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Under His wings

About 5:15 pm I decided I’d drive the 52 miles north from my home to Abbey of the Genesee for Compline and a chance for some goodies from the bake shop. I climbed in the car and sped along the roadways until I arrived about ten minutes early for the final prayer of the Monk’s day. Compline is my favorite prayer time and it always features Psalms 4, 91 and 134.

You shall not fear the terror of the night nor the arrow that flies by day, Nor the pestilence that roams in darkness, nor the plague that ravages at noon. Though a thousand fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, near you it shall not come.You need simply watch; the punishment of the wicked you will see. You have the Lord for your refuge; you have made the Most High your stronghold.
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They sure as hell love each other

A tourist says to his guide, “You have a right to be proud of your town I was especially impressed with the number of churches in it. Surely the people here must love the Lord.” “Well,” replied the cynical guide, “”they may love the Lord, but they sure as hell hate each other.”–taken from “Selected Writings of Anthony De Mello.” by William Dych, SJ.

I’ve written before how much De Mello’s words touch me and this short story is a good one. How often do we hear of religious people full of intolerance for each other. This morning at Mass I witnessed an unusual event. Fr. Dan Riley, OFM who was our celebrant began the Eucharist this morning by inviting us to say our names and then told us that at some point during the liturgy we would break so that some late arriving guests could join us and then we’d sing “Happy Birthday” to one of them.

He began with the sign of the cross and then followed the Introit, the Kyrie, the Gloria, the first reading and the psalm, Following the psalm, Fr. Dan heard the guests arrive and then he walked out of the chapel to greet them. As we sat there waiting for the Mass to resume I thought of how much Fr. Dan’s actions were like those of Jesus. He didn’t wait for them to come to him, but went to them, met them when they were still aways off and brought them into our midst and then we sang Happy Birthday to Maurice. Dan’s actions speak louder than any words he could have spoken this morning. He was Christ to us and to the late arriving guests. The love in the chapel was palpable this morning and it touched us all.

The guest was St. Bonaventure University basketball player, Maurice Thomas, and his family. We all got to meet Maurice and his family and we all experienced love first hand. There was much love there this morning and its an event I won’t soon forget.

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Dan Hurley, OFM

This morning as I walked from my car toward the House of Peace at Mt. Irenaeus I spotted my friend, Dan Hurley, OFM sitting in the warm morning sun on the sun deck of the house. Dan Hurley is one of the nicest older gentlemen I’ve ever met in my life. He’s iconic at both St. Bonaventure University and at Mt. Irenaeus. His silver gray hair always looks like it isn’t quite combed and he is the personification of all that is Franciscan. At 88 years young he represents a generation of Franciscan men and women who educated me in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Fr. Dan also looks a bit like George Burns in the movie, “Oh,God.”

His gentle presence was just what I needed to see this morning as I arrived at Mt. Irenaeus. I often think of the Mountain as my idea of what heaven ought to be. I thank God for people like Dan Hurley. Deo Gratias.

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Deregulation?

Just today I read that John McCain wants to de-regulate health care. Mr. McCain believes that the way the market functions best is when government leaves its hands off. In an ideal society where everyone really is honest with everyone else and real market forces are at play. It won’t work here and it can’t because the playing field isn’t level. I think we ought to deregulate prisons. Let’s get rid of the guards and let the prisoners come and go as they might. I’m sure they’ll all return to their cells everyday because they know that’s what’s expected of them. Let’s not stop there. Let’s deregulate roadways. No more speed limits. We’ll just let entropy take over. If we get rid of stoplights and other traffic devices like speed limits the roads will come to govern themselves. Intersections will become filled with enough debris so that traffic will have to slow down to get around it. I think we ought to de-regulate firearms laws. Why shouldn’t you be allowed to own your own howitzer or RPG. It’d be handy during deer season. You could get half a herd with one shot.  What planet is McCain on? Deregulation has destroyed our airlines. It has destroyed Wall Street and Main Street too. One good thing about de-regulation is there would be no need for lawmakers and we could send Congress home. That would save a lot of money.

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5 Mile pond

This is one of my favorite views in rural Cattaraugus County. It’s pond created by industrious beavers along the Five Mile Road which connects Route 16 South with the Town of Allegany. It’s just south of the hamlet of Fitch.  I often travel this road and I always like to slow down and enjoy the view here.  I think its actually prettier than the picture. It’s one of those quiet vistas that invites the contemplative in me to slow down or better yet to stop and listen.

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Memphis Belle



Thursday morning I was driving north on Route 63 towards the hamlet of Piffard, New York on my way to visit Abbey of the Genesee. As I scanned the sky ahead of me I noted a familiar silhouette. Perhaps a mile in the distance and just north of the roadway a large aircraft was entering the traffic pattern for Geneseo Airport. The silhouette looked like a Boeing B-17. I immediately pulled off on the shoulder of the highway and followed her as she sailed along just above the treetops. As she turned base I knew this was a Flying Fortress. I turned my car around and began to drive south of Route 63 toward the aerodrome. I looked left and there she was on final moving from my left to the right. I stopped and watched as this big bird thundered through the air and crossed the roadway.

For a brief moment I thought of England and 1943 when sights like this were common in the countryside. I drove quickly up the road to the airfield. My car kicked up a plume of dust as a I sped toward the field. Ahead of me I could see that the war bird had just landed and was taxiing toward the ramp. I pulled into the parking lot and got out of my car. I walked quickly toward her as she taxied closer. My flesh was covered in goose bumps and emotion overcame me as I saw her. I thought of the thousands of airmen who had flown in these Flying Fortresses in World War II. I remembered seeing a plane like this one up close. I remember touring one with my son at this museum.

Yesterday was even more special because as I got closer and her pilots got her parked and stopped the roar of the huge engines, I learned that I was looking at the Memphis Belle. Yes, this is the same plane featured in the movie and it had just arrived from an airfield at Farmington on Long Island. I asked her crew how much fuel she burned and they told me 300 gallons in the first hour and 200 gallons thereafter. I learned that their flight to Geneseo from Long Island had taken 90 minutes. At $6.65 per gallon for AvGas on Long Island that’s expensive.

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Road trip



Today I started out for Mass at Mt. Irenaeus but was lured by the lovely weather into taking a much longer trip that saw me eventually reach Oswego, New York by early afternoon. I began college in the Fall of 1971 at State University of New York College at Oswego. I was a green 18 year old kid. I remember that on my first weekend there I coaxed my roommate to walk from campus to Ft. Ontario which is about 3.5 miles east of the campus. Being an American history student,  fort’s have always intrigued me. This particular fort began as a British outpost during the French & Indian War and the American Revolution. In 1796 it was handed over to the United States and has been in our hands ever since. It was the only refugee camp for survivors of the Holocaust on American soil for brief period of time following World War II.

Following my visit to the fort I drove west toward the campus of SUNY Oswego. On my way I stopped by the River’s End Bookstore on Bridge Street in Oswego and bought a new book. Then I  meandered to the campus, stopped to see what had changed since my last visit and then began to wander toward home. I drove along the Lake Road which follows the shoreline of Lake Ontario all the way to Webster, New York. I stopped at Burnaps Farm Market in Sodus for some fresh peaches, nectarines and red raspberries for my wife. I also got some delicious sugar cookies for myself. On my trip along the Lake Ontario shoreline I passed the Ginna nuclear power plant. I didn’t know it exisited. My journey took me eventually to Market Place Mall in Henrietta, New York where I stopped at the Land’s End Inlet. It was a great day to be out and enjoying the lovely weather that came our way today.

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My Friend


This picture of my wife conducting “Meet the Teacher” night at Franklinville Central School was one of the highlights of my day. Diane loves frogs and her room was decorated with a frog motif and on the door of her classroom hung a sign that said, “we are hoppy to see you.”

I’ve been blessed to share my life with Diane for almost twenty-seven years now. God really smiled at me the day she came into my life. I cannot tell you how long she’s been teaching because I’ll be in real trouble. This year she moved to fifth grade and she’s very excited about that. When we met she was teaching third grade. In her career she’s taught third, first grade reading and now fifth grade. She’s happy to be back in her own classroom. She’s had opportunities to go into administrative roles, but really loves the interaction with students. She’s a born teacher and I love her.

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Veterans for Obama

I’m a proud veteran of the United States Navy and I’m supporting Barack Obama for President. I like this video of the veterans who are also supporting Obama. These folks are from Pennsylvania. I’d like to show the support of veterans everywhere for Obama. Barack’s got what it takes to be President. I don’t dislike John McCain and I wish him well, but his record of support for both this unfortunate war in Iraq and his inability to endorse a GI Bill of Rights for today’s veterans shows that he is out of touch with the needs of veterans of this or any war.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87LhqeQmnHw&feature=related]