hot becomes too cool becomes not warm enough soon enough. And you? How’s your day?




February 18
John Pibush b. ~1560 d. 1601 bl. 1929

With no more info, by now you should be able to write the catholic online or catholic encyclopedia online blurb for this blessed. Would that our name, dates, place be able to place us - or, given our name, dates, places, we would be able to fulfill our promise, our vocation, God’s plan.

A missionary to his home country. A vocation given, maybe, to all sons.

John Pibush, born at Thirsk, Yorkshire. John Pibush went to Rheims where he was ordained in 1587. John Pibush was sent on the English mission in January 1589. He left home to follow his vocation. He pursued the ministry and training required to fulfill his vocation - service to Catholics at home; a person to bring the one true faith, to sustain and grow the one true faith on his home ground. Could be you.

Four years later, 1593, John Pibush was arrested and imprisoned in London. What was it like to leave home to pursue his vocation? What was it like pursuing that vocation away from home, knowing the fate of the men in whose footsteps he was following? And how did he do that? His faith. His fortitude. The seven gifts we each received at our confession (try Isaiah 11:2): wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. Probably takes the lucky seven and then some to do what John Pibush did just go get him to Rheims and through his training before setting off back to home. For some of us, it takes all that, plus the strength of our community to go home again [and again and again, until we get it right].

The Privy Council [some bad dudes with real life and death, pain and suffering power; not like peers, academics, or,even, family] put John Pibush into the Gatehouse for a year until he was tried, and convicted, for being a priest. That might be analogous for our being ostracized for being Catholic? Instead of being sentenced, John Pibush was returned to gaol, from which he escaped in 1595.

Escape lasted one day for John Pibush. He was rejailed at Marshalsea, London, and tried again, as a priest. [The English, a country of laws, right? Well, maybe not so much when it came to Catholics (or Irish). Well, they did have laws, including the rule of law that permitted some to neglect the laws.] Convicted, of course. John Pibush was sentenced to suffer the penalties of high treason - how do you suffer when you commit high treason because high treason can be mutually exclusive to living our faith?

John Pibush was kept in jail for five more years. Wanna bet he also kept ministering to the Catholilcs in his ‘home’? John Pibush was about forty something when he died. A very full life.

I love you.
dad

February 7 Tressan d. 550

Thommy and John

Good morning
I love you

Saturday – maybe a day of new beginnings; or the recognition of the ravages of aging? It’s not aging per se but the manner in which it is done. Great data that pets help old people not only live longer but live more healthily. Maybe it’s the unconditional love? I don’t know the research of the effects of children on their parents’ aging process. I have hypotheses about my particular situation. Wanna hear? Better, wanna discuss? Being a sandwiched man – between my father and my sons – I have a picture of the effects from two directions. Maybe the relationship with one’s father has an effect on the aging process? It’s 1312 on 2-7-09 and I’m a half day in a row on target; if today is the first day of the rest of your life [a saying I haven’t heard in a long time], then now is one’s entire live, yes?



February 7
Tressan d. ~550

There’s more about Tressan in the dictionary of woman saints on line under St. Helen, his sister [companion on pilgrimage?] than in Catholic online under Tressan. Although in her entry there’s more about Tressan than her, maybe he should be better known as Helen’s sister….

We are not only who we are but also with whom we are connected/compared. Like in sports, to be the next Bill Russell or the next Michael Jordan. No athlete accepts the accolade. It’s an honor to be remembered in the same breath as one of the greats. But, each athlete, each one of us, is our own person and persona. And not. We are who we are. And we are some one’s son, brother, father, cousin, uncle, friend. Everything and everyone is connected. And we are defined by each other. What one of us does reflects upon the other – and sticks [there are no Teflon men]. Not only reflects upon, but also effects the other…

Tressan resolved to be a pilgrim. An honorable vocation in sixth century Ireland. And, according to the entry about Helen, Tressan took with him his six brothers and four sisters. And, left unsaid, they went with him. Two of whom, Helen and Gabriel, are also saints. Imagine the familialness. And wonder what role their parents played. Picture the eleven of them, maybe with other companions, traipsing across Eire and the channel and northern France – also Celtic and, thus, probably not so foreign to them then as it is to us now….

Tressan was not literate or learned in his faith. A holy man. A religious man. Probably more piety than knowledge. But you gotta start somewhere and follow the road as it brings you closer to Christ.

Tressan arrived in Rheims during the episcopate of St. Remigius. When I wrote to y’all last February, I suggested that you look him up. So, this time, I peaked into the catholic encyclopedia online.

St Remigius, b. 437, d. 533; celebrated on October 1st as the Apostle of the Franks; Archbishop of Rheims. Remigius’ father was a Count. Remigius studied literature, became known for learning and holiness. Remigius was elected Archbishop at 22. Musta been mucho smart and extraordinarily holy – not to mention well connected. Maybe it was just fortuitous that he was holy and smart. Good for us – and Tressan and his family.
Remigius’ chief aim was the propagation of Christianity, i.e., our catholic faith, to the Franks. He converted Clovis, king of the franks, with the help of Sty Clotilda, Clovis’ wife. [this much should give you some great ideas for your own success as well as lessons about selecting and sustaining a spouse. Remember that your mother converted to Catholicism after John’s birth. Not her first, nor apparently, her last conversion. Wonder what helps conversion stick? Wonder what has to be done to sustain possession of the one true faith? Certainly wonder about the many roads to discovering that faith; and re-discovering it.]

Tressan was ordained by Remigius after Tressan acquired the necessary learning to be a priest. The young man and his family went on a pilgrimage. They came into the sphere of influence of Archbishop Remigius who was in the midst of converting and serving the Franks. Tressan signed on to that vocation in a very special way – he became a priest.


I love you
dad

February 7 Cronan the Wise 8th c

Thommy and John


Good morning
I love you

The news of the day: A-Rod and steroids. In 2003 he agreed, along with all other MLB players, to be tested anonymously. In 2007 [and at other times, I bet] he categorically denied using steroids. This weekend, because of a convoluted set of circumstances, it has been revealed [reported] that A-Rod tested positive in 2003. … . Of course, character is what you do when no one is looking [or testing]. [that would make my character, as I look around the living room, cluttered and boxed.]. … .or, no good deed goes unpunished. … . Or, like Daschle after Geitner, once upon a time we tolerated it and now we don’t. … . or, maybe, slink back to the basics, e.g., the ten commandments, and don’t lie, don’t cheat to begin with. [which is anti-genetic to a guy’s ‘deny deny deny’. Our need for ego-protection is greater than our trust in forgiveness. I wonder where that comes from. Also genetic? A survival mechanism? A better trust in self than in reliance upon another? … . If you were A-Rod [ok, I know that’s beyond an extreme reach, A-Rod being, until Friday anyway, the poster boy for striving for the best, yep, let me say it, for perfection in his vocation], would you have accepted testing, would you have categorically said no if you had a positive test on the books, anonymously? Or is such a question only relevant if you’ve put yourself out there by actually trying to be your best, be the best?.!

This weekend saw two articles about patient abuse in state psychiatric hospitals - one in NY one in NC. [unfortunately, I bet there were incidents of abuse in each of the states within the past month. Isn’t that a tragic belief?!] I’ve confronted similar circumstances in several hospitals - some where I’ve come in as the new ceo; others where I had corporate oversight responsibility. I’m believing that it is different in the private sector than in the public sector. You can shut down and start over in the private sector. You can rapidly ‘clean house’ in the private sector. The patients and, maybe, the staff are qualitatively different in the private sector - - on average and within a narrow range. In the public sector the average is ‘lower’ and the range more narrow, more of the more extreme. … . I wonder if there is more of this or if there is less tolerance for this or if we have better reporting. But, just like the goal is for zero seclusions; should not the explicit goal be zero abuse?! … . Yeh, our hospitals for the state committed mentally ill should be to not abuse any of them; not break any laws. … . The biggest tragedy is the failure to report the incidents by those who know the patient was abused. … . I remember telling one director of nursing about a unit - - if you cannot guarantee me that there is one set of eyes on each shift who will report any wrong doing, then either the DON worked every shift on that unit or I’d close the unit. … . Imagine the horror such a unit must have been for the patients never mind the staff….



February 9
Cronan the Wise 8th c. [?]

The dictionary of Christian biography… on line, gives us a genealogy for Cronan: Son of Nethesman from the old and noble family of Ferlacta, son of Fergus, son of Ross, son of Rudhraighe. I wish I could give you a genealogy that went that far back - four generations. We are missing more than you can yet imagine by not having such ties. Grandma spent several years unsuccessfully hunting down her father. Grandpa has never told me any ‘father stories’ - except that he left. Sorry.

Cronan was renowned for knowledge and piety - thus, The Wise. Knowledge and piety, thus, are not mutually exclusive. I suggest that the more we know, the more we should know to be pious.

Cronan was elected bishop. Being from an old and noble family helped. Being knowledgeable and pious was a plus. The question - why/how did he choose the priesthood as his vocation for leadership and service?

Cronan went to Iona but kept the fact of his episcopate to himself. St Columba discovered the truth. There Cronan was, Bishop of Waterford, ensconced within his old and noble family. And he gets up and goes, anonymously, to Iona. Imagine…. And apply to yourself….


I love you
dad