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  Wednesday – 8 th Week in Ordinary Time Gospel – Mark 10:32-45 Sacrifice – Part 2 Sitting in the Pew Heading back to Chicago tomorrow for 8 th grade graduation at St. Robert’s!   I’ve known many of these kids since they were in kindergarten; many of them I trained as altar servers way back in 4 th grade.   So very proud of all their accomplishments, so full of hope for their future!   It brings back so many fond memories – all the prep work for those server trainings, all the practice sessions, the nervousness during their first Masses, all those service projects, ice cream handouts, pizza parties, celebrating Christmas by decorating the church for the holidays.   So much time and effort!   So many hours of planning and prep work!   All that sacrifice! And I’m not talking about me !!   I’m talking about Ginger!   All her sacrifice!   All the times she sat in the pew alone!   All those evenings when I was away at church ...
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  Tuesday – St. Philip Neri Gospel – Mark 10:28-31 Sacrifice! Dad My Dad began working in a little country store at the age of 16 and retired from that same store over 50 years later.   It was part gas station, part ice cream stand, part deli and liquor store, post office, supermarket and local gathering spot.   After hours, it was also home for a long string of brotherly games of poker.   During all those 50 some years, my Dad ran the store on his own, hardly ever took a vacation, and worked roughly from 5 in the morning to 10 at night, at least 6 days a week.   During the school year we basically say him only at dinnertime for about an hour.   In the last 10 years of the store’s existence, he was also doing double-duty as the postmaster.   And yet in spite of all the hardships, somehow out of that tiny little store, he managed to put all four of his children through high school and college.   I have yet to figure out how he managed to ac...
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  Monday – Feast of Mary Mother of the Church Gospel – John19:25-34 Help Me, Mom! Church of Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem I remember when I moved into my first apartment.   Truth be told, I was completely clueless about keeping a clean space, much less knowing how to live (and cook something more than fried bologna or a can of soup) on my own.   It was my mom who got everything neat and tidy with a massive cleaning effort.   And it was my Mom who really took care of washing clothes whenever I brought them home.   I learned, little by little; but it took the example of my mom to show me the way. Can anyone even count, much less remember, all the times our mothers have come to our aid when we needed it.   Caring for us when we were sick, helping us with that difficult math homework, supporting us when we moved away from home, listening to us when life got difficult, protecting us when I fell and skinned our knee.   Most of the time, it was a dirty, t...
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