Yesterday I met a couple here in Rockville Centre that I first met twenty-one years ago when I came to St Patrick”s Parish in Huntington. I met them in Huntington after one of the Sunday Masses, we chatted and later they asked me to their home. We have managed to keep in touch through the years and, most years, manage to meet at some stage. Yesterday was the day. I was happy to meet Peter and Jill and spend a bit of time with them. Good company, thank God. Their children are grown now, working and living away from home. The years certainly move on but I like the bit of consistency too, where contact remains. Jill liked the flowers at the front of the rectory so two photos were taken. I think the people in the photos were optional!!
They told me about MOTH – a place where stories are told. I hadn’t heard of it but the premise seems to be that people share stories that are personal to them – in other words they have to be part of the story. They told me how much the enjoy this. I must have a look and listen www.themoth.org Couldn’t help but think my aunt, Mary Margaret could find her niche there:)
I was at the cinema twice this week. Mentioned the first visit in an earlier post when, in Virginia, I went to see “Won’t you be my neigbour” – the story of Mr Rogers. Last night I went alone to the local cinema here to see the new Mama Mia movie “Mama Mia Here We Go Again”. It was enjoyable. Not sure if I liked it as much as the first one but it was fun, good music and dancing. Certainly didn’t feel I’d wasted my time being there. One or two of the songs featured, I’d never heard before but I am assuming they are all ABBA songs. Some of the ones I did know were sung at a different tempo and I liked them too.
I had two Masses here today (and one last night) and it’s amazing to see how many people attend Masses here. There are a lot of Masses in the parish (Three, including a Spanish Mass on Saturday evening and, on Sunday, 7am, 8am, 9.30am, 11.00am, 12.30pm and 5.00pm) and the Cathedral is very full for many of them and well full for them all. Something uplifting about that.
St Agnes’ Cathedral, Rockville Centre
Some people with Kilmovee (Urlaur) connections came to the 5pm Mass this evening and went for a bite to eat with them after Mass. It was good to catch up. The daughter/grand-daughter chose her own clothes when dressing today so arrived in the Roscommon jersey. She looked well and was such a pleasant child. I didn’t update her on Roscommon’s recent outings in the Super 8s! She generated much amusement in the restaurant as she walked around freely from table to table and, in the process, encountered a man from Leitrim and a barman from Dublin. There’s something lovely about the County Jersey.
C’mon the Rossies
Had a slightly worrying moment as I tried to finish the chicken wrap I ordered and found myself unable to do so. I asked the waitress to “pack it” and I brought it home. That’s a first for me. Thinking it might be time to go home before I go American!!
On Monday morning I took a bus to Vienna (Virginia) to meet my aunt who had come to stay with our mutual friends Jeanie and Corky. The bus ride was long enough – over four hours but passed okay. I was happy to be going there to meet Mary Margaret. It’s been a year nearly since we met and, though we talk from time to time and email, there’s nothing really to beat meeting people and being with them. We had an enjoyable time together.
We had a lovely afternoon and evening together and caught up on and re-visited a lot of Mary Margaret’s stories. She is an incredible story-teller and seems to meet people wherever she goes and many of them continue to have a place in her life and heart.
On Tuesday the four of us went to “the movies” and watched a movie called “Won’t you be my neighbour?” – the story of Mr Rogers, a minister who produced a TV show for children and ministered to a much wider audience. I had never heard of him but very much enjoyed the show and coming to learn something of story I’d not known.
Later in the evening we met with Jeanie and Corky’s son, his wife and children and a cousin visiting from Nashville. I had married Chris and Erin – as it turns out – ten years ago this week. We had a good time together and the Nashville Girl is quite the singer so we had a song or three! Enjoyable for sure.
An early start on Wednesday saw me heading back for New York. I had planned on spending a bit of time there but tiredness took hold so I opted for a train back to Rockville Centre. Truly glad I had those few days. It is always good to meet people who matter to me and that’s one of the great enjoyments I have from coming here each year. People make places!
Went to the city for a while yesterday and just walked around. Went to a few shops but didn’t do much damage – I think! I called into MACYS just for the sake of it though, to be honest, I find it a bit overpowering. I never left the ground floor. As I walked to the exit I spotted a woman in front of me and, no disrespect intended, my mind went back to secondary school and the old Irish Book we all studied (thought I’ve forgotten almost everything in it at this stage) – I couldn’t help but imagine what Peig Sayers would have made of MACYS!!
I had Mass here this morning and afterwards a parishioner came in to welcome me. I’ve met her a few times and she is truly a lovely person. We were chatting when someone came in to tell me I’d not turned off the microphone! Oops!
This evening I went to a nearby beach – Long Beach – to have a walk. There is an amazing Boardwalk there – I think it’s over two miles – and is lovely setting. I thought a walk might not go astray. As I walked along I thought one of the last times I was there I had gone for a walk with a Franciscan Friar – Fr Kevin Cronin – who was in Rockville Centre with me at the time. I remembered we had a good chat and a few laughs as we walked along and there was a concert on the beach that we stopped and listened to for a while. As I walked along, I was happy to be there and enjoyed looking at the variety of people spending time alone or together. A few smiles here and there but a sense of this being a good place to be. Next thing!! Who is in front of me, walking towards me only Kevin Cronin!! “I was literally just thinking of you”, I said. I’m not sure he believed me but it was the truth. I turned and walked with him for a while and caught up on a few bits and pieces. He turned to go home and I walked a little more.
Chances are, this may be of zero interest to you!! Just thought I’d put down a few bits anyway – even for my own sake and to have a few memories.
Spent a few hours in New York – went to meet someone for lunch and later decided to go to a Broadway Show. I had never seen Phantom of The Opera and tried to get a good value ticket. Went to the theatre and got one at a good rate and decided to go for it. There was time to kill then so decided to go to the 9/11 memorial and spend some time there. I wanted to remember there, in a special way, Kieran Gorman and his family.
Kieran’s name is on the South Memorial – one of the two memorials that stand on the site of the original towers. They are impressive and the flowing waters remind us of the lives of all whose names are recorded there and the difference they made.
I didn’t go into “Freedom Tower” – there was a long line waiting to do so and, to be honest, having spent a few minutes there and with Kieran having been remembered, I felt I had achieved my aim. The tower is an impressive building and stands tall in world of tall buildings.
Leaving the memorial, I walked to Vesey Street to visit again the Irish Famine Memorial. I hadn’t been there in sometime but wanted to see it again. It’s story, rooted in the Diocese of Achonry and Parish of Attymass, centres around the ruins of an old family house. The house, taken down stone by stone, was transported to New York and rebuilt in its fallen state on the site of the Famine Memorial.
It is a truly amazing piece of work. It makes the point that following the famine and the resulting emigration homes were left to fall in, uncared for and unoccupied. A reminder that people are the true cornerstone of the home and without them the building cannot stand.
I met a man and his wife there. He was taking a picture of a stone from Co. Roscommon because his people came from there. He had never been to Ireland and his wife is Chinese. He was explaining to her the importance of this stone for him. We chatted for a while and I wondered how many people came there to connect with stories they have been told – stories handed through the generations. It is a good connection and good to have a place to make those connections.
The time passed, I came away glad to have re-visited both places and I had the Phantom of The Opera to look forward to …..
“The angel of music ……” maybe that’s another story!
PHANTOM’S VOICE: Brava, brava, bravissima . . .
MEG:
Christine, Christine…
(Phantom: Christine…)
Where in the world
Have you been hiding?
Really, you were perfect!
I only wish
I knew your secret!
Who is your great tutor?
CHRISTINE:
Father once spoke of an angel
I used to dream he’d appear
Now as I sing, I can sense him
And I know he’s here
Here in this room
He calls me softly
Somewhere inside hiding
Somehow I know
He’s always with me
He – the unseen genius
MEG:
Christine, you must have been dreaming, stories like this can’t come true
Christine, you’re talking in riddles, and it’s not like you!
CHRISTINE:
Angel of Music!
Guide and guardian!
Grant to me your glory!
MEG(to herself):
Who is this angel? This…
BOTH:
Angel of Music!
Hide no longer!
Secret and strange angel
Over the weekend I had the joy of celebrating the Wedding Masses of two of my cousins: Bernard McDonnell (also my Godson) with Annemarie Hayden and Eithne Lavin with Andreas Grill. One was in Mullingar Cathedral and the other in Culmullen, Co. Meath. Both were very enjoyable and I was glad to be a part of these special days.
There’s not much else to say really! I suppose I’m just reminded what a blessing it is to have people in my life who want me to share days like these with them. A blessing too, to be able to minister and be a friend. I’m thankful!
It was a straightforward question enough. So too, the answer: “Come and see”.
They did and “spent the rest of that day with him”. No mention of where they went, what they did or who they met. But whatever all that entailed, it took the rest of the day – no, more than that, the rest of their lives.
Do you ever wonder where they went? It’s strange that we’re not told but it seems certain they didn’t go to an address.
This picture above is of a statue of the “Homeless Jesus” and there’s a definite truth in it. Jesus seeks to make his home among us, in our hearts and lives. He is certainly found among the homeless and the searching, the poor, those who are lonely or hard-pressed.
I saw him this week in the eyes of a widow coming to terms with the death of her husband and again in the flowing tears of a man whose wife had just died. Met him in the home of a young couple just weeks into being parents and amazed that love of a child is such an overwhelming feeling. I heard him in choirs singing, musicians playing and men and women of the parish, reading his Word into our hearing.
He lives in our midst. You’d like to think he’d have brought his disciples to meet us.
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p data-css=”tve-u-160f11ea21f” style=”text-align: right;”>(From Kilmovee Parish Bulletin – 2nd Sunday in Ordinary Time – 14th January 2018)
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