Mowing grass with Harry Potter...

I was mowing grass making my usual straight clump-rows in our front yard on my last Saturday off before December, when "flying"out of our garage came Harry Potter, running like the wind, wand drawn and out in front of him, and his black, round glasses glinting in the sunlight!  His Gryffindor Quidditch robes trailing behind him as he ran in search of the ever-elusive "golden snitch."

It was, of course, our son Patrick, who is now six years old. 

What makes a kid run like that for no reason?  Imagination, creativity, boundless energy, a happiness welling up inside him that is so great and profound, that it made him leave the comfortable & cool confines of our family room (read that as where our Wii lives), and run like the wind outside.  That I began to chase him with my zero-turn lawnmower made the game even more exciting for both of us...

Where is my joy like that?  I had it...  I know I did.  I shed a tear or two every time the grownups can't hear the bells on Polar Express, and a few more in toy Story 3 when Andy's Mom visits his empty room as he heads off to college.  I desperately want Clarence to get his wings each time I watch, "It's a Wonderful Life."  But seriously, running outside on a hot day for no reason????

When Jesus tells us "anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." (Mark 10:15),  I think this is the stuff he's talking about.  We need to never tire of the wonder of it all.  Why doesn't the Eucharist compel me to run with a cape and funny glasses on like my son when I know it should do even more for me?

When I listed to Father Chris's homily today at Mass, I began to think about my son and his love of imagination and I began to realize my own is lacking.  I'm not talking about wanting to go to Hogwarts rather than to work at KCHS...  I'm talking about dwelling a little more often on the many miracles that surround me every day. 

Riding my motorcycle definitely transports me somewhere else whenever I ride.  It puts me in a new place that is removed form anything else.  It clears my head and allows me to think more clearly and I notice stuff I ignore when driving in a car.  I am filled with joy to twist the throttle back and have the immediate response of a 14" drive shaft turn the rear wheel, and the wind feels good, even if it's coming in through my helmet vents.  This is a secondary moment for me in experiencing what my son is doing with his cape.  It's about relaxation, being contemplative, and enjoying the moment.  But there is more!!!

Christ offers us himself each day in the context of the holy Mass.  He invites us to participate in the supernatural.  He invites us to participate in his very life and body.  He invites us to participate in the most important friendship possible: one between all of us and Himself.  He invites us to be Christians.

Fr. Chris expressed how he looks forward to Mass each Sunday so that he can find support from everyone attending as we are all in the same boat of sin.  It made me feel better to hear him say that he often does not live what he preaches; I can relate to that sentiment!

So here is a challenge to you today:  Find joy in your life and then turn to Christ in that joy and say thank you.  This is the cliff notes version of the Eucharist anyways.  Just begin to baptize the good things in your life.  Understand that everything good you encounter comes from God and pretty soon you'll realize that you might need to pick up your own cape, glasses, and wand, and run like the wind...

Proud to be Catholic Even in Tough Times!

Last week, I covered the press conference for the Diocese of Knoxville and shot video & still photos and captured the audio for the event for our website.  The allegation is no more and another priest has admitted terrible wrongdoing from many years ago about his involvement as a pedophile, but this time, in our Diocese.  

Many years ago, long before I was even born, my Uncle John went to my grandmother and tried to tell her something important.  He never got out all he wanted to say as he tried to his Mom about what Fr. Abercrombie had been doing with him on vacations, at camp, and even in their home.  He got in big trouble and got grounded for even mentioning anything negative about the great man, the family friend, and holy priest.

My Uncle John was about ten when he tried to tell his Mom, the age that the abuse began for the brave man that came forward last week to offer his experiences that took place a long time ago at the hand of a priest from the then Diocese of Nashville.

My Uncle John grew up and became a fantastic lawyer, fathered three great kids, got on with his life, and forgot all about those dark memories.  Then, one night, when he was in his 50’s, he awoke in the middle of the night from a bad dream.  The dream kept coming back every night and continued for a long time.  My aunt finally asked him to go see somebody, which he did.  In therapy, the truth came out quickly, the dark memories came back and a flood of emotion and anger poured from my Uncle.  He got mad, and he began to try to find Fr. Abercrombie who had been moved many times, over and over by various bishops in Denver and then in California. 

My uncle then reached out to his three brothers who immediately denied having any experience like that.  They pushed him away.  But a few weeks after my John spoke with my Uncle Ed, he realized he had no explanation for why he couldn’t stand the smell of men’s sweat.  He loved to play racquetball daily but always went home to shower and avoided the locker room where he played.  Things began to click for him as well and within a short time, my Uncle Ed confided to my Uncle John that he was remembering things as well… things that made him sick.

Eventually, in 1993, my Uncle John began to pursue legal means to go after first, Fr. Abercrombie, and then the Diocese of Denver.  He was stonewalled, told to go away, ignored, and it so infuriated him that he began writing letters to Pope John Paul II, asking to be excommunicated.  My Uncle John is now a professed atheist and free-thinker.

Finally a settlement was reached between my three uncles and the Diocese of Denver, but this didn’t happen until 2008, many years after the sexual molestation had taken place and fifteen years since my Uncle John began legal means to get attention about Fr. Abercrombie.  It wasn’t until immediately after another diocese in California settled in a class action suit for victims of Abercrombie that the Diocese of Denver  reached out with their offer to settle.

Fast forward to last week’s press conference…  as I sat behind the camera shooting the video, I kept having to wipe tears away from my eyes to focus and shoot.  I kept thinking about my three uncles at the hands of Fr. Abercrombie, how wrong he was, how little and innocent they all were when he took advantage of them in the 1950’s, and how much time had passed before the church actually admitted wrongdoing and accepted responsibility his reign of terror over my Mom’s little brothers.  But I was also reacting to my own heart hearing the words my bishop was saying.  The last two paragraphs, in particular, were a stark contrast my own families’ experience:

“Our first concern is for Mr. Tucker, his family, and anyone else who may have been harmed by Father Casey. We want to help him in his healing process in any way we can.  I want to assure you that Father Casey has been removed from ministry and will never again function as a priest in the Catholic Church.”

When I was ordained in 2007, one of the first things I did was to call my Uncle John.  Needless to say, he’s not happy about my being a Deacon, but he tried really hard to be happy for me anyway as he knew how important that day was for me.  I got him on the phone and I told him that I was sorry.  It was an awkward moment between us, especially on the phone.  What I actually said to him then, escapes me now, but it was heartfelt, honest, and I was very sad in my demeanor.  He accepted my apology quietly and thanked me for my call.  It was hard for both of us.

So there I was trying to reconcile my feelings about how we had been abused as a family by the Church, while listening to every word spoken by Bishop Stika with awe.  Everything the Bishop said that day and in the days since, have been words full of honesty, truth, humbleness, transparency, genuine sorrow, and his voice has been filled with the firm resolve of a man on a mission to make our kids safer.  At the end of the press conference, I was filled with pride at being Catholic, in serving the Church as a Deacon, and especially at my Bishop’s response to Mr. Tucker.  I saw some 40 years of heartache in my own family compressed into just 23.5 hours from Mr. Tucker’s first contact with the Chancery to Fr. Casey being stripped of his faculties; this is how long it took to report the abuse by Mr. Tucker, inform the authorities, suspend and finally permanently remove Fr. Casey from ministry, and hold a press conference to totally bring credibility to Mr. Casey’s allegations.  It was nothing short of a miracle in my eyes and it felt really good to witness the whole thing. 

But at the end of the day, I found myself praying for Fr. Casey as well as Mr. Tucker.  Both are in need of our prayers and while each need very different things right now, there is only one person that can supply them all: Jesus Christ.  Only Christ can restore lost dignity to Mr. Tucker and offer mercy and forgiveness to Fr. Casey.  The cross is the most amazing symbol of God’s love that can heal all wounds and bring about true reconciliation, no matter what we have done.  I pray the cross of Christ will allow both men to be freed from all anxiety and fill each of them with the hope of the risen Lord.

- Deacon Patrick Murphy-Racey

Bishop Stika Asks for prayers for KCHS friends:

Bishop asks prayers for injured IC parishioners

Bishop Richard F. Stika has asked the clergy, religious, and faithful of East Tennessee to pray for three Immaculate Conception parishioners who were injured in a freak accident during the lighting of the Easter fire at the start of the Knoxville parish’s Easter vigil on April 3.

Deacon Joseph Hieu Vinh; his daughter, Trang; and Patrick Connelly suffered burns to their faces and upper bodies when the fire “flashed” and set their vestments ablaze, said Captain D. J. Corcoran of the Knoxville Fire Department.

Miss Vinh, a 2009 graduate of Knoxville Catholic High School, and Patrick, a ninth-grader at KCHS, were altar servers for the vigil.

The three were taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center immediately after the accident and later airlifted to the burn unit of Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville.

Patrick and Miss Vinh are listed in stable condition; Deacon Hieu is listed as critical.

Father Joe Ciccone, CSP, the pastor of Immaculate Conception, also suffered burns to his hands in the process of landing on one of the victims to put out the flames. He was not hospitalized.

“I am praying for those who were injured, and I have asked all our priests and the Catholic faithful to keep them in their prayers,” the bishop said. “We ask Our Lord to bring them swift healing and to comfort their loved ones at this difficult time.”

Deacon Sean Smith, chancellor for the Diocese of Knoxville, drove to Nashville on Easter Sunday and visited with all three patients. “They are in good spirits and had big smiles when they saw me and when they spoke to Bishop Stika on the phone.”

“I spoke to Hieu and Patrick and assured them of the prayers of the good people of Knoxville,” Bishop Stika said Sunday night. “I plan on traveling to Nashville tomorrow to visit them in person.”

Vanderbilt’s Catholic chaplain and Dominican sisters in the Nashville area also paid visits to the injured parishioners on Sunday, said Deacon Smith.

Deacon Smith said that Deacon Vinh and his daughter were given rooms across the hall from each other so they could make eye contact. He added that the deacon’s wife and son wished to thank everyone for the many prayers that have been offered.

Voices Joined Together...

Tonight, Tennessee Basketball fans were in for a very special moment. Usually, we all look forward to hearing Jackie Pearl sing the National Anthem before each game but tonight we got to hear from what I think was a UT choral class. They sang in four or five parts tonight and literally held the place spellbound with their very creative take on the common song we are used to hearing. The place was dead quiet as they sang. You could hear people just stop talking, texting, mouths open, taking it all in. As they sang their way into the anthem, what they were doing became more difficult and beautiful and as the song came near its end a lone alto reached way up there and nailed the final phrasing and she was dead to rights on each of her notes. The chorus gave us a gentle reminder I think about who we are: we are all people of gifts and talent, maybe not the same ones, but to each of us God as granted us individual creation that is ours to discover. His perfect vibe, force of growth, and creative work can only continue towards its end if we zero in on His plan for our lives. The voices joined were very powerful indeed because they all found a common gift from God in their praise of the Creator. Even if some of them don't believe in God, they sure believe in each other as well as their respective voices and so they praise Him anyway! Awesome!!!! Oh yeah, UT beat the pants off of the Gamecocks 79-53...

Message from B16 to President Preval of Haiti:

VATICAN CITY, 23 JAN 2010 (VIS) - Made public today were two telegrams sent by the Holy Father on 16 January to Rene Preval, president of the Republic of Haiti, and to Archbishop Louis Kebreau S.D.B. of Cap-Haitien and president of the Episcopal Conference of Haiti, for the earthquake which devastated the country on 12 January, killing and injuring hundreds of thousands of people.

Benedict XVI tells President Preval of his "profound sadness" at the tragic event and assures him of his "fervent prayers for all the people affected by this dreadful catastrophe. I also pray", the Pope continues, "that a spirit of solidarity may enter people's hearts and that calm may reign in the streets, so that the generous aid arriving from all countries may bring comfort to everyone, and that people who have today lost everything may be consoled by knowing that the international community is truly concerned about them".

The Holy Father expresses his appreciation for "the commitment shown by both Haitians and foreigners, sometimes at risk of their own lives, to do everything in their power to search for and rescue survivors". And he assures the president that the Catholic Church, "through her institutions, will remain - and not only in these moments of great commotion - alongside the people who have been so sorely tried by this tragedy, and will, to the limit of her powers, help them regain the chance to build a better future".

In his telegram to Archbishop Kebreau, the Pope mentions the tragic death in the earthquake of Archbishop Joseph Serge Miot of Port-au-Prince, and of many faithful, priests and consecrated people. "At this sad hour", he writes, "I invoke Our Lady of Perpetual Help that she may become 'Mother of tenderness', and that solidarity may triumph over isolation and individualism in people's hearts".

The also Pope praises "the rapid mobilisation of the international community, collectively touched by the fate of Haitians", and reaffirms that, through her institutions, the Church "will not cease to make her contribution to the emergency efforts and to the patient reconstruction of devastated areas".

I got on a plane a few years ago to find suffering and found instead, joy.
I expected to find darkness and found only light.
I arrived there to give help but received it instead.
I expected to find only poverty and found immeasurable wealth.
I went to affect change, and was affected.
I came home and struggled to explain what I know, and failed.
I wonder why it took so many lives lost to get our attention?
I think people are listening now, but for how long?
I want to scream and shout and cry and hold a small blood-stained hand.
I beg God for mercy, healing, and forgiveness for I am "blan."
Hear my prayer and tell me what to do...
Please, ease their pain.

The first two funerals in our little Haitian village...

Dear Friends,

News has been quiet lately from our little village in Boucan-Carre, Haiti. This is the first we've heard of structural damage since the quake, other than the second floor of the hospital's ceiling crack. The rectory's kitchen wall has a crack in it which was just discovered yesterday.

I wanted to explain who Deacon Onac is as most of you I don't think ever met him. Deacon Ocan is a transitional Deacon who grew up in Boucan-Carre. He has been in seminary for a long time and is due to be ordained a priest on Feb. 7th. His deceased cousin is named Laromie, 23, whom I honestly don't remember but I'm sure I've met in the past.

I gave Deacon Onac $300 from last year's Thanksgiving Day collection for Haiti towards the purchase of his chalice and patton that he will need in less than a month if the schedule of his ordination doesn't change. You have to wonder where they might have that ordination though as the Cathedral is in ruins. I'm certain there are bishops around that could do it but where????

People keep asking me about if there were deaths in our village. The answer is no, to if people physically lost their lives in BC. However, Port au Prince draws thousands of people from rural Haiti as it's the one place where there is work to be found. Young people, especially, migrate there to the "big city." In PAP, there is a way to find work, make a little money, continue your education, and improve yourself. There will be thousands and thousands of funerals in the coming months in small villages like Boucan-Carre, for people lost in the earthquake.

Fr. Chris Michelson gave an awesome homily last night at the vigil Mass in which he used the interplay between Jesus and Mary at the wedding feast at Cana. He called us all to ask ourselves, "how does your concern affect me? Mary's response: "Do whatever He tells you." And so the first miracle is performed and the water is turned into delicious wine. So we must ask ourselves now, what is Jesus telling us? Certainly to help in various ways through intense giving, through prayer for the suffering and those mourning the loss of loved ones, for all those orphaned last Tuesday...

Let us remember the first two funerals in BC... for Deacon Onac's cousin Laramie, and for St. Lot, Fr. Fitho Jean's brother. Both were just 23 years old.

My the souls of the faithful Haitian departed, through the Mercy of God, rest in peace.

Each of us is being called by Christ to respond to this tragedy. we can honor the dead through self sacrifice, through talking about Haiti with everyone we know, and not let it drift outside of our consciousness. We must keep Haiti's people squarely in front of our hearts and never forget... never.

-dpat

DPAT and "the Sophster" just got back from Haiti...

My daughter Sophie and my Mom and I just returned from Haiti last Friday. Little did we know we would be just a few hours away from the worst disaster in the country's history. It was the first time Sophie and my Mom had been there, but it was actually my 10th vistit. As I sit here in the comfort of our home in Knoxville, I'm overcome with a terrible guilt that I'm not there doing something to help. It's always difficult for me to make time to do mission trips to Haiti each year, especially since my business is so far off what has been considered normal, in the last ten years. But it's important for me to go there for a number of reasons.

First, I like what it does to me. I'm a typical 45 year-old fat white guy with good insurance, pretty much living the American dream. I'm self-employed, and have some measure of freedom over what I do each day. Haiti is a very uncomfortable place to be, even for a week. It's hot, most of the country lacks power so you spend most evenings talking by candle-light or a newer fancy LED headlamp. There is no noise from AC units, no sounds of traffic or cars in rural Haiti as there are only about 5 vehicles in our village at this point. You see the stars, which we are robbed of in most places in the US because we create so much light pollution. Instead, you fall asleep in real blackness to the sounds of mosquitoes buzzing, the faint sound of the Boucan-Carre River flowing in the distance, the wind, and roosters crowing and dogs barking and fighting. You hear goats and only occasionally, babies crying.

Morning comes early and you just wake up with the sun, especially in the summer heat. You can try to lay in bed for a while but once you start sweating, that loses all of its luster. Your needs are broken down into the most basic: what to eat, when to use the bathroom (if there is one), and what do do that day. We usually have projects lined up so that we are working on something when we're there. It's a good feeling to know that you contributed something more than just the carbon footprint of your airline travel for the 9 million people there.

Second, my faith is always renewed, even if I'm doing OK when I go down there. I have always told people that you get to see the gospel in color in Haiti, rather just in black and white. The gospel of Christ is exposed in raw form there every day. You are struck almost every moment with intense suffering of the people. They are hungry, have little or no healthcare, most have some evidence of malnutrition, and almost all of them are very thin. Most are not super healthy, owing to the fact that clean water remains to be elusive for most there. It is possible to visit the sick, those in jail, pray over the dead, and share your food and clothing with others all in a 12 hour time span. It's possible to live out Matthew 5:3 right in our little village in an afternoon. Yesterday a reporter asked me if my faith had been shaken by the tragedy that is unfolding in Haiti. My response was immediate and certain: "no!" It's actually swinging the other direction. The Haitians may have nothing of monetary value compared to us, but I know in my heart that is is we who are starving spiritually. We are suffering mightily in ways they would have trouble understanding. I go back again and again to learn their faith in God, to try to get into their hearts, and to learn about the true meaning of the word hope. I try to understand the mystery of Job from the old testament, and how through intense suffering it is possible to experience an intimacy with God through the worst of times. It's almost laughable to call ourselves missionaries when in reality, it is we who are schooled when we encounter this very special people who are filled with grace and dignity in the midst of their extreme poverty.

The story that I hope will be told somehow is that Haiti was a tragic catastrophe of epic proportions long before the first earthquake hit this week. It's sad that it might take this massive loss of human life to finally get our collective attention as a human race, and try to finally repair the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. We all should take seriously our responsibility to give not from our excess, but from where it hurts us deeply in the coming weeks and months. We have a responsibility to ourselves as human beings to look out for those who need what we have: safety, wealth, education, a future that holds promise, and to help our brothers and sisters someday arrive at the dignity God had always intended for Haiti. We all need to look at our finances and make contributions not just in money but in deep, long term, and sustained prayer.

The reality is that it is Jesus himself that is buried under all that rebar and concrete. It is He who suffers, it is He who lies covered by a bedsheet, dead in the gutter of Delmas Ave in Port au Prince. But it is also Christ that digs through the rubble, and yes, scribbles a number on a check to offer at the church f your choice.

This month would be a fantastic time to set aside all those things that we hold as different from one another in terms of our faith perspectives, and lean more on how we share the same faith in the basic goodness of people. We need to pull together if we are going to meaningfully offer solutions and much needed change for Haiti. I pray that each of us will do that in the coming months, for the Haitians offer us something huge right now: the chance for our professed faith to cease to be nominal. it is a special opportunity that we don't want to miss out on. There are no two countries that need each other more than Haiti and the United States. We are obese, they are starving. We are rich, they are poor. We get our teeth cleaned, they get theirs extracted. They have faith and grace, and we have nice homes and cars. We are really desperate for each other.

May we all realize our interconnectedness as one family on earth and do the right thing as opportunities to give and pray present themselves in the near future. Let's dare to be the America that we should be rather than the one we are.

-deacon patrick