The Puzzle's Missing Piece

I never quite understood the parable in Matthew’s gospel about the man who was bound hands and feet and thrown out of the wedding feast because he was not wearing the wedding garment.  I always thought his treatment was a bit harsh. After all maybe he couldn’t afford a nice coat and tie or perhaps his only suit was at the cleaners. The parable just never made good sense to me. 

But today…I was given the missing piece to the puzzle.  Father Gary explained; it was common knowledge, back then, that the party host supplied everyone with the proper garment.   

So this guy just refused to wear it.

Well now…that makes a lot more sense…no wonder he got thrown out.

Thank you, Lord Jesus…

When I puzzle over words I read

You supply my every need

You are there to sow the seed

And guide my hands in every deed.

Help me, Lord, follow your lead

I want not to be an ugly weed

You were ready and willing to bleed

So...that I might be freed

Your every word I must heed

And on your body I must feed

Please forgive my selfish greed

For this is my earnest plead.

Amen.

Today’s gospel reading….. Matthew 22:1-14

One More Behind Me

One more funeral behind me, one more funeral closer to being able to recline through the entire Mass without having to do all that sitting, kneeling and standing…I contemplated.  Eyeing Father Celestino Say’s simple pine box casket I could not help but be a little envious…envious that I was not more like him, a man of God, a man who finished the race, a man who fought the good fight.   

The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and no torment shall touch them.

They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead;

and their passing away was thought an affliction

and their going forth from us, utter destruction.

But they are in peace.

For if to others, indeed, they seem punished,

yet is their hope full of immortality;

Chastised a little, they shall be greatly blessed,

because God tried them

and found them worthy of himself.

As gold in the furnace, he proved them,

and as sacrificial offerings he took them to himself.

In the time of their judgment they shall shine

and dart about as sparks through stubble;

They shall judge nations and rule over peoples,

and the LORD shall be their King forever.

Those who trust in him shall understand truth,

and the faithful shall abide with him in love:

Because grace and mercy are with his holy ones,

and his care is with the elect.   Wisdom 3:1-9

8/8/15

Just Another Day

Another day, another daily Mass…I worry that I’ve fallen into a rut, into a routine, a meaningless habit of just going though the motions.  I sit in the same ole pew…my “monkey mind” swinging from daydream to daydream.  

But, then, without warning…something wakes me from my stupor.  It is like a huge wave that crashes over me and washes away all my doubts and worries…leaves me gasping for air with an uncontrollable feeling of gratitude that forces me to hold my breath, clench my teeth and fight back the tears. To realize what is taking place is overpowering…it is like actually being at the last supper and the foot of the cross all at the same time.

To comprehend what has been given me…with no strings attached…is overwhelming.  What a humbling thought…to think that it is a debt that I can never repay.  All I can do is say “Thank You”.   

Thank You, Lord Jesus, for all my many blessings most of all the gift of salvation.  Thank you…Thank you…Thank you. 

Amen.

And then Mass is over and I am sent forth into a world that just does not get it.  I wish I had the words to explain the difference between living WITH or living WITHOUT….JESUS.

A Letter To Cameron, My Child’s Child

Dear Cameron; 

I wanted to take this opportunity to let you know how proud I am of you.  Your latest achievement is just one more reason why you continue to amaze me. 

Without being prompted, cajoled or intimidated you decided to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation.

Totally on your own you signed up for the classes and jumped through all the required hoops.

Thank you for affording me the opportunity to be your sponsor.

As I sat in the pew next to you I couldn’t help but think back…nearly 60 years ago…when I was confirmed.

My parents had placed all my siblings and myself in a Catholic school.  Where as a matter of course all sixth graders were just lined up and were ran through the process.  We were put through the procedure without having to volunteer or make any conscious decision like accepting Christ into our childish self-centered lives.  At lest that’s the way I recall it. 

When you are baptized you become an adopted child of God without have to do much (Thanks Mom and Dad).  My Confirmation was kinda like that also…I didn’t really get it…I was almost as unconscious as the day I was baptized.  Confirmation is supposed to be when you step up to the plate and take charge…take charge of the promises made to God by the parents in baptism. 

But, after 40 years of taking care of business my way…I finally figured out God’s business was taking care of me and He wanted nothing more that for me to be happy…happy now and happy for all eternity. 

Thankfully, I received God’s grace that day…even though I let it lay dormant for all those years. 

I am confident that you will make much better use of that grace than I did.

I love you,

Dado

The Ten State Tour

Seven pair of dirty underwear, seven days of killing bugs, seven days spent traveling by motorcycle as a result of a phone call from my sister, Diane, who informed me that our brother John would be making a once in a blue moon, one-night visit to her house. 

I debated whether to drive my old service truck or borrow my wife’s fuel-efficient car for the trip.  Then, I remembered my nearly forty-year-old motorcycle.  I mentioned this half-baked idea to my son, Jason, who lit up with excitement over the idea of a possible road trip.  Now, it was too late to back out…once the bell had been rung…I couldn’t un-ring it. 

So we packed our saddlebags, checked the oil, kicked the tires and we were off.

Day One (4/28/2015): 551 miles (Victoria to Hot Springs)

Leaving Victoria, TX.  It was a beautiful spring morning with a high broken overcast…perfect in every way.

 

We stopped at the bakery in Hallettsville for a "grab and go" breakfast, descended the bluffs of the Colorado River, into La Grange.  We motored past out-of the-way places like Dime Box, punched through a cold front and reached Bryan/College Station.

The rain and fog added excitement and discomfort to the adventure, not to mention regret for not packing cold weather gear.  The remainder of the day, the thunderstorms either chased us...or we chased them.  Upon leaving "Whataburger Country" we barreled up I-30 into Arkansas skirting the rain showers...on our way to Hot Springs.  The purchase of Walmart sweatshirts and Subway sandwiches ended the day after traveling 551 miles.

Day Two (4/29/2015): 374 miles (Hot Springs to Rolla)

48*F and morning fog

North on Arkansas’ scenic Highway 7 through the Ouachita National Forest, Russellville and the Ozark National Forest to its northern terminus at Bull Shoals Lake...where we took the Peel Ferry across the lake to Missouri.

 

Traveling north on Missouri’s Hwy 125 we traversed the Mark Twain National Forest.  It was the best roller coaster ride ever...a perfect road surface, mile after mile of third gear only…full throttle one minute and hard braking the next.  We definitely scrubbed off some rubber.  Ava, MO for gas and on to Cabool, MO then we turned north...and it happened...in the middle of nowhere.  My trusty, never let me down, antique motorcycle just quit. 

I couldn't figure it out.  Could it be a coil wire? What could cause such a catastrophic ignition failure?  It was just like someone had turned off the key.

When Jason realized I was no longer following him...he turned around to find me.  After explaining the symptoms to him, he looked the situation over and pointed out the obvious.

Oh!  It's that emergency “off” switch that I never use.  Apparently, I unknowingly had accidently bumped it and turned it off.

Ok…Ok… we will not tell anybody about this.

So, I cranked up “Ole Reliable” and we headed for Rolla.

After another 12 hr day and 374 miles of killing bugs we ordered Pizza and turned in.

Day Three (4/30/2015):  35 miles (Rolla to Bland)

An easy 35 miles to Bland...Diane’s house

We finally arrived at the “The Funny Farm” or as she calls it “Manure Manor”. 



Jason fixed stuff…I fixed stuff. 






We played with the horses.
We played like horses.

The only place cell service was available was under the weather vain.

We showed Diane the latest technology...cell phones that take pictures.

My famous brother, John, sports writer/columnist and adjunct professor…entertained us with storys of his world wide travels and we discussed painful recollections of childhood that have become laughable with the passing of time.

Day Four (5/1/2015): 198 miles (Bland to Mt. Vernon)

After a hearty breakfast of wild asparagus, home grown chicken eggs and oatmeal/pecan waffles we said our good-byes, mounted up and followed the foot steps of Lewis and Clark along the north bank of the Missouri River to the St Louis Arch...Gateway To The West.

After a quick stop for pictures we crossed the mighty Mississippi into Illinois leaving the St. Louis traffic behind. 

Stopping at Mt. Vernon, IL we treated yourselves to a Holiday Inn with real pillows and air-conditioner that worked.    
198 miles traveled on Day Four.

Day Five (5/2/2015)   474 miles (Mt. Vernon to Tupelo)

Destination...the National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, KY. 

We passed the dirt brown Illinois farmlands being plowed and planted with big green and yellow tractors.  Then zipped through Indiana and across the Ohio River into Kentucky…the blue grass state…known for its racehorses.  How appropriate that the Corvette assemble plant and National Corvette Museum be located in Kentucky.

We saw all the different generations and models of Corvettes, the sinkhole exhibits; a mangled mess of fiberglass and metal (kinda sad)…had a hamburger at the museum café and hit the road for Nashville, Tennessee. 

The next stop is the Loveless Café located just west of Nashville at the northern terminus of the Natchez Trace.

Then down the “Trace”.  An incredibly beautiful National Parkway that spans a distance of 444 miles from Natchez to Nashville...with a posted speed limit of 50 MPH.  It would be the perfect motorcycle road if the speed limit was 75 or 85 MPH.  We passed by Gringer's Stand, the final resting place of Meriwether Lewis.  Following the trace south out of Tennessee to Alabama then to Mississippi we stopped in Tupelo, Mississippi after doing a 474 mile day.

Day Six (5/3/2015) 425 miles (Tupelo to Leesville)

Sunday the Lord’s Day.

We started the day at St. James Catholic Church for Mass and to say: "Thank You, Lord, for all our blessings".

Tupelo, Jacksonville, Natchez Mississippi then over that mighty river to Louisiana.

Stopped in Effie, LA to visit my 93 year old aunt...then on to Alexandra and rushed to Leesville before the nightfall.

Day Seven (5/4/2015)  367miles  (Leesville to Victoria) 

Headed home…The Ten State Tour took us back to the number one state, Texas…but, not without incident.

A nail let the air out of our plans.

after several failed attempts to plug the tire we decide I would ride ahead to Victoria get the truck and trailer and return to retrieve Jason and his red Honda.  So he entertained himself with a nap in the park while I made the 400 mile round trip.  

On day seven I logged 367 miles on the old BMW

and 2,423 total miles for the Seven Day Ten State Tour.

Plus another 400 with the truck and trailer.  

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for a safe trip and an exciting adventure.
Amen.

Texas Hill Country Three-Day Adventure Ride

Have you ever wondered where those little side roads go as you blast down the boring, mind-numbing interstate to your destination?

Well, I no longer wonder, I know.  I followed that little black ribbon of asphalt that meanders through the verdant carpet of grass…spotted with patches of yellow, violet and pink wild flowers.  That road goes by little quaint farmhouses built of indigenous stone, old barns ready to fall down at the drop of a hat and moss draped cypress bogs filled with misquotes. 

As the road pitched and yawed through hill and dell…I splashed through the occasional puddle and could smell the fresh scent left by an overnight rain as the cool morning breeze whistled about my helmet.  By midday the gray overcast sky gave way to brilliant blue punctuated with wisps of high white stratus clouds.  The temperature was perfectly pleasant.

The highway twisted and turned as it passed rock walls and followed the high-speed sweepers along side the streams and rivers giving me the opportunity to hone my skills.

I passed a majestic mansion perched atop a rocky crag, a white fenced horse farm nestled in a grass filled valley and numerous bucolic scenes just like in the movies. 

These roads took me places that no one else goes…places forgotten by time…some place that had no time for an ambling sightseer.  After traversing “Every great motorcycle road in Texas Hill Country” south of I-10 (according to Butler Maps) I pulled onto the interstate and headed home.  My old antique airhead purred past the shiny red two-wheeler stalled on the roadside.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for a safe 1051-mile adventure.

Texas Hill Country Ride Route:           (4/8,9,10/2015)

Day One

244miles

VictoriaTX

Hwy 77,

FM682,

H&H cafe, Yoakum, Tx (Breakfast)

Hwy 111,

183,

97

Cost, Tx

FM 466

Sequin tx

Hwy 46

New Braunfels tx

River road

Sattler tx

FM 306

Purgatory Rd

Hugo Rd (214)

RR 12

Fulton ranch rd (213) (173)

FM 3237

Wimberley tx

River road, Wayside Dr(179),

Old Mail Rd,

Fischer Tx

Cranes Mill Rd

FM 306, Hwy 281

FM 473

Sisterdale, TX

FM 1376

Boerne TX. (Lunch at Bear Moon Bakery an cafe)

FM 474, FM 473

Comfort TX

Hwy 27,

Mill Dam Rd,

(missed turn and got lost)

Skyline Dr,

Holliday Rd

Comfort Tx

Cypress Creek Rd, FM 1341

Kerrville

Day Two:

287 miles

Comments:

Replace defective battery on Honda ST 1100.

Replace tail light on BMW R100RT.

All repairs done in the Motel 6 parking lot.

Enjoyed a fantastic breakfast at the U-Save cafe with apparently every policeman in Kerrville and a few truck drivers.

Route:

Hwy 16,

Hwy 173,

Wharton Rd,

Center Point Rd,

Elm Pass Rd,

Hwy 173,

RR 2828,

Hwy 16,

RR 470,

RR188,

Utopia, Tx.

RR1050,

RR 2748,

RR 1120,

Leakey Tx.

RR337W,

Camp Wood, Tx.

Hwy 55,

RR344.

Bracketville, Tx/Fort Clark, Tx.

Lunch

RM 674,

Rocksprings, Tx.

Hwy 377,

Junction, Tx.

Day Three:

Junction to Victoria

520miles

Junction, Tx

Hwy 337 south,

Rocksprings, Tx

Hwy 55,

Barksdale, Tx

RR335,

Hwy 41,

RR336,

Leakey, Tx

RR337E,

Vanderpool, Tx

RR337,

Medina, Tx

Hwy 16,

RR 2771,

Hwy 173,

Kerrville, Tx (lunch)

Hwy 98,

Sheppard Rees Rd,

Bear Creek,

Hwy 27,

Ingram, Tx

Hwy 39,

Hunt, Tx

Hwy 39,

Hwy 83,

Hwy 41,

FM  1340

Hunt, Tx

Hwy 39,

Ingram, Tx

Hwy 27,

Mountain Home, Tx

Hwy 41,

I 10,

RR 479,

Hwy 27,

Ingram, Tx

Goat Creek Rd,

I 10,

San Antonio, Tx

Hwy 87,

Victoria, Tx

3 day total = 1051 miles

Ash Wednesday

Ashes were placed upon my head

Reminding me why Jesus bled

There is nothing in this world to dread

Not even when I’m gone and dead.

All my fears and worries fled

With Our Lord’s life giving bread

This is how my faith is fed

‘Tis not me but HIM instead.

Hope is more than a tiny thread

So I must…The Word widespread

For this I ask that I be led

Dear Jesus you are intrepid.

Amen.

Carrying The Cross

You always hear about “carrying your cross”...and I’ve sort of come to grips with this idea.  While I can grasp this concept on an intellectual level…on an emotional level I am not so sure.  My cross is so small it fits nicely in my back pocket tucked away where it does not bother me.  But on occasion it pokes me in the ass and I resort to winning and crying "why me?"  I keep going down the some ole road, falling into the same ole pothole, getting stuck in the same ole rut...“Why me...Why do I have to suffer?"

The answer that I keep coming up with…which is really a question…is: How can I know Jesus…really know Jesus?    Unless I experience some of what HE went through.
Rejected, jerked around, spit upon, flogged. 

Perhaps I need to drink just a tiny sip from the cup.

And stop grumbling about a few little aches and pains.

OK…carrying the cross is one thing…but hanging on it…that worries me.  

Dear Lord Jesus,

While in my nest I have messed

But You forgave all transgressed

As far it is from east to west

Yes…I know, I am a pest

Please forgive my protest

Your love you have so expressed

As hanging there would suggest

I am weak and under lots of stress

But when it is time for the test

I want to do my very best

For this I pray…my final rest

YOUR actions show I am blessed

How can I not be impressed?

So this I promise is my quest

To follow you…I’ve professed

Amen.

Today's Prayer

While worldly morals swing and sway

I to you, Lord Jesus, pray

That you keep me safe this day

So I may not go astray.

Amen.

A Few Of My Favorite Sins

After enjoying the spring, summer and fall…I come to winter of my life…or as some refer to it as “circling the drain years”.  Most of the stress and panic of keeping up with the “Jones” is behind me…I gotten over that…once I discovered it was all mortgaged.  And now that the hormones have gone into hibernation…all the passion and excitement of youth is just a fond memory. 

With each tightening circle of the drain…the lust has been replaced with love and the jealously has taken a back seat to selfishness and pride.

It seems self-centeredness and self-importance is all that I have left…these are a few of my favorite sins.

But, I’ve grown tired of life’s charade

I know my values have been mislaid

It’s time to give up my masquerade

For God’s intentions I have betrayed.

After all the games I have played

From you Lord I have strayed

It is my principles I must trade

Now…as my world starts to fade.

After pondering a decision weighed

I call on you, Jesus, for some aid

Counting on YOUR promises made

I am ready for a big upgrade.

There is no reason to be afraid

Or hide behind some palisade

Knowing the terrible price You paid

I cannot question Your love displayed.

Please, Dear Lord, my heart invade

Save me from this life’s tirade

This change for me must not be delayed

So with YOU, thru eternity, I may promenade.

Amen.