Well, once again I've let a week slip by without emailing my personal update to friends and bulletin column. Perhaps I'm becoming less obsessive compulsive. NOT! Perhaps I'm just overwhelmed with things to do, commitments I've made, etc. Yep that's it. I'm like Martha in the gospel of Luke. I've busied myself to the point where another summer will pass and I'll have not noticed.
I have been trying to spend a few days each week with Pat who is again serving as house manage of Catholic House in Chautauqua. But by and large I've been staying close to the rectory in Bath with an occasional visit home to Corning to indulge myself in the joys of grand-parenting.
Speaking of Pat, she celebrated her 64th birthday on Friday which means for at least the next four and a half months I'll be married to an older woman.
This week at the parish we enjoyed a Vacation Bible School. Rather than the out-of-the-box variety, we were able to build three evenings of music, lessons, crafts and snacks using the theme - Hands and Feet of Christ. About 15 kids, mostly in the 5 - 10 year age bracket attended. Several adults and teens shared a variety of talents to create a really enjoyable and hopefully faith building experience for the young ones. My contribution included sharing a few of the original children's songs from my "Listen to the Story" CD. I also scripted dramatized readings from Jeremiah and St. Paul's letter to Timothy which were presented by five of the older kids at our closing Mass on Thursday evening. Today, at our 9:30 Mass, we invited to kids to sing and sign "Yes Lord!" following Communion. From my vantage point behind the kids, I could watch the delighted expressions of parents and parishioners. Great liturgy celebrates the faith and gifts of the whole community. This was truly a living and joyful liturgy.
Yesterday (Saturday) two friends from my time in Horseheads, NY (Martha McCoy Kirchbaum and her mother Jean)paid a visit to Corning which included an invitation to dinner. As a teenager (about 35 years ago)Martha was a member of Celebrate Life, a teen music group that I directed. Later Martha went on to sing with Up with People before completing her undergraduate degree at Nazareth College in Rochester. Now Martha has two college age daughters and lives with her husband Karl in suburban Washington, DC. Hundreds of teens were members of Celebrate Life between 1969 and 1982. Every once in a while one of them pops into my life and I am not only delighted but am reminded of just how very old I've become. Nevertheless, today when the little kids were singing "Yes Lord" I was flooded with memories of something that occurred each week at the joyful Celebrate Life "Folk Mass" at St. Mary Our Mother Church in Horseheads. During the Recessional hymn we'd invite little ones to join us to sing and clap hands. It was a highlight for them and remains a great memory for me.
Enough! Here are my last two columns and the homily that I preached this weekend. Since few things are really original, I want to give major credit from its inspiration to an NCR preaching publication called "Celebration" and its exceptional writer Patricia Sanchez.
Have a blessed week.
Deacon Ray
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Over the years, God has blessed me with many wonderful opportunites to
minister. As a Roman Catholic permanent deacon of the Diocese of
Rochester, New York, (ordained 1982), I have served in a wide variety
of ministries. Whether I am ministering to my parish, hospitals, nursing homes, prisons, travel or retreat groups (e.g. Cursillo, Walk
to Emmaus, Koiniania, Pre Cana, Youth) - music has played an important
role in opening doors and hearts.
This website is an
extension of that ministry. Here you'll find the lyrics to many of my
prayer-songs and, if you like, purchase from a collection of CDs I've recorded.
There's also information about tours and pilgrimages that my wife Pat and I
occasionally host and links to web sites I've found interesting.
