Random Thoughts

Um, seriously?

So, this “Catholic” (obviously in name only) counseling center has decided to hold a fundraiser with a very special guest, former president Bill Clinton.  And they wonder why the bishop is telling everyone to boycott this thing.  A spokeswoman for the center offered her little pearl of wisdom saying that they are non-denominational and that the event has nothing to do with their Catholicism.

Hello!  Your name is “Catholic Family Counseling Centre.”  I understand that the agency serves people of other faiths, but come on.  I mean, I worked for Catholic Social Services, and we served people of all faiths, obviously. Actually, if you look at the statistics regarding those receiving services, Catholics make up only a very small percentage.  I can’t speak for all CSS offices, of course, but this was the case at the office in which I worked.  But, CSS receives CATHOLIC funding and support, and is an archdiocesan agency, so they are supposed to conduct themselves in a manner that is representative of the Church.

Honestly, I don’t know if this counseling center receives Church funding or if they are considered a part of the diocese or not, but regardless, they have the name “Catholic” on their door.  As a Catholic person or entity, it is simply ridiculous to invite someone to represent you who obviously does not support the teachings of the Church.  I am not going to sit here and bad-mouth our former president, but his actions have made it pretty clear that this is the case.

It’s simple, really, and I have to say this covers not just this instance, but all of those instances which seek to poison our Church, and to turn away from the Truth; if you have such a problem with the Catholic faith, and you hate it so much, then please, do us all a favor and leave. 

Don’t call yourself Catholic if you aren’t. 

In the words of one of my favorite priests of all time, “You can sit in McDonald’s all day long saying, ‘I’m a Big Mac!  I’m a Big Mac!  I’m a Big Mac!’  But, guess what!  You aren’t a Big Mac, no matter how many times you say it.  In the same way, if you do not accept the teachings of the Church, you are not Catholic.”

I am not trying to be hateful; rather, I am simply asking why you would want to claim to be a part of something in which you don’t believe.  I don’t call myself Baptist because I don’t accept the beliefs of the Baptist church.  In the same token, if you don’t believe in the Real Presence, or a male-only priesthood, or you do believe that abortion and euthanasia are OK, just to name a few, then why would you want to call yourself Catholic?

If this agency does not want to be tied to the Catholic Church, then take our name off the door. 

Also, I applaud this bishop for coming forward and speaking out against this.  I wish we had more bishops and priests who would show some courage and speak out against all the nonsense and whining that frankly, I am SO over. 

I know we should pray for conversion; I also know that I am not perfect, and I do believe that conversion is possible no matter how impossible it may seem.  I know that God can do anything, and that people’s hearts can be changed.  But, we can’t just sit back and allow people to breakdown His Church either.

EDIT:  I forgot to mention, What’s up, Mr. Davies?!  I can’t believe you found us!  Email us! 

So, I’m kind of pissy today.  Not sure why, I just woke up that way.  I figured this was a good place to just ramble mindlessly about stuff while I’m in my pissy mood.  So, here goes…

If Philip on Days calls that unborn baby a clump of cells again, I’m going to go postal.  It pissed me off the first time, but then he said it again today!  WTF?!  Please stop trying to lie to people and push this BS agenda regarding abortion.  Why do we mourn a baby when a woman suffers a miscarriage, but when she has an abortion, we decide it wasn’t a baby anyway?  How is that logical?  WTF?!  See, I told you I was pissy…

So, I never posted about “THE ANNIVERSARY”.  June 28th came so quickly; I still cannot believe he’s been gone more than a year now.  I still miss him.  I wonder if somewhere down the road it won’t hurt anymore?  An old friend of mine died in a car accident 11 yrs. ago, and I never thought I’d get over it, but I did.  Life has gone on.  I still think about him sometimes, but it’s not with sadness.  I just remember the good times we had.  I wonder if I will ever get to that point with Michael?

Anyway, the 28th itself ended up being a pretty amazing day.  I was truly dreading it, but somehow by God’s grace, it was beautiful.  Fr. Bazzel said a special Mass for the family and friends, then we all went out to lunch.  I wasn’t so sure I wanted to be around people, but it turned out to be exactly the thing I needed.  After lunch, Fr. Dean and I went to get dessert, then to the cemetery, which was really nice.  He and I shared memories and laughed about–just the way he was. 

Some of Michael’s students had gone to the cemetery that morning to “have coffee with Fr. L.”  They had poured coffee on his grave which was pretty funny.  He would have appreciated that.  Also, his nephew (who used to be this sweet little boy and is now in COLLEGE) and I talked about the time the 3 of us went to the planetarium and out to dinner like, a million years ago. 

The weird thing was that I think I was more sad on the 26th when I realized that it was the anniversary of the last time I saw him alive, the last time I spoke with him, the last time I gave him a hug.  I have to admit that when I got home the night of the 28th and it was quiet and I was alone, I had a good long cry.  But overall, I just really think that Michael was looking out for all of us that day. 

OK, so I’m adding this now 2 days later, and as it turns out, I’m pissy today too!  I’m not even sure why, but I started out that way, so rather than rant anymore, I’m going to go ahead and post.  My Days rants to Aimee have been funny as hell, in my humble opinion, but since she’s the only other person who is going to read this, there’s no need in posting them. 

Another dismal day on the North Coast, but at least it’s not hot. There is so much to get to today: gossip, snarkiness, break-ups, rumors, oh and what it is like to stay in a cloistered convent and drive three nuns across country. So which do you want first, the sinly ways of the world or the path to eternal salvation? Good answer, I will start you down the right path where you go from there is entirely up to you…

Driving three nuns across country is surprisingly refreshing. It is even kind of freeing in a way. I definitely felt more holy, but in case you are wondering, it is pretty much like driving anyone else around except we sang our own music. Sure there were rosaries and prayers, but it wasn’t all about that. We talked about normal things, ate normal things, did normal road-trip things-nothing altogether spectacular. I did get to see Mother Angelica and I was allowed more freedom than I would be under normal circumstances because I was accompanying them, but mostly I was just respected and loved. We could all use more of that in our lives, personally I was kind of hoping God would let me drive nuns around more often. I certainly behave better and am more tolerant. As for sleeping in the guest room of a convent, I am not sure there is anything more boring, but the food is amazing. Carol and I once proclaimed we could not replicate Sr. Ruth Marie’s chocolate chip cookie recipe because we were simply missing the prime ingredient, Jesus Love, which apparently applies to all foods made by nuns. I even loved Mother Vicar’s angel food cake, and if you know me, you know I normally hate angel food cake. Too bad you weren’t there to witness me eating my words. Bottom-line, if you ever get called to duty to help out some sisters, I highly recommend you accept the mission; it was well worth it.

Now on to the less spiritually motivated topics…Apparently one of my favorite actors and fellow bloggers, Zach Braff, has ended his relationship with Mandy Moore. Some say he is a big fat cheater, others say the age difference simply caught up with them, I say the less I know the better. I refuse to ruin another of my Hollywood love affairs by learning the truth. The truth is most celebrities are supremely annoying egotists and I try to avoid acknowledging it!

Patch is back on Days of Our Lives and I couldn’t be happier! Not to mention they have just landed a new head writer, so JERk is OUT!!! I did read some interesting new info, it seems Patch and Kayla’s daughter Stephanie is a race car driver and shares a past with EJ. Hum? I was kind of hoping EJ could tame Sami because I am so over Austin and Lucas. From the sound of things, I am going to be over Patch and Kayla soon since he doesn’t remember her or their love. As for Passions it is now completely unwatchable and I officially throw in the towel. That is the last you will hear from me on the subject; besides, I have a new love…Charmed reruns! I heart TNT. P.S. if you are not watching The Closer, you should be!

Lastly, all you Ghost Whisperer fans with hopes for Aisha Tyler’s return can get out your Kleenex boxes again; she will not be returning to the show this fall. TV Guide indicates Melinda is getting a new confidante, and it may be Camryn Manheim. If you believe the rest of the story, her husband is on the way out as well. This part would truly sadden me; I like Jim and CBS already ditched the husband on Close to Home, so it seems like an all out assault on the profession! Perhaps some sources got confused, but it doesn’t seem likely. All we can do is see how this plays out in the fall. I have already heard two conflicting stories about VM; one has her with Logan all year, the other gives her a new boyfriend at college. Time will tell. In the mean time, Carol and I are cooking up a super bitchy rant on road construction, bad hair cuts and things that just generally piss us off, so make sure and meet us back here tomorrow with your spoon and 5 lb. tub of chocolate chip cookie dough to join in the fun. Until next time…Cheers!

So, I promised you something incredibly snarky and witty based on my recent vacation. Seeing as how I am on the road again, I figured I had better hurry the hell up before you all gave up on me. I picked our destination this year and I was beginning to think I had lost my mind by choosing it. I am definitely not book smart and though I wasn’t one of the cool kids in school, I also wasn’t one of the painfully dorky. I would tell you my husband was, but he grew up in another time and place, so he seems to have been more revered for his oddities than ridiculed. Let’s just say he would have gotten his ass kicked at my school. OK, either that or he would have been so painfully rich and snobby he would never have deigned to speak with me. Oh, nevermind, back to vacation-I chose to go the history route complete with Jamestowne, Yorktown and Colonial Williamsburg. Apparently these three stops are a rite of passage of sorts I somehow missed out on. I do remember making merciless fun of a girl in my class who spent a summer as a reenactor there. I was an ass, what can I say besides she had it coming? I mean, honestly, her family had a Christmas wreath on the grill of their Volvo! Anyway, this year I dorked out in favor of learning and to beat the crowds for Jamestowne’s 400th anniversary next year. Ultimately we had loads of fun on our trip and like most vacations, it simply wasn’t long enough to do all of the things we could have, but we got to do most of it. Besides, I know the score; I will be back in 10 years with my rugrats. In addition to history I did learn a few things on this trip: stereotypes are everywhere, you can be Amish and redneck at the same time, and most importantly I have discovered the tell tell way of ascertaining who is a redneck and who is not (well as long as the redneck is not a mute).

First, stereotypes-female park rangers are nerdy, intellectually stuck-up, card carrying flannel loving lesbians. Sadly, I am going to have to go with true on this one. I am sure others have seen evidence to the contrary, but in my limited experience, I’ve gotta go with true. And yes, I do actually personally know one female park ranger and she is too.

Next, the Amish-I’m just askin’ but why the hell would an Amish family want to pay to see Williamsburg? THEY STILL LIVE LIKE THAT! What is the big deal to an Amish family? They can’t possibly get all excited by the horse and buggy, the folks living off the land, and the people who make their own clothes. Um, hello? As for the definitive way to ascertain if one is a redneck, you need merely to entertain the following question when you hear them speak: Do they sound as if they ate opossum for breakfast? If the answer is yes or even a slight hesitation in response, then you have discovered a genuine redneck. If he happens to also be Amish and in Colonial Williamsburg, you’ve discovered a true anomaly.

OK, so this is not nearly as funny as it probably ought to have been, but I am sitting in the guestroom of a cloistered convent where I have been in complete silence for the last several hours. It is hard to be snarky this close to goodness and God. And as for being humorous, it is so quiet here, I am laughing at shadows on the wall, so cut me some slack. I even forgot to bring my favorite DVD. I ended up just bringing the case because I am an idiot. So until next time…Cheers!

Go on vacation for three weeks and you come back with some pretty entertaining stories, right? Truthfully, yes, but I am sure some of them will get lost in translation. So why am I not sharing? Patience Obi-wan. I have a splitting headache, laundry out the wazoo, major allergies, and about 20 different errands to run. Believe it or not, these are carefully crafted posts which actually take time to bring to fruition. I left Weezie in charge during my absence and look where that got me-not even a holla for Veronica being renewed for a 3rd season! I promise to try and get out something funny by tomorrow. In the meantime, NBC is helping me keep you entertained by having a 4 episode mini marathon of The Office tonight. Tune in and check out one of my favorite episodes when Jim with Pam’s help convinces Dwight it is Friday. In a word: Priceless!

On a completely un-funny and possibly morbidly serious note, today was Fr. Michael’s birthday. It is hard to believe it has been nearly a year since we lost someone so dear. Take a moment to remember him in your prayers and most importantly cherish the memories you have of your loved ones. Even if you never met Michael or heard him preach, he can teach you something through his death. Don’t take for granted, pray for each other, help each other, you are not alone even when it feels like you are, even the worst day can be a great blessing, say what is in your heart because this may be your last chance, love often with great grace, and most importantly-hope…

Before I get us all depressed, go into you kitchen, bring back your beverage of choice (Shiner Bock if you are a purist) and join with me in a toast and a devious little smile…”To Fr. Michael…we shall never forget.”

Have you seen the commercials for Avon’s new Instant Manicure? It looks freaky and I highly doubt it will actually last 14 days! I do secretly want to try it though!

Do you know they are still going on and on about Amy Fisher on ET? Seriosly everyday they have a new exclusive tidbit about her and that ass Joey Buttafuoco. Today Amy’s new husband is going to threaten to beat his ass (I wish someone would; he is such a liar!) and Mary Jo is going to speak. Enough already, I didn’t care then and I really don’t care now. How’s that anonymity treating you Liz?

I have learned there is a downside to using your driveway as a workshop: Jehovah’s Witnesses. They came by this morning while I was sanding off the finish I just spent two days applying to my mom’s Mother’s Day present. Anyway, the man decided I was obviously a helpless woman and he should suggest I consult a professional. He asked me if I had ever heard of Sherwin Williams or considered using rollable paint or if I was aware there is a Home Depot across the street. You have no idea how hard it was to avoid giving a seriously snarky if not profanity riddled response. Trust me, you think you know, but you’re wrong. I am more than a little bit stressed at the moment. Then the woman asked if we could have a brief bible study. Thankfully she just wanted to read me a small chapter out of the Bible. They both promised to stop by again when I wasn’t so busy. Um, yea!

The countdown to the final episode of season 2 of Veronica Mars is on. I can hardly contain myself. Spoilers and speculation are rampant, but I am trying to avoid any clues to the final big reveal. I love this show! Roni is graduating! I am going to miss the hallowed halls of Neptune High. Sniff, sniff! I did find out the season 2 DVD is set for release on August 15th! This bodes well for renewal on the CW network and a big season 3! Keep your fingers crossed.

I hope today’s post was random enough for ya. I am swamped, so that is it for me. Until next time…Cheers!

Oh, my little Grey’s…

To begin, I have to say that I really enjoyed the episode aside from the obvious, considering how pro-Catholic this website is.  But, more on that later.  Is it just me, or did every woman in America (except Emilie and Nikki) either say or think, “YES, PLEASE!” when McDreamy asked about some hot sex?  I know, and I just got through saying how Catholic we are, and here I am talking about lust.  I’m sorry, I have such a crush on Patrick Dempsey; I have for as long as I can remember.  But truly, I am an old married woman who loves her husband very, very much and is 100% devoted to him, so I’m totally kidding. 

I laughed out loud at the look on Derek’s face when he saw Meredith come down from McVet’s (or O’Dreamy’s, or whatever other names people have come up with for him) apartment fresh from a shower and wearing his shirt.  I’m glad that George went home; and the Burke and Cristina scene at the end–wow!  Chris O’Donnell is so adorable!  I feel like there are other things, but I’m too focused on the whole “large Catholic family with tired mom who wants her tubes tied and wants to hide it from her husband” storyline.  Can anyone say, “STUPID”?  Here’s why:

Any couple who is so devout that they would consciously be 100% open to life by having 7 flipping children and not contracepting all for the sake of their belief in God and the Church would/should have at least heard of Natural Family Planning, which would mean they wouldn’t stop having sex completely for 3 flipping years.  We are NFP class dropouts, and even we know that!  Yes, NFP calls for periods of abstinence, but certainly not 3 years!  Ridiculous!  And, if they were so desperate as to not want to have anymore kids that they stopped having sex for 3 years, don’t you think they would have sought other options and found NFP if it wasn’t already presented to them by their parish or diocese?  And, I know it’s the “cool” thing to do, so they acted as if contracepting is the only option and if you don’t contracept, well, you’re stupid and you’ll just have to keep on having babies or get yourself fixed and lie to your spouse.  From my undestanding, NFP, practiced correctly, is effective (I admit I don’t have the experience to back it up, but I have studied a great deal about it, and know a number of people who swear by it).

But of course, it has to be portrayed that women who don’t contracept must be popping out an ungodly number of children…And the husband, he must be horrible and controlling with no respect for his wife; Oh, wait!  He’s one of those crazy Catholics, that explains it.  I understand the argument that it’s a woman’s body, but when you enter the sacrament of marriage, you make a vow to become one with your husband, and he vows the same. Yes, we are told to be submissive to our husbands, and our husbands are supposed to love us in the way Christ loves his Church; which means he would die for you. You do this by CHOICE.  Any children or potential children are not exclusively the woman’s “property.”  They are as much a part of the husband as they are the wife because the husband and wife are ONE.

I could go on even more about why this is stupid, but I won’t.  I think it’s time to come down from my soapbox.  And, I still love Grey’s; they aren’t the only ones with stupid Catholic storylines.  It’s everywhere; I’d have to stop watching TV or reading the news or listening to the radio.  It’s just part of it, I guess.  God never told us that following Him would be easy; rather He told us just the opposite.

I hate to “beat a dead horse,” “jump on the bandwagon,” or harp on a point ad nauseam, but I can’t help myself. Charlie Sheen is the subject of yet another lawsuit; at least this one is a little more cut and dry (to me anyway). This clearly self important woman, Ursula Auburn, has decided the character of “Rose” on the CBS show Two and a Half Men is based on her life and obsession with Charlie. If you have ever seen this show, the idea that someone would admit to or be proud of that fact is a little on the frightening side. Generally speaking, if someone hypothetically created a caricature of you that was a little psyho, slightly obsessed and a hair cooky would you really file a lawsuit to make sure the whole world knew about it? Wait, never mind, I think I just answered my own question.

Since I am on the subject of self important psycho’s, did anyone see ET tonight? They had an interview (which is actually a three part series) with Amy Fisher…err…Liz. I am all for forgiveness and the like and if Mary Jo can let it go, who am I to cast stones? But this has nothing to do with her Long Island Lolita days and everything to do with the fact that she is on TV telling me she is trying to put this whole ugly part of her life behind her. She changed her name, had plastic surgery, got married and had a couple of kids. I applaud her effort, but I question her thinking on remaining anonymous. Doesn’t going on national television and revealing your new look and name kind of defeat the purpose? She says people are already harassing her son in preschool. This is despicable, but I don’t think it is going to get any better now that she brought up the whole ugly situation again. Also, on Monday’s very special episode she confronts the upstanding hot dog vendor, Joey Buttafuoco. Can you say exploitation?

On a totally selfish note, I recently discovered former Baywatch babe, Erika Eleniak, got fat. I don’t know why this makes me happy, but I always liked her and truthfully it makes me feel better knowing she is going to be on Celebrity Fit Club. There is something comforting about a pin-up girl going chunky; it just makes me feel better about myself. Now if only there was a Fit Club for regular girlls where you could eat whatever you want and do little or no exercise. Ah well, a girl can dream.

I have to say, I mentioned the other day Britney Spears was/might be pregnant again. Many “news” organizations have picked up on the story, but all of them have quoted the US Weekly story I referenced. Britney has neither confirmed nor denied the story. The longer this goes with no new sources, the less I believe the validity of the story. In other news, Heather Locklear is apparently backing up my story on Denise Richards and her seriously bad judgment call.

For those of you who watch NBC’s The Office and have long desired to own your own Dwight bobble head, your wait is over. You can pre-order here: http://www.nbcuniversalstore.com/detail.php?p=8368

Well, I guess that is it for tonight, so until next time…Cheers!

P.S. How damn funny was Earl tonight? Even severed toes made me laugh. Oh yeah and I owe Carol an apology. I ruined the big Veronica reveal for her with my big mouth. Damn non-spoiler spoilers. I will save you all the gushing I have over the episode and the impending finale, but I do have to quote and old favorite and a fellow poster over at eonline.com, “We were on a BREAK!” Who knew Ross’ classically annoying mantra would come in handy for LoVe. If you too want to relive the glory, you can get your very own shirt here, but you have to hurry, it is now or never at TWoP.

I hate to follow Carol’s thoughtful and inspiring post with hateful gossip, but that is the apparent nature of this site. We go through great moments of piety and then shoot it down with idle chatter. I guess everyone is sort of on a moral rollercoaster; we keep trying to do the right thing but sin and selfishness turn us back. Yes well, on we go.

First, on a serious note my father has taken ill and is not doing very well although he is well enough not to be in the hospital. I don’t believe this is the end for him, but my mother is very afraid. I am choosing to trust in the Lord and delay panicking until after he gets more tests on Thursday. In the mean time, I would consider it a great personal favor if you all would say a prayer for him. As for my mom being upset with you, Carol, last I heard she was going to Hanceville herself on Sunday, but I am sure she was glad to be at home where she noticed the problem with my dad’s medication. All she said about it was, “yeah that little turkey went last year without telling me either”. LOL {Hoar, WTF LMBO}

Now to the morally ambiguous task at hand, last week Denise Richards entered some pretty salacious accusations against Charlie Sheen into the court record. Knowing Charlie’s history, I can’t say I was entirely shocked at the nature of the accusations, but I did find them conveniently timed and rather lacking in credible evidence. On a believability scale of 1-10, I would have given her account maybe a 6 or possibly a 7 until yesterday. It seems after leveling these scandalous accusations against her children’s father, she decided to spend the weekend with her best friend’s soon to be ex-husband. Ah, there we go casting stones again. Apparently Heather and Denise are BFFs no longer and rumor has it the infamous pictures that brought down the Sambora Locklear marriage were of Ms. Richards. I can’t prove that, and I don’t know if anyone other than Heather can for certain, but her friends sure seem ready to. All I know is I wouldn’t take a cheap shot at my soon to be ex-husband and then appear all cozy and suck face with my best-friend’s husband the next day. It also should be noted that Richie and Denise were apparently an item back when she was allegedly trying to reconcile with the monster. And BTW if he is so horrible and didn’t want Sam in the first place and told her to get an abortion, why stay with him and have another baby? If he really did/does all of the things she accuses him of, then why is she so surprised his behavior has not changed? Her current credibility, I’d say about a 2. As for her allegations, I am not saying they aren’t true at least in part, nor am I nominating Charlie Sheen for sainthood, but I am saying people can say things and context and perception are major factors. I have told my husband I was going to kill him before and we were both laughing at the time. Did I seriously mean I was going to murder him? Of course not. Could he say under oath that I said that? Yes. Could I deny it? No. Is it fair to say I threatened his life? Clearly not. Perhaps this is not the case here, I didn’t get to witness the events transpire, but I do know enough about relationships to know that we tell our own side of the story in the best light. That is why relationship experts say you shouldn’t talk to your parents about your spouse because you only repeat the bad things they do when you are angry with them, and seldom give praise when they do something nice, so the perception of your spouse is often skewed. Right or wrong, in this culture perception = reality, especially in Hollywood.

Speaking of which, one more random question, why do so many people watch American Crapfest errrr Idol and not Nashville Star? The talent is by far superior on NS. Is it because mainstream media doesn’t focus attention on it or perhaps because it is on USA and people are too lazy to push that many buttons on the remote? People seem to find Monk and The Closer, so surely USA is accessible. What gives?

Well, I gotta run. Until tomorrow…Cheers!

Totally inappropriate random unsubstantiated factoid I read on a message board: Denise Richards got her start in the business as one of Heidi Fleiss’ girls. Probably completely untrue, but still I find it amusing. Lastly those comments on the Richie and Denise link above had me in tears with laughter. I know it is a tabloid but that is some crazy stuff.

Ok, I know I said lastly, but Britney is preggers again, or so says this article? More on that later, but why can’t they just leave her alone? And more importantly, why is it people like K-fed are always so fertile when others try for years just to have one? And why don’t I ever get any good mail?

I love Holy Week and Easter.  I cannot express to you just how much, but I do.  It was quite moving this year, as it always is, but it was a little bit different this time. 

I used to be a lector at church; I did it for a long time because I love doing it.  I’m on the substitute list now because my husband asked me to cut back some of my commitments just because there are those times we don’t feel like driving that hour and we can just go up here.  However, it’s become a tradition over the past couple of years that I read at Holy Saturday Mass.  Holy Saturday is great; I know it’s long, but it’s such a beautiful Catholic tradition–from the darkness to light, all the beautiful readings, the music that’s so perfect for this time of year, the Litany of the Saints, new people coming into the Church…and so much more.  Anyway, this year, I chose to read one of the Old Testament readings and the Epistle.  I wanted to do the Epistle so badly because it is one of my all time favorite Bible passages:

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  We were buried therefore with him by baptism unto death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.  For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.  We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the sinful body might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin.  For he who has died is freed from sin.  But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him.  For we know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.  The death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.  So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.  Romans 6:3-11

So, the entire time I am standing up there reading, I am thinking of Fr. Michael and trying not to cry.  It took every fiber of my being, and the grace of God to whom I was praying in my head saying, “Please God, don’t let me start crying, please God, don’t let me start crying…”  I made it through the reading without tears, but during the Consecration, I couldn’t hold back anymore.  As it turns out, his sister and her daughters were in the pew behind me and we all made each other cry–I guess they were feeling what I was feeling as well.  I don’t know…he was just so on my mind and heart throughout Holy Week and Easter.  I guess because it felt like he should have been there; though I know he was, just in a different way.  It was bittersweet, really, because as much as I miss him and hate that he isn’t here with us, I couldn’t help but imagine what it must be like to celebrate Christ’s Resurrection in Heaven.