SHAMELESS BEGGING LETTER

There is a letter going out from the Xavier Society for the Blind - appropriately entitled Shameless Begging Letter #1 - which might suggest there will be OTHER shameless begging letters. I discovered that some of my friends no longer have snail mail addresses in my records. I may have lost them, they may have moved - and we are using internet communications so much it's the kind of thing I might not notice.

Soooo - in case you (noble reader) did not get a Shameless Begging Letter, I did not want you to feel left out. And so I post it here. If you are an Iternet wanderer and have stumbled on to this little corner of the world while looking for something else, please consider this personally addressed to you. (And sending money is a perfectly acceptable way of responding to such a personal note.) And if you are a long-time friend who did NOT get such a letter, it could be I do not have your snail mail address and you should thus and therefore get in touch.

Many thanks for what I assume will be your astounding generosity in these difficult financial times.

And just for the record - in case my paltry words move you to the point of actually sending something:
Web site: www.xaviersociety.com
Mail: 154 East 23rd St
New York, NY 10010



Shameless Begging Letter #1
31 July 2008
Feast of St. Ignatius Loyola

Dear Friends of Father John,

WAIT!!! This is NOT a scam letter that is going to ask for money or tell you that you have just inherited a legacy in some African country. (Well, it IS going to ask for money but that comes later, and it’s for right here in New York City. No inheritance.)

As you may know (and if you don’t, check the Blog – www.frjohnsj.blogspot.com) I am now the Chairman of the Board of the Xavier Society for the Blind. (The technical title is President, but I was first appointed as Chairman – complicated legal stuff – and I’ve never switched over to President, unless I’m filling out a bank card or a grant application.) This note is just to catch you up on that and a couple of things and to remind you – should you hit the lottery, find money under the sofa or decide you’re going to give it all up and enter a monastery in the hills of Tennessee – we REALLY need financial help.

In case I haven’t been keeping you up properly and completely, when I finished my mini-sabbatical and sang a concert here in New York (…if you can make it here, you’ll make it anywhere, and so forth) the Provincial asked me if I would go to the Xavier Society for the Blind and see if I could be of any assistance. The Jesuit Executive Director had died unexpectedly in September (he was 66) and at that point there was no replacement on the horizon. I did and enjoyed the operation and the staff.

The Xavier Society for the Blind was founded in 1900, and incorporated in 1904. It was founded by a group of Catholic laywomen, with a Jesuit as the “spiritual advisor.” He also functioned as Executive Director and was with the Xavier Society until his death in 1941. I am the 9th Jesuit to be Executive Director – and as soon as I got the title, I submitted a new set of By-Laws, separating the job of Board head and Executive Director, and we now have the first lay Executive Director, who is also a woman. She’s been with the Society for 16 years and is terrific. She has an MBA, and is probably more capable than either of the current presidential candidates. Well, close anyway. So that went well and we’re working together famously.


In 1911 the Jesuits were formally invited to manage the Xavier Society, which they did with an all-Jesuit Board until the early 1950’s. Then, for a variety of legal and practical reasons, they went back to a Board that was both Jesuit and lay, as it remains today. In 1948 they bought the building we are in today, on 23rd Street between Lexington and Third Avenues. It is a 7-story building (well, 1600 stories if you count the books in our library – hehehe) and we currently have around 15,000 square feet.

We are essentially a small publishing house. Without going into all the things we have done in the last 108 years, right now we print and distribute braille, large-print and audio recordings of books, magazines, prayers, Mass readings and Mass Propers, and articles to blind and visually-handicapped clients all over the U.S. and Canada. We have somewhere in the neighborhood of 10,000 clients and a staff of thirteen, plus a large group of dedicated and varied volunteers. We have never charged for our services – and mail to the blind is free, fortunately – but that means we have to raise all our operating and program funding each and every year. That, of course, is one of my jobs. Runs in the neighborhood of $2 Million a year. (It’s actually a little less than that but in these times, I’m going to shoot high.)

I am also the Chaplain for the New York Athletic Club and the Huckleberry Indians, and for the Notre Dame Club of New York. I say Mass regularly at St. Malachy’s Church – the Actors’ Chapel where I am also head of the Evangelization Committee. I sing regularly with Jazz at Noon at the National Arts Club, and I am an active member of the Lambs Club. I am a paid-up member of Actors’ Equity (in case a Broadway show suddenly needs a replacement) and a member of the NY Gilbert & Sullivan Society, the Mario Lanza Society (an audition is NOT necessary to join), the Episcopal Actors Guild, and the Cornell Club. I recently did a small concert in July for a Jewish group here in the city, at least one and maybe two concerts in January in Florida, and I am talking with another group in Florida about a concert or two. (Any money raised goes to the Xavier Society for the Blind, of course. Make the check out to us and it’s tax-deductible.) AND my three CD”s are now available on line – go to www.lulu.com and type in “Sheehan” and you should get the chance to order as many copies as your heart desires. The more you order, the cheaper each copy is and we get more money per disk.

But my main job is the Xavier Society for the Blind. I’ve started a very basic web site (a larger and much more sophisticated one is on the drawing board as part of our computer renovation project, currently underway ), we’re in negotiation about selling our building, and I’ve re-vamped the structure of the organization to make it more efficient and responsive. We are shortly going to be getting rid of our audio tape operation and moving to a strictly digital distribution. (In time that will mean our clients can download material directly from the web site, as well as having it sent by mail). And each day we spend at least some time thinking about, worrying about and going after – money. ( So much for that vow of poverty thing, huh? But of course I don’t get to KEEP any of the money we raise.)

So if you have any bright ideas about places to look – please share them. (Hey, I’m even buying two lottery tickets a week, just in case – you can’t win it, if you’re not in it.) If you know any people with “extra” money (whatever THAT is) or generous impulses – put them in touch with us.

If you are suddenly and irresistibly moved to send a check, the address is back at the beginning. Check and see if your company or employer does matching gifts - and they tell me (for those who have stock) that sometimes there can be tax benefits to donating stock rather than direct cash. I have NO understanding of this, but mention it just in case.) Our web site is open and while still very basic gives you some idea of what we do. And of course, I am always available to answer questions, make speeches and sing concerts.

And since several people have asked - let me share one of our standards bits of information:
Xavier Society for the Blind (our full legal title), located at 154 East 23rd Street, New York, NY 10010, is a 501(c)(3) organization, incorporated in 1904 under the laws of the State of New York, meeting the charitable guidelines of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the National Charities Information Bureau and the Better Business Bureau. It is listed as an agency in the Official Catholic Directory under the Archdiocese of New York.

All donations to XSB are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by the law.

Even if you can’t send money, you know you are regularly in my prayers and will always be. (Actually this is just a sneaky way to keep in touch and have someone else pay for it.)

Love and hugs and prayers to all,

One More on the List

Ahem - I am proud to report that I have been accepted as a member of the New York Athletic Club, and named as Chaplain to the club. I have also been named as Chaplain to the Huckleberry Indians, a distinguished club that lives within the NYAC (but not as part of that group. So for those of you who are keeping track - I'm Chairman of the Board for the Xavier Society for the Blind (which is a full-time, got an office job) and I help out at St. Malachy's Church (the Actors' Chapel) and I'm head of the Evangelization Committee there. I am Chaplain for the Notre Dame Club of NY, and the two I named above.

I'm proud of all of them - but the NYAC is a special pleasure, since my grandfather was a member of the club, and it has been around since right after the Civil War.

I continue to sing with the Jazz at Noon group each Friday at the National Arts Club, and at the Lambs Club. I've been asked to do a concert in Florida in November (with a possibility of several other concerts also in the Florida area) and I'm doing a show here in Manhattan for a Jewish Center later in July.

Keeps me off the street.

The Pope has Come / Gone

Too many people have been asking me about the Papal visit - was I going, did I see him (in some cases, did I see Him?), what did I think? We live in the neighborhood, so although we were far enough away not to have police at our front door every day, His Holiness did drive past the front door and we did have helicopters overhead for many hours of several days. I di not go to any of the events. (That's why God invented television, no?)At some point you weigh responsibility against desire, and at this point, I simply had too much to do. I watched some of the moments on television, or on my computer (the Catholic Bishops Conference had the best feed of anyone)and have read some of the many words that have been written. Fr. James Martin has an outstanding blog connected with the NY Times on the visit - he is one of the best writers I know and if you want some really good reflections from a Jesuit, turn to him.

At some point I may write a wider-ranging reflection (once I figure out if I have anything particular to say). I think it was an extraordinary, and for many people, a surprising visit. I think many people got a new sense of this teacher and pastor, who had the reputation of being something of an attack dog, especially on doctrinal issues. But for the moment, let me share the notes for the homily I'm going to give at Mass today. The First Reading tells of Paul curing a crippled man, and the people of that place wanting to put up statues in honor of him and Barnabas, calling them gods. They respond that they are men, like themselves, who are bringing them good news that will change their lives. Seemed a coincidence of Scripture and daily life too good to pass up.

HOMILY NOTES
For me, the most important line in all of today’s readings is found in the First Reading - “Men, why are you doing this? We are of the same nature as you, human beings. We proclaim to you good news.”

I have two thoughts – the first is that often enough, when someone does something good for us, we tend to overestimate them. When we were young – we fell in love – and we were thrown when we discovered that the object of our love wasn’t perfect in all things. We really like our movie stars – and so because they can act well, somehow people think they are also experts in political affairs and international diplomacy. During this past week, I heard people on the street say things like – OH the Pope – Christ on earth – the closest I will ever get to God. Sigh – even the Holy Father would say that’s silly – in fact, he would probably say it faster and louder and stronger because he knows how weak he is, and how much he needs to help of the Spirit – he said that at the end of the Mass Saturday at St. Patrick’s.

The apostles knew better. Pay attention to the message – don’t try and make the messenger into something more than they are. Priests and Bishops and Cardinals and yes, the Holy Father have been given great privileges – and even greater responsibilities. But we are of the same nature as you are – we are all human beings –and if you try to turn any of us into something else, you are making a mistake that is not fair to us, and may not be good for you. Like assuming the object of your first love is perfect – you are going to be disappointed.

My other reflection comes from the same line – we are of the same nature as you, human beings. And if WE can proclaim the good news, so can you. If WE can find God’s spirit in our lives, find God’s hand in our daily work – so can you. You can hear the message and live the message and most important, you can share the message with others. If you find a really good restaurant, you tell your friends. If you see a really great movie, you tell your friends. If you get a good bargain on clothes or cell phone rates or buying a new car – you tell your friends. So why aren’t you telling your friends about what ought to be the most exciting thing in your life?

It was exciting to have the Pope come and visit. I am a great fan of the Pope, and I think he’s doing an extraordinary job and I think it was a great visit. But he’s the Pope – meaning no disrespect, he’s ONLY the Pope. Here at Mass we come in direct and personal contact with God. We have the Word of God preached to us, we have a miracle performed each day here on the altar that is way more extraordinary than the healing we heard about in the first reading and we have the extraordinary privilege of being able to receive God into our own bodies physically. What could possibly be more exciting or more important than that!

So why aren’t you telling your friends? Why aren’t you excited about sharing that? Why isn’t THAT the most important thing in your life?

* * * * * * * * * *
Now that the Pope has left - back to work.

IT'S A SINATRA SORT OF THING

While I suspect that YOU may not have been waiting with bated (or should that be baited?)breath, >>I<< have been wondering how my immediate future would develop.

On Thursday, March 27th, the current Board of Directors of the Xavier Society for the Blind named me as Chairman of the Board. In the past the Executive Director was always also Chairman. At the moment, the former Director's Assistant (and Financial Officer) is the Acting Director. What I think we are working towards is re-structuring the organization along the lines of our Jesuit high schools, where we have a Principal, who runs the school on a day to day basis, and a President, who is a member of or works with the Board, works with long-range planning, does fund-raising (don't you start hiding your checkbooks, now) and public relations - that sort of thing. That would be me.

Over the next several months we'll be figuring out exactly what that means - as we raise the several million dollars we need to keep the doors open (don't you start hiding your checkbooks, now - I know, and I'm going to keep saying it).

The Xavier Society for the Blind was formed in 1900, and today is the only Catholic publishing house and lending library for the blind and partially sighted. We produce books and other materials in Braille, in large type, and audio recordings. We have a lending library of over 15,000 items and we produce audio versions of seven weekly and two monthly periodicals. Although not exclusively Catholic, our orientation is religious and spiritual. We do not charge for our services - anyone who is blind or partially sighted may qualify. Clients do not have to be Catholic - many are not -and there is no charge for any of our services. Postage is free for the blind, so there is one charge saved.

We have a staff of 15, and a building on East 23rd Street. We do our own Braille printing and transcriptions, we record and reproduce audio materials on site and we have over a thousand volunteers who help make what we do possible. But our operating costs are currently about $1.5 million a year - and in the near future, they will be going up as we finish the process of converting to a fully digital audio department. We record everything digitally, but for several reasons, including the age of one section of our client base, we still send our our materials on tape.

So be braced - fund-raising letters will (at some point) be appearing here and perhaps in your email box and maybe even (gasp) a real printed letter. Signed by me. With a teardrop of desperation in the corner.

I will continue to help out at St. Malachy's (The Actors' Chapel) but less than I have. And I have asked St. Ignatius to take me off the Mass schedule there for a while, at least until I get a better handle on this full-time. The people are wonderful and the work is very important - but I confess, it's a little daunting. I find myself humming that line about ("..if you can make it here, you'll make it anywhere.") I will continue as Chaplain for the Notre Dame Alumni CLub here in New York - and I have a couple of small singing things coming up - bored, I ain't.

Of course, one of my father's proudest boasts was not just that he hated Frank SInatra, but that Frank hated him. Great story - remind me to tell it to you sometimes, if I haven't already in an earlier page.

I know I owe a whole lot of stories about life in New York lately - and there are fun things going on. I'm doing some great stuff at the Lamb's Club and at the last meeting Abe Vigoda and I were talking about doing a duet together. Yes, THAT Abe Vigoda. Somewhere in this post I'll stick a picture we had taken of the two of us when we went to the Actors' Home in Englewood to do an afternoon show. (He is NOT living at the home - the Lambs went out as a group.) I've been to the opera and just renewed my subcription for next year - cheap seats but even so, speaking of fund-raising. Yikes. Including the Ring Cycle, the tickets cost twice my monthly allowance. Ah the vow of poverty - pinch, pinch, pinch.

And I was invited to a meeting of the Huckleberry Indians - more on that distinguished group in a later posting, but they are the most fascinating group of men and the club has a tremendous history - and you can smoke a cigar in the club! Last bastion of civilization. I'm going out to Notre Dame for my 40th college reunion this summer (who said I was old? Just older....) and I've been invited to come down for the Annapolis graduation and commissioning. The son of friends from Lagos is getting his commission. I wonder if I would have been invited if ND had beaten Navy last year? We'll never know. There is now a bus route from NY to DC that charges between $1 (yes, one dollar) and up - I got a round trip ticket for $11 including handling. This is good. And the circus is coming to town and spring is coming to town and life is good.

So greetings to all - from now on you may address me as "Father Chairman" - and remember, I'm a Chief so it would be "Father Chairman Chief" - I'm going to have to find a larger business card.

More later - love and hugs and prayers and stuff like that for now.

March Madness

And I'm not talking about basketball. Actually, I realized to my chagrin that my last posting here was before "THE CONCERT" and I truly do have some catching up to do.

But for the nonce - I am still in New York, working part-time at St. Malachy's Church, the Actors' Chapel, and part-time at the Xavier Society for the Blind. Both jobs are on track to possibly turn into full-time jobs in the not too distant future, so I await word from my Provincial about which way I should point my nose.

I have done some singing - although nothing as extraordinary as my concert (of which there is a DVD - contact me for further information) - and I've been to Texas - and met a host of interesting people. All of which will be detailed in... well, detail... soon. I will be going to my 40th college reunion at Notre Dame this May/June, and may even get to go to the Annapolis graduation earlier in May. And as soon as the definite word is out, I will post it here. With more details about St/ Malachy's or the Xavier Society, depending on which way I go.

The picture at the top was taken in Texas - the picture at the bottom is St. Malachy's on 49th Street and 8th Avenue - right across from Spring Awakening.

Father John Sings. Again.

Even if YOU can't be in New York, you can tell your friends.




FROM

BROADWAY

TO

BEETHOVEN

A Concert at St Malachy’s Church
(the Actors Chapel)
at 239 W. 49th St

Featuring
Fr. John Sheehan, SJ

With Woody Regan
on piano
7 pm
Monday
NOVEMBER 19th



Admission is free but reservations are required

Phone: (212) 606-3420
or email johnrsheehan@Yahoo.com

and leave your name and e-mail or a contact phone.
All reservations will be confirmed.


Please DON’T wait until the last minute to make reservations.
















FATHER JOHN SHEEHAN, SJ
It’s a Singer! It’s an Actor! It’s a Priest!
It’s Father John!



He’s been singing and performing all his life, from his days as a boy soprano and a child model (born in New York, baptized in St. Patrick’s Cathedral) , through high school (in Princeton and Trenton, NJ, both on stage and in radio) and college. He was the recipient of one of the first three degrees in Theatre awarded by the University of Notre Dame, and after graduation came to New York, where he sang with the Light Opera of Manhattan, did dinner theatre tours and summer stock, and a season with Arena Stage in Washington. He also worked with a stunt-driving team, managed dinner theatres and catering services, and had a small public relations business. He joined Actor’s Equity as a stage manager, ran several dinner theatres and was in charge of publicity and front of house for Pittsburgh Public Theatre. He has done voice-overs, local commercials, and he was Cantorial Soloist in a Jewish Temple for 2 1/2 years.

Entering the Jesuits in 1980, he studied and worked in New York and London, did a year of Philosophy study in Dublin, and earned his theology degree in Toronto. He spent twelve years in Nigeria (West Africa) and almost three years in the South Pacific, in the Marshall Islands.

He studied with voice with Charles Reading (assistant to Giuseppe DeLuca), and song study with Pat Maloney (student of Lotte Lehman) and Elizabeth Hawes-Smith, head of the vocal department at the Royal College of Music in London. In Innsbruck, he sang with the Walter von der Vogelweide Kammerchor, and has done multiple solo concerts in Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, London, Tokyo, Austin, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands.

He is a member of Actor’s Equity, Rotary, the Episcopal Actors Guild, the Mario Lanza Society, the Gilbert and Sullivan Society, the Lamb’s Club, and chaplain for the New York Alumni Club of the University of Notre Dame. He is on the staff of St. Malachy’s Church (the Actors’ Chapel) and he has three CD’s available. He cannot believe that God will let him die before he gets to be in a Broadway show.

WOODY REGAN
Woody Regan has been conductor or pianist for many well-known performers, including Elly Stone, Kaye Ballard, Liliane Montevecchi, Donnie Osmond and David Cassidy. In collaboration with Sam Shepard he created and played the piano score of Shepard's play When The World Was Green (A Chef's Fable" which opened The Signature Theater's Shepard Season at The New York Public Theater and The Singapore Festival for the Arts. In Moscow, Woody became the first American composer to perform his own work at The Moscow Art Theater. He also composed incidental scores for many plays, including A Taste of Honey (directed by Michael Mayer) and Marvin's Room at the Crossroads Theater.

GOOD NEWS, NO NEWS AND JUST PLAIN NEWS

News - I have moved, although I am still in the same residence, but a new room and therefore a new phone number. Which is

212

606-3420

No News - Had a very good meeting with the Provincial, and came away with an interesting sense of how he sees me and things he is interested and pursuing. But there is still no specific assignment.

Good News - The good news is that the Provincial thinks I should stay in New York, so I will be in residence at 83rd Street, and am now officially the chaplain for the NY Notre Dame alumni association. Further good news - he wants me to explore ways to have a greater Jesuit presence in the arts, ways to support Jesuits in the arts and to encourage youngr Jesuits who are interested in the arts. I have been exploring one good possibility - that conversation is still under way - and we'll see what else develops.

So there are still a lot of unknowns, and technically I am still "on sabbatical" until the end of August, but the possibilities all look good.

Those of you who have been praying - don't stop. Those who haven't - start.

RAMBLINGS - July 18, '07

Here I am out at dinner with a friend celebrating her birthday. She had several other friends I had not met before, so I not only had a nice time, I got to meet new people. I think the technical term there is win - win.

I am a Rotarian and I belong to an Eclub. That means our Rotary Club does not meet "in the flesh" but rather exists on the Internet. We have a weekly program, runs projects - all the things other Rotary Clubs do. This week, I was in charge of the program, complete with pictures. So if you'd like to visit a Rotary Club - no charge - go to

http://www.recswusa.org/.

Recswusa - Rotary E Club of South West USA

OTHER ITEMS - No, no word yet on an assignment. You think that wouldn't be a headline?

I went to see GYPSY the other night, with Patti Lupone. It may be the best production of that show ever staged. Lupone does two difficult things - she is beath-takingly Mama Rose and at the same time, does not so dominate that everyone else disappears. There are other wonderful actors and they get a chance to shine - the whole show is not geared to showing off "the star" and the result is spectacular. Outside of some moments at the Metropolitan Opera, perhapps the best things I've seen since I've been back in NY.

Recently I did a recording for a guy who had written a Christmas song, and wanted to send a demo to a publisher. Yesterday I did a recording for a guy who had written a song for his wife for their anniversary. Now this second guy is a composer, and a good one, and it's a really good song. Maybe there's a niche market out there for a boutique singer - you know, you hire me for special events? I could work out a deal with a studio..... tomorrow I'm going to sing at the Guild for the Blind. (That's a freebie.)

And on we all go....

Summertime Snapshots

Greetings from the Big Apple!

No news yet on the "What is Father John going to do next?" front. That will certainly be a headline item when it finally comes to pass.

But in the meantime - lest you think I have been doing nothing but playing piano and studying music - and I have certainly been doing those things with great energy and enthusiasm - I have made a couple of small trips - and even remembered to take the occasional photograph. So in a greatly abbreviated form - and those who have spent time with the collection of Massive Missives know that abbreviated is not my usual style - here are some of the things I have been doing here in my old home town,and elsewhere around the U.S.




DENVER



I went to Denver to visit some wonderful friends, and attend the high school graduation of one of my multitude of god children. (She is the striking blonde in the middle of the picture.) The ceremony was held outdoors, with the mountains in the background, and was very impressive. It's an all girls school, with very high standards, and the listing of awards and scholarships to various colleges was outstanding. (I noted with pleasure a number of Jesuit schools - and Kyra is going to Fairfield, a Jesuit college in Connecticut.)

I stayed at a house overlooking a golf course - the picture is out my bedroom window, and just to the left is the second green and the third tee. I even got to play a round - about which nothing more will be said.


While I was there we went to see a road company of "Wicked" and had a family dinner at a fondue place, and on the Sunday following, the adults went to a baseball game. After the ceremony itself, there was a party back at the house, and as part of their entry into "adult" life, several of the young ladies noted that a couple of the men (including yours truly) were smoking cigars, and decided this was something they wanted to try. The dog even was invited to partake but he found the cigar much less interesting up close than he had thought it was going to be.
















SALT LAKE CITY
In mid-June, I went to Salt Lake City for the Rotary International Convention. I am a third-generation Rotarian, and have even been elected President of my Rotary Club for the 2008/09 Rotary year (July 1 08 to June 30 09.)

I got a room right across from the Convention Hall, which could NOT have been more convenient, and got to meet in person many of the club members I have only known on-line. I belong to an Eclub - we exist in cyber-space, an experiment for Rotary, and out club has members in South Africa, Italy, India, England and in nine states in the U.S. Our current President is from Japan - in fact, he's a Buddhist monk. And a wonderful photographer - in fact, he has an exhibit of his photographs currently touring in the U.S. (If any of you would like to the exhibit to come to your city, let me know and I'll put you in touch with the man who is organizing this.) We ate at wonderful restaurants, attended a concert by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and I got to meet Bill Gates' father. I went to a professional soccer match, and we spent a lot of time talking to other Rotarians about our club and what we do. I managed to sneak in a piano recital, an evening of opera and show music put on by the Denver Opera, and a wild west afternoon, complete with ax throwing, square dancing and country music.



Here is our current President from Japan. His photos are part of a theme of International Peace which he captures in his pictures of moments of life in Japan.



Someone sent me this picture - I have no memory of this whatsoever.



Here is the new Board of Directors and officers for our club, at least those who were present. Someone thought that since we are an Eclub, it would be good to have computers set up in front of us - note the picture on the screen on the left. That's my computer, and the photo is of me diving when I was in Kwaj. I have it as my wallpaper currently. Someone kidded me afterwards - only you, Sheehan, could manage to get yourself in the same picture twice!



This young man who turned 13 in early July, is the son of a former District Governor from Florida. He has been at 7 Rotary International Conventions and his jacket is filled with pins and buttons from all those gatherings. Must weigh a ton. Ah, to be young....


Here are some of our members wandering the city at night - the original Mormon Church is in the background. I took the picture. There is another photo in which I apppear, but the shot of the church isn't as nice, and you all know what I look like anyway.



One of the attractions at the Convention Hall was this display of local wild life, stuffed and mounted. It's a little hard to see, but there is a gorgeous white mountain goat, and off to left, a moose. Many of the foreign visitors had their pictures taken next to the animals...







RHODE ISLAND
I obviously needed a vacation after all this running around, and so I went to spend a week at Little Compton Rhode Island with Joel and Adrienne Garreau. Each day I would sing in the afternoon, to keep the voice flexible, and people from the neighborhood took to walking past the house - sort of informal concert. They seemed to like it.

I played a little golf, and one day we went into Providence to visit their youngest daughter who is taking a summer course at Brown. Other than that - I did nothing. Slept late, ate, smoked cigars and read out on the deck overlooking the ocean, talked with my two old friends, and slept. (Did I say that already?)



Here is the house. Note the deck.


Here is the ocean. That's about all there was to take pictures of, except the magnificent meals. And that would only make you jealous, and me hungry.


I have managed to see a few shows - Legally Blonde (a friend of mine does the animals) and Curtains (I saw it the day after David Hyde-Pierce won the Tony) and Deuce (with Angela Lansbury and Marian Seldes and Bernadette Peters. Bernadette isn't in the show but she was in the audience the night I went, and that was almost as good.) I've been to some concerts, a local opera production of Falstaff that was perhapps not great music but great fun, and a seminar at the Council for Foreign Relations where I got Amity Shlaes to sign her latest book for me. I sing occasionally at the Lambs Club, and did a demo CD for a guy who write a new Christmas song, and wanted to send a demo to a publisher.

I watch what I eat and I walk at least an hour every day and I STILL can't lose any weight. And to quote Forrest, that's all I have to say about that.

A dear friend, Tony Montfort, died in London. He had cancer, and his death was not a surprise - I had visited him in March, but although I know it will continue, I am tired of losing friends.


Here we are at lunch in March - Tony is on the right, and the other man is Isidore Bonabom, a Ghanaian priest I have known since he was a Novice. He is a great man himself, and will do great things for the Church in Africa. I'm the one with the beard.

More when I know. Love and prayers and hugs to all.

BAAA BAAA BAAA

Just to let all my friends and fans know

I'm a Lamb

This does not refer to my placid disposition but rather to announce that I have just been elected to The Lambs Club, the first professional theatrical club in New York, founded in 1874. When Fred Astaire was inducted, he said, "I feel like I've been knighted." I know how he feels.

OK, I'm boasting, but in my view of the universe, this is big stuff.

THE LAST DAYS IN ENGLAND

WHO IS THIS MAN?
AND WHY DOES HE HAVE A GUN STUCK IN MY RIBS?

You'll just have to read through the rest of the blog to find out the answers to these questions, and questions we haven't even asked yet.

Ready? Popcorn salted and buttered, napkins on the table next to you, cold drink in your hand, answering machine turned on so you don't even have to get up to go to the phone? Speaking of going..... ok, everything done? Onwards!!!!

For those of you with short-term memory loss, I'm back in England, my foreign vacation time is rapidly drawing to a close, and there we are. And the butter knife reference at the end of the last missive was harkening back to the Tales of Uncle Wiggly, one of the great rabbit story books of all time.

Tuesday, March 27 - Went to bed late so I had no guilt about sleeping late either. Slept well. Coffee and off for lunch with the Gales (remember them from before I went to Austria? They're still there) It was a nice visit. We ate at their house, and Christine is always apologizing that we're not going out, but she is a wonderful cook and we have much better food than if we went to a restaurant. They had several Cuban cigars for me as a present (Don't tell U.S. Customs) They both smoke cigarettes, so I smoked a cigar (inside a house!!!) while they did their cigarette thing, and we chatted, and it was wonderful. "Chatting" with Keith is a combination of a history lesson, a current events course and the best of the Round Table from the old Algonquin Hotel. I went back to the house, and between travel and weather and the good meal and a great cigar, I ended up deciding to spend the evening at home. Alan Fernandes came by with his daughter - Magda, his wife, was sick with tonsillitis - they are leaving for Poland tomorrow, so at least I got the chance to meet the next generation. Stayed home and watched tv and did some writing and generally enjoyed being alone in the house. Probably the last time I will have THAT particular sensation for a long time.

It's one of those paradoxes of life - one of the reasons I became a Jesuit instead of a parish priest was precisely because of community. Yet since I've been ordained, I've spent an awful lot of my Jesuit life without Jesuit community. In Lagos we were so few and we spent a lot of time on the road, so either I was visiting somewhere or Peter or Ray were out doing their visitations. And on Kwajalein I lived alone. I love being back in New York in a community - and yet those moments of solitude, like that night at Wimbledon, when I had the whole house to myself - that too was wonderful.

Wednesday, March 28 - Once consciousness intruded, and hot water poured over me and into me in the form of strong black coffee, I went out and got a ticket at the Embankment for the evening concert, and then went on to Westminster Cathedral and bought some presents and did some wandering. I love wandering. I would have gone into the Cathedral just to visit and pray but it costs about tend pounds to walk in - that's $20. A lot of money to say a prayer, so I went to the gift shop, which was free.

My wanderings brought me to the park near the concert hall, and I sat outside and smoked a cigar and watched people lining up for the wheel, and just enjoying the warm weather. Along the river there is one section with a lot of people in make-up pretending to be statues, and musicians of different kinds (and great differences in the degree of talent they bring to the endeavor). I had an ice cream and walked along the river, browsed through the open book stalls. After a bit I went into one of the eateries, and had a very nice dinner, reading my book in between courses. This was not haute cuisine, mind you, but a nice humus and warm bread for an appetizer, and a burger too big to handle. Coffee and off to the concert hall for the pre-concert talk. Two guys (Roger Nichols and Richard Longhorn) very knowledgeable and very entertaining, it was a great talk.

The program itself was very interesting - the London Philharmonic at Queen Elizabeth Hall under the direction of Vladimir Jurowski - very tall fellow, given to wearing a long coat. The opening was Honegger, Pastorale d’ete, then the Debussy Rapsodie for saxophone and orchestra and the Saint-Saens Piano Concerto #5 (Egyptian) which is not played much and it certainly should be. In the second half we had the Debussy danses for harp and string orchestra and then Honegger again, Symphony 4. Beautifully played, a most interesting program, everyone was most enthusiastic. A gentle walk back to Victoria and an easy trip home.


Thursday, March 29 - My last day actually in London. I went down and visited Farm Street, the Jesuit community that houses the Provincial offices, and the very famous Church just off Berekeley Square (where someone once heard a nightingale sing and wrote a song about it) - I dropped in on Kevin Fox, an old friend who is leaving as Treasurer before the end of the year, and then went to Mass in the Church. They have redone the lighting there and it makes a huge difference. It is a gorgeous church, and you now can see that it is a gorgeous church. After Mass I visited with Paul Hamill - he is the Socius to the Provincial, and we were in theology together in Toronto, and then I joined Fr Pearsall (who is the Pastor of the Church) and others for lunch and coffee. Another of those really nice moments of Jesuit community.

From there I walked and walked - did a little shopping, checked out the locale of where we would be dining, did some reading in Leicester Square and found an internet café and worked there for about an hour. Got to the restaurant at the agreed upon time - Elsie (remember my friend from the first London sojourn? Yup, same one.) arrived about 20 minutes later but we had loads of time, the restaurant, a Spanish place called LaTasca, is right around the corner from the theatre.

While I was waiting for her, I thought I would have a drink so I asked the cute little bartender lady if I could have a Pimm’s cup. Pause, puzzled expression on her face. “Pimms Cup?” Clearly this was something she had never heard of. I thought perhaps my accent (accent?) had confused her, so I tried again, with pretty much the same result. I pointed out the bottle on the bar - and she asked if I wanted that with ice. I started to explain how to make a Pimms and thought that this wasn’t going to work. Instead of that, let me have a scotch, straight up, no ice. Pause. Puzzled expression. “Scotch?” She went over to the bar and held up a Jim Beam bottle. Then another bourbon - then a Jamieson’s.

At that point I settled for a nice glass of red wine.

The dinner was actually very good, for a pre-theatre, prix-fixed. (THAT is why English is such an awful language - two words pronounced the same, and spelled soooo differently.) The menu had a list of choices, and you got to choose three, and a glass of wine. We had a lovely meal, and then off to the theatre. “Security” required that you check a bag (no charge) and so I checked my coat as well.

Now I had seen Evita when it first came to New York, and I don’t know that I would have gone to see it again. It was WONDERFUL!!! They have changed the script, cut out some scenes and made the first act pretty much all music. The Che Guavera character has been reduced to a scruffy commentator and the edge of conflict between rich and poor has pretty much been sanded smooth. But when the first act ended and I looked at my watch, 55 minutes had sped past. The title character was very good, a little hoarse but a big voice and she knew how to use it. The others around her were also very good, and it was a very pleasant surprise. The husband was about eight feet tall and the Evita was about 4'10" so the director didn't have them standing together very much - but it was a very good show.

After the show I took a cab and visited my friend Patricia Shour. She knew I wouldn’t want a lot to eat (one cannot visit a Lebanese house without eating something. Civilization as we know it would simply collapse.) So she had arranged for a wonderful sushi spread. We had a lovely visit and she drove me home, with her GPS navigator keeping us company all along the way. What a lovely way for my last night in London. I could not go to bed, since I had to get at least one load of laundry out of the way so all would be ready when the ironing person came.

Friday, March 30 - Slept comfortably, although I did get up early to put in another load for washing. Then back to bed, and up again later on. Isidore Bonabom came from London, and we walked over to Tony’s and the three of us went out for lunch at a pub that is in a converted old firehouse. Very nice food. The day was cold and rainy and it was very cozy to be inside with good food and good friends.

Isidore is a Jesuit from Ghana whom I have known since he was a Novice. He is ordained, and has finished a Master's degree in Human Rights and in August will finish a law degree. He has gotten permission to go on and get a Phd, but may take a year before beginning that to do some apostolic work. He's a very good man, and will be one of the great figures of the new Province, I am sure.



OK, I was kidding about the gun. Tony Montfort, Isidore is next to me - and by this point, you better know who I am.



After lunch we took Isidore to the train, Tony went to his house, and I went back to Jesuit Missions for packing and last minute whatever I did. Tim, the director of Jesuit Missions, was going out to Germany in the morning. The rest of the day was visiting and packing.


Saturday, March 31 - The car came at 4:30 to take me to the airport. Same guy who had picked me up, but this time he HAD his wallet. Of course, this time he didn't need any money. I spent a full 45 minutes in the check out line, talking with people. And while we were in line, the length of the line more than doubled behind us. Once I had a boarding pass I headed for customs and security, where we were treated to a double security check, once for coats and luggage and another entirely separate operation for taking off your shoes. I wonder what the British expression is for boondoggle.

But wait - when we got to the gate itself, there was another security check. And because of the beard? Or maybe it was the hat? I got the full treatment. Sigh. As my grandmother used to say, if they were any smarter they wouldn't have the jobs they've got. And most of them can barely deal with this one.

At the check in line they had been asking for volunteers to be left behind on this flight in exchange for a later flight and $500 - would have gotten me back to New York about two hours later so I signed up in a heartbeat, but no luck. Since myt bag had been specially marked, though, it did mean it came off the plane very quickly at the other end. It was a crowded plane and I had one of the truly stupidest flight attendants in my history of flying. Between their check in and their in air crew, gonna be a long time before I find myself on an American Airlines flight again.

I called the Super Shuttle people, but as good as they are at getting you to the airport, they are that bad at getting you from the airport. I ended up taking a cab. When I got to the residence, I discovered that American had even given us the wrong time - you know, "Welcome to New York, the local time here is...." They got THAT wrong!!! I had a quick bite of lunch, listened to the 1st act of the opera broadcast and took a nap. Then a lovely show, and off to the concert.

Concert? You just got off the plane!!! I know, but when I was on the road, this group I belong to had a great deal on tickets, so I ordered one. I went to the pre concert talk (I am finding that these pre-concert talks are very good. Sometimes they are free, sometimes there is a charge. In this case, the guy doing it was more enthusiastic than organized. Very knowledgeable but not the best presentation.

During the concert itself, I sat next to a woman from Tennessee who is with the Met Opera auditions, and I learned from her that the final concert was the next day. So when I got home I went on line, and got myself a ticket for that event as well. This eveing's program Mozart Piano concerto in B flat major, with Radu Lupu playing and Colin Davis conducting, and the second half was Sibelius, the Lemminkainen Suite, Op 22. Gorgeous music - the touch of the pianist was amazing, light and delicate and almost casual in his approach - he sort of lounged back in his seat (played on a chair with a back and he used it) and the Sibelius, which I did not know at all, was breath-taking. I was glad for the pre concert talk for both of the pieces, made them much more interesting and in the case of the Sibelius, easier to understand and follow.

And thus endeth my sabbatical month of travel and reminiscence and wandering. It was a good time, and it is also good to be back. I look forward to getting back to making my own music - during the whole month I never played a piano once. And exploring New York and friends here.

Just to keep things interesting here are two more pictures of me doing sabbatical things:


On Easter Sunday I went with my good friend Jessica (for whom I am always available as a "Boy Toy") and her sister to hear Barbara Carroll, an 84 year old piano player, singer, cabaret superstar. Jessica is next to me, then Barbara, then Jessica's sister. Yes, that's not a typo - 84. And she is WONDERFUL!!!





Fr. John at the Metropolitan Opera. Unfortunately not on the stage, but I'll take what I can get. The other distinguished bearded gentleman is Bob Trien, a friend who is a composer (currently working on two Broadway shows at the same time) and his friend from Boston who drives down to go to the opera at the Met.

OK - time for a break. (Hey! Who said Thank God?)

There will be more stories and adventures. Since coming back I've been to a symphonic salon, the Met Auditions final concert, several other concerts including the Western Hemisphere premiere of a German opera (I won those tickets on a radio contest) and a bunch of other stuff.

You and yours remain in my prayers -and if I don't know you, I hope you enjoyed the odd adventures of Fr. John, unemployed Jesuit priest.

GAMING WITHOUT GAMES

We continue the narrative so rudely interrupted by the technical limitations of this blog site.

Thursday, March 22 - Last day. Up earlier than normal, with interesting and different dreams. Down for an early breakfast and decided to treat myself to bacon and eggs - very nice. Checked email, nothing special, sent a few and off to try and get everything into the suitcase. I hope someone in Gaming has a scale, so I can check the bag against the BA weight. I will leave the broken shoes there, so that should give me some extra space. The only things I will have added are the presents, which are small, so I should be ok. Checked out - treated myself again to a cab to the train station, and discovered there was a train leaving at 11:10 instead of the 11:34 I was aiming for, so I checked that it stopped at St. Polten, where I make my first of several changes today, and it did, so off I went.

Note: what with security and small seats and increasing restrictive luggage and carry-on rules, trains are starting to look better and better. They take longer - although sometimes, when you have to factor in how far in advance you need to get to the airport, and the time you spend waiting for luggage, and traveling to and from the airport, it is not always a tremendous savings. It is more expensive, but as I think back, a number of the tourists with whom I have spoken have been using trains, even going to places like Parish and Amsterdam.

I was in a compartment with one other person, a young girl who was heading for Wien (Vienna for you non-German speakers.) Not long after leaving Salzburg, the beautiful forest and mountains covered with snow changed to green, green, green. The recent snowfalls have apparently not gotten this far. Comfortable seats, large windows, people who come around and ask if you want anything to eat or drink and then they bring it to you, and they don’t expect a tip. The seats recline, the head rests move up and down, the end seats have little tables that pull up and there are even two plugs for your computer. The trains are quiet, and when the schedule says that a train leaves at 11:04, you can pretty much set your watch on it - that train is leaving at 11:04, not :05 or :06. Be on it or be left behind. So when I looked at my schedule for today and saw that the time difference between arriving at one station and leaving on the next train was sometimes 4 minutes - no worries, if OBB (the Austrian train network) says I can do this, I can do it. (Although getting the earlier train out of Salzburg makes that particular connection a little easier.)

As I was packing this morning, I was reflecting on the time in Salzburg, and what had been the most annoying thing? CNN. How they can call themselves a news organization with a straight face is beyond me. This place has them as the only English language station (in Innsbruck there was also BBC). I almost wish I were teaching again, so I could use them as an example of slanted words and assumed prejudices. They are doing a week on India - a week! - and it is essentially a commercial, telling us how wonderful this place is and how important to the future of the world, and we achieve this by interviewing a group of 18-25 year olds. Sigh. Don’t get me started. Alright, I am started - let me finish before I really wind myself up. Some of their caption reporting even contradicts facts in their own reporting - but it is much more dramatic to say “The President of Zimbabwe threatens to expel foreign diplomats - the American Ambassador has already left” than to honestly note that while he had in fact left, it was for a previously scheduled meeting in South Africa, and that he would shortly be returning (unless the CNN reporting so angers Zimbabwe that they don’t let him back in). They refuse to let CNN report from inside the country because they classify them as “enemy agents,” and while I am firmly in the camp that thinks that Mugabe and his cronies are crazy, I don’t know that in this case they are entirely wrong.

Sidebar - I tried sending an email to CNN via their own web site. Twice I wrote out the message and in the little box where one mark positive or negative comment, I marked negative. Both times the mail was returned - and this from their own web site. The third time I did not mark the little box, and it got delivered just fine. I am not a conspiracy theorist, but I also am suspicious of too many coincidences.

Contrasting CNN to local television - there is a program that comes out of Munich, that is essentially a call-in game show. They have items covered up and you call in to guess what the item is. If you are correct, you win money. The longer the items remain unguessed, the higher the amount goes. At one point, a correct answer could have brought you E15,000 (That’s something in the neighborhood of $20,000.) Surprisingly enough, there seem to be very few calls. I couldn’t figure out how to do the calling between countries from my hotel room or I might have given it a shot. They have attractive young women who have to have a talent for filling space, talking during the time there is no action, encouraging the viewers to call.

Now the strategists among you have figured out that it is to your benefit, even if you think you know an answer (and a board can have six or seven items to be guessed) to wait and let the money amount get larger. Of course, if you wait, someone else may sneak in ahead of you and you will have lost out. But even with that there seems to be not a lot of action. I had seen the program a couple of times, and the I saw it in the evening, and discovered the extra added attraction - apparently at some point in the evening (definitely after the “children’s hour”) the attractive young hostess starts taking off her clothes. True. She gets down to bikini, and then - TARA - topless. Even THIS does not encourage phone calls, at one point last night she was offering E500 for the next phone call, even a wrong answer. (Somehow, even if I could have figured out the phone, it did not seem the venue for them to announce that “Father John” had just won E500. Someone did, of course. Not a Father.

The train ride was gentle, but the time in between trains at each station was minimal (except for the first one, where I had taken the earlier train). At the second stop, I walked off one train, and onto the other, literally as the whistle was blowing. I did get some writing done, some work on a crossword puzzle and a really good lecture on Tchaikovsky and Dvorak. I got off that train, and as I arrived at the bus stop, the bus came. I had specifically asked in Salzburg about the ticket being good to Gaming Markplatz and they had assured me it would be and of course it wasn’t. But the driver was so disgusted at the people in Salzburg he refused to charge me. The land continues to gentle, and it is really quite pretty, with snow on the mountains and later on even in the streets, but the dogwood and the forsythia are in full bloom. As long as you’re not a dogwood, it’s lovely to look at.

When I got to MarktPlatz Gaming, the Mortensens were there in force to welcome me, and we walked up a couple of blocks and to the car. John took my big bag and the little one took my finger and off we went. Dropped my bags off at the pension, and I registered, and then went back to their flat for coffee and fresh muffins and playing with the girls. I definitely energized them. I had brought a crystal cross for Marietta and a bunny with an Austria shirt for Maggie and they were both a great hit. We played and bounced and ate and read stories and we were snuggling down for a sleep when John and Ginger (John’s sister) came in. Dinner together and then they were going to choir rehearsal. I would like to have gone, but I wondered if my presence was going to excite the young ladies, and Beth rather thought it would, so I went back to the pension, unpacked and settled in for a quiet, and early, evening.

We are going to Vienna tomorrow, and John is going to pick me up at 7. I wrote a note saying I would not need breakfast - I don’t want to be faced with a bathroom break on the road. They seem only to have one channel on the tv - or I don’t know how to manipulate it. No remote so it is all push button. Bathroom down the corridor and bath across the hall - but I seem to be the only person here, so it isn’t a great hardship. No soap - that could prove a little trickier. John said he thinks he can figure out my computer problem - they have wireless in the house - and they have a piano, and of course, I brought none of my music except the scales. Everything conspires to make me think this is really a vacation.

A word about people - some of the more astute may be quietly asking yourselves, “Who ARE these people and where did they come from?” Ask and you shall receive, as it says on a tea towel somewhere. And here we go, back through the mists of time to the last 1960’s, where I am doing my college thing, and a young actor catches my eye, one of the best I have seen in a looong time. And he is going out with this young lady, and I forego one of my cardinal rules about not getting involved in other people’s relationships and I try to convince him that he should NOT marry this girl.

He did - and many children later, she has forgiven me and we have become fast friends. One of their daughters married a guy named John Mortensen, and he is a theologian, and when I was in Rome doing one of my Tertianship visits, they came and visited me, we celebrated Mass in Father General’s chapel and had lunch. Last January I went to Tulsa for the wedding of another of their daughters, and I met John’s sister Ginger. John is teaching at and finishing his PhD at the International Theological Institute in Gaming, Austria, and Ginger works in the Administration there. John and Beth have two little girls, Marietta who is about 5 and Magdalena who is around three. And another is on the way. John is finishing up in June and taking a job somewhere in the west of the U.S. - after many years of being out of the country they’re coming back, and all the families are delighted. When they heard in January that I was going to be in Austria, I was threatened with death and dismemberment if I did not come and visit, and while I can easily be bought, I am even more subject to intimidation, so I put Gaming on the schedule. As it turned out, the weekend I was coming was a weekend filled with events (see below) and so it was a GREAT weekend. Everybody up to speed? Bravo - read on.

Friday, March 23 - A few words about Pension Fruhstuck Doris Eder. The room is clean and the largest I have had, faces the street and the brook across the street and the mountains behind the brook. (There is a picture or two.) The curtain rod is old and nicked and so you have to use a clothes hanger to move the curtain either open or closed. The bathroom (ie the room with the bath) is across the hall and the WC (the little chair with the flushing thing - and yes, here they have again the shelf design) is down the hall and around the corner. (Note the picture of the sign in the WC.)







There is a sink in the room - but no soap. First hotel I’ve ever been in with no soap. There is soap in the bathroom - I may steal it. There is a TV is the room, and I discovered it gets two channels. Actually it gets five channels, but only showing two programs. There is a large bed and a small commercial marshmallow and a large albeit somewhat flat pillow. Along one wall is a cupboard arrangement for hanging and storing clothes - lots of room (I think more than in my room in New York) and little bed lights on the little night tables on both sides of the bed. There is a small table in the corner with two chairs - and you’ve seen my room.

Oh - there is a radiator under the window. As far as I can tell, it is a decorative piece, because it was certainly not on last night, does not go on, and the temperature in the room was a brisk 61 degrees Fahrenheit. Those of you who know me know that one of the things I don’t like is cold - and especially not in a bedroom. On a ski slope, on an ice skating rink, inside of a fridge where the beer is stored - cold is ok. Outside, there are times when cold is unavoidable. In a bedroom? No. (OK - I exaggerate. The radiator does go on during the daytime and off at night, which, I gather, is pretty much the custom around here. Doesn’t mean I have to like it. A cold nose is a healthy sign for a springer spaniel. A cold nose is a healthy sign for a springer spaniel. When this child of God wakes up with a cold nose, you probably had better take a walk somewhere where I am not until my nose and that to which it is attached warms up.)

So as I arise this brisk Friday morning (any time I use brisk twice in two paragraphs, we are not happy) to prepare for our dash into Vienna, I am right on the brink of being grumpy. I had left a note for the folks here saying no breakfast since I would be leaving early - just as well, I need to find a cheerful disposition with which to have a conversation with the landlady about the living arrangements. The Mortensens had tried to find me another room before I came, something a little closer to where they live (although the walk is not bad) but the pensions that they usually use were filled. And this one has lots of empty rooms. Should have been a warning. (Someone in the third row just said, “Wow, he’s cranky.” Yup, you got it.)



The view from the hotel bedroom window looking left - which could be north. Or maybe not. Definitely left, going away from downtown Gaming.



The view from the bedroom window looking right. Which could be South. Or maybe not. But definitely heading toward Gaming.


The family Mortensen came by and picked me up and we were off to Wien (non-German speakers, refer above.) The children came too, and part of the trip was Fr. John telling stories. (I don’t always refer to myself with the clerical title but since the Paterfamiliar, the head of the house, is also named John - minimizes confusion.) I would start a story and then Marietta would add something when I pointed to her, so I never quite knew where we might be going with a story line. We parked at the Staatsoper (Vienna Opera House) and they went on to the US Embassy to get some paperwork notarized and I went wandering. I know several people in Vienna, but I had not realized that Gaming was so close - I would have tried to fly out of Vienna (about 90 minutes away by train) instead of slaburg (between 4 and 6 hours away, depending on connections. Ah well.) I didn’t have any address mit, so I figured I would just say goodbye to Vienna in my own wandering way. I went to the museum of the opera house, paid a visit to St Stephen’s Cathedral, and St Michael’s Church, saw the Lippizaner Museum (the famous trained horses) and then (with a stop at a little shop that had a great deal on some CD’s) to Music Haus, a five floor exploration of sound and the history of western music. Lots of interactive stuff and would have been great fun for someone like me - but just ahead of me were three floors of young teenage kids - lots of noise and energy and banging and whomping, some doing the musical experiments with MP3 players in their ears. It was not pleasant and so I went through fairly quickly. Even the gift shop was wall to wall kids, so I didn’t spend much time. It looked like it would have been fun. (By the way, for those who keep track of such things, weather in Vienna was overcast and cold but no precipitation. After years in a place where pretty much the only weather variation is dry or wet, this still has an interest for me.) I also found two Irish pubs, the Pickwick Club (for English speaking types) and a fascinating Russian shop run by two guys who are definitely never going back. I think one can’t go back, but I didn’t push that too much. But I did get in my walking, and did get to see Vienna again, even if only on a very superficial level.

Thanks to the wonder of the modern mobile phone, the Mortensens called when they had finished, and we met at a little restaurant for lunch. I normally don’t do lunch but I had not had breakfast before we left and so I had a caviar sandwich and some penne in a cream sauce with salmon (Friday in Lent, you know) and then we headed back - with a stop at a McDonald’s for a treat. I was still full from lunch so I passed - and made a mistake. Austria does dairy really well, so even at Mcd’s, a yogurt with fruit is something special. Even better than a McSunday. Ah well, next time I walk pass an Austrian McDonald’s, I will know better.


The family Mortensen and their trusty red car



John had to go to work, so we went back to the house and I read a story to the girls, and we played, then Marietta had to go to her catechism class. I tried a major system reset to see if that would clear the problem on the wireless - nope. Played with Magdalena until it was time for church. By this time (you weather-oriented readers) it was raining heavy and cold rain, almost sleet. We visited the newly refurbished Byzantine chapel, where many of the icons had been done by students (and others are for salein the gift shop). Mass in the large chapel - in English, no homily, celebrant and to co-celebrants (who were dressed in orange robes - interesting) with pronounced eastern European accents. John told me that Fr. Fessio had been asked to leave Ave Maria, and then a day later, he was back as a teaching professor, but with no classes. Definitely something political happening there. (Fessio is a very well-known conservative Jesuit.)

Home for a hot bath for the girls, and email for John. When Ginger came home we shared some vodka - to help keep away the chill, of course. Home for some writing and dozing and finally to bed.

Saturday, March 24 - Ralph will be buried today. Part of the dream was a serious death threat to me, enough so that I moved out of where I was living and went into hiding. Room went down to 62. But the good news is there was lots of hot water for a shower. And the better news is that when one does have fruhstuck at Pension Doris Eder, it is lovely. Very nice breakfast room, set apart, all set and ready, with semmeln and kase und fleisch, hot fresh coffee and the cooked egg was the best of the trip. I am, after breakfast, in a MUCH better mood. It is snowing out - the skies are grey - it is lovely but probably not what the planners of the day had in mind. Poor Ginger, whose whole weekend of visitors and special ceremonies will be influenced by weather. They all say this is the worst weather they’ve had all winter. Up to now, virtually no snow.

John and Ginger came by around 9 to pick me - nice way to start the day. She always brings a fresh burst of energy and just joy when she enters a space. I went into the chapel and started working on the morning breviary. Ginger went to her office, and John went to run errands, later to go back and collect Beth and the kids. A nun came up and introduced herself - turned out to be the head of the Basilian Sisters. She is based in Pennsylvania but of course they have nuns all around the world, and she was visiting some here in Gaming. A woman came and joined her, turned out to be the daughter of the President of Ave Maria University, who is here running a catechetical program. I might end up in Florida yet. The choir rehearsed so there was music right up to the time the ceremony started. The father of the baby (himself a priest) stopped by to ask if I wanted to concelebrate, and I declined. Might have been a mistake. Great outfits.

Byzantine liturgy - most done in old Slovak. Baptism and Divine Liturgy (ie, Mass) 2 hours and thirty minutes and that’s without taking up a collection. Lots of singing - I think those who actively participated made the sign of the cross a couple of hundred times and I am NOT exaggerating. Lots of concelebrants, both Roman and Byzantine (did I mention the GREAT outfits?) And the music was lovely. Lots of processing and parading around - the censer has bells on it, so every time they use the incense (and they use it a lot) it not only smokes but sounds. I won’t attempt to describe the whole liturgy but at one point the Bishop took the baby and held him up (a little like Kunte Kinte in Roots) and processed with him held aloft down the enter aisle to present him to the congregation. He had perhaps been placed on a restricted liquid diet before the great event - there was no moment suitable for filming and sending to YouTube, all the participants remained dry. He was then taken back up and placed on the altar, where he was retrieved by his parents.

When we were going up to communion, John and Beth were up in the choir loft, singing, and the girls were on the right side of the church with Ginger. When Magdalena caught sight of me, she left Ginger and came and joined me in line, put her hand in mine. I received communion, she got a blessing with the chalice, and then came back and stayed with me a while. Then she went back and joined her sister and Ginger. Very matter of fact. Remember, this is a not quite three year old, who talks quite coherently thank you and has definite opinions about practically everything.

After the celebration in Church, there was an agape - a reception - with cakes and sandwiches and wine and the grandfather of the baby wandered around pouring a Polish schnapps that helped take the chill of the day, and anything else it came in contact with. Met a bunch of people at the Karthaus, including a friend of the President’s daughter, and a Franciscan who is about to return to Steubenville after five years here. He looks rather like an overgrown elf, white here, infectious smile and a real enthusiasm about meeting people. People aren’t quite sure about me - with the bear I look very Byzantine, and there are a lot of Bishops and Cardinals about this weekend for the dedication of the new Byzantine chapel, and I am wearing my silver cross and with the Notre Dame ring - they don’t quite know who I am or how to respond. And I don’t help them out at all, until we get into conversation. (I’m a BAAAAD boy!)

After the agape, we went back to the house so everyone could take a nap. And I mean everyone (well, except me). I stayed up and did email and wrote notes to people and cleaned out the in box a little. John was unable to fix my transmission problem, at least without going more deeply into the works of my machine than he wanted to do, and so I am still unable to take advantage of the wireless, and I can only hope someone will be able to get me up in London.

At one point Ginger came in, and I drove her to the bakery to get bread and then drove her to school and helped her unload, and then drove back. Fun to drive in Austria. People were awake when I got in, so we looked at pictures for a little, and then it was time to go back to the Karthaus. I went to the Byzantine Great Vespers (which, I learned, was also going to include a sub-diaconate ordination.) Beth and the girls went to the Ostermaarkt at the Karthaus and John went to his office. We met again at six for supper.

The Byzantine chapel is quite small and it was packed like a New York subway car at 5 pm. Archbishops and bishops and priests and dignitaries and lay folk to beat the band. I got there early enough that I got a seat next to Mother General, who watched over me. I had to leave early, and they got me out with minimal fuss as well. The Vespers is a little bit of a free for all - you sing pretty much whatever you want, and while western vespers is more strictly one side then the other, here you could sing one part, or the other part, or all the parts. You could sing melody but a lot of harmonizing was going on ad lib - and it was lovely. Some stood all the time, some stood and say according to a rubric I never figured out. But it was all lovely and in its own disorganized way, very spiritual. I hated to leave - I had thought an hour, but Sister had told me it would go a good 90 minutes - and the Mortensens were waiting, because I had invited them all to dinner at me at their favorite restaurant, in honor of John’s birthday.


The Byzantine Chapel, packed with people. See what I mean about the great outfits?




Here's another shot of the same event - the guy in the white plain hat is Cardinal Schonbrun. I definitely want one of those gold hats.



The restaurant is right there at the Karthaus, and is very gemutlich. And Austrian. The waitress was a little bit of a cold fish, but she went through the motions very nicely. As we got settled, she brought coloring place mats and crayons for the girls, and the menu was varied and interesting. I had a smoked trout as an appetizer, and a glass of red wine, and a ragout of deer meat and other stuff. Beth had a huge Greek salad and Magdalena had chicken nuggets and fries, and then two large pizza were for everyone else. We ended up taking home almost a whole pizza. I had a small piece of crepe with marmalade and coffee, while John and Beth split a chocolate brownie with ice cream and whipped cream and spun sugar decorations and sugar cookies - the girls helped them with that. And they dropped me off to recover from all this food. And the girls had been given a colored egg and a bag of meringue cookies at the Osterfest because they were so cute. Lorraine Hainsberry may praise young, gifted and black, but sometimes it is fun just to be young and cute.

While I’m writing, the tv is showing a soccer match between Ghana and Austria. Now given my varied backgrounds, who am I supposed to root for? On the one hand, I really and truly don’t care one way or the other. On the other, it is always more interesting when you are rooting for one side or the other. If it were Nigeria, I would certainly root for Austria. But Ghana?

Sunday, March 25 - Feast of the Annunciation, which the orthodox will celebrate today. The Roman Church, on the other hand, moves it back a day, keeping the Sunday precedence. And of course, in spite of all the warnings and conversations that THIS is the weekend when we go onto Daylight Savings Time, I forgot to change my clock ahead. I woke at 5:45 - which is really 6:45 - and remembered, so I still had time for a lovely hot shower and a chance to wake up before breakfast. Another dark and cloudy day, although no snow or rain. Yet. Tyrol music in the background in my room as I write and dress.

Idle thought from yesterday - in my life I have celebrated Mass in English, French, German, Italian, Marshallese, Latin, Russian, Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa. I have been a concelebrant at liturgies in the Greek Orthodox, Russian and Slavic Byzantine Churches, the Maronite Church, and in Masses in Malagasi, Swahili, Yappese, Trukkese, and Pohnpeian. Not bad for a small boy.

Off to church - Ginger and John picked me up, I went in again and prayed the office. This morning, if someone asked, I was ready to concelebrate - and of course, no one asked. I could have simply gone up, but I was a little shy. One of the Byzantine priests came by and we chatted for a bit but he never asked and so I was a member of the congregation for the day’s celebrations. Long chat with a local woman who was very disappointed that everything in the booklets for the day was in English, since she “had” no English. But she thought I spoke very well, and at one point asked if my ancestors were German. (I know - sin of pride. But more than one person has complimented me on my German. I think it is the accent more than the content, but I do seem to be able to get by in most situations. And German speakers feel very comfortable speaking away, once we have made contact.)

The dedication of the new small chapel and Divine Liturgy - began at 10 AM, ended at 1:45. We started in the big church - processed to the small chapel (I ducked out and went into the sacristy and had a much better view) and then back to the big church. Seven bishops and two cardinals - several of the bishops are “underground,” in situations where they cannot be as public, and they found this great coming together of western and eastern, lots of lay support - it was all very encouraging for them. Cardinal Schonbrunn was the western cardinal and the eastern cardinal - long grey beard, short man, and almost entirely blind, had to be led pretty much everywhere - was a delight. Did a homily in English, with someone else translating into German, based on an African fable. The service itself was in five languages - English, German, and three Slavic. (We don’t count the Greek Kyrie Eleison.)

Short reception afterwards and then everyone trooped or rode up the hill for lunch at a catering school for girls. The Monsignor who is one of the school officials talked too long, but otherwise it was very nice - good food, the girls at the school cooked and served - this was a test for them, and my scorecard would have given them high marks. I had never had serviettenknodel - I joked a knodel made from old napkins? Then I tasted it, and unfortunately, the joke was closer to the dish than I would have liked. But everything else was lovely.


At the luncheon, just before it started. The priest is a former student, the young woman was one of his teachers. We had lunch together and I discovered that she has the same birthday that I do. Not the same year, of course, but the same day and month. Another 13 person.





Home a little before five for some sitting and talking - John took another shot at my computer without success. Got an email from Brian Porter - he finally has a replacement. The guy is in training, so it will probably be another 18 months, but there is light at the end of the tunnel. We prayed the rosary at one point - Marietta led one decade in Latin - not bad for a 5-year old. John was going to take me home, and we stopped and got Ginger on the way - and she insisted I stay for a while, so we went back, had some drinks, John and Beth went to bed and the two of us stayed up and talked until about 11. Interesting girl - Ah if I were twenty years younger and not a Jesuit. Well, maybe in the next lifetime.



Just before we left for the train, we all stood together and the baby sitter took our picture. I'm the one with the beard. Ginger is the one I have my arm around. Everyone else should be easy to identify.




Monday, March 26 - Twice in one trip! Yup, for the second time on this trip, I got caught in a bathroom with no toilet paper. Not precisely the best way to start a day. After a lovely shower and shampoo, I ran diagnostics on the computer and even the wireless section and 1394 came through passing. So I STILL have no idea what is wrong here, except that I still think it has to be something hardware. Breakfast - blueberry or boysenberry instead of raspberry - ah well. Packed - I think I’m ok on weight - they are so tough these days about weight, it’s 23 kilos, and if you’re the least bit over they charge you a HUGE amount. Paid my bill - the four days here are a little bit more than one day in Salzburg. Went over to the house and visited for a little, and then John and the two girls and Ginger all took me to the train.

The first train was deserted, the second more crowded but got a nice seat and was in Salzburg in no time. Took a bus out to the airport, checked my luggage in a bag room and went back into town. Did a little email and just walked around - the weather was the nicest I had seen in Salzburg, and I was almost tempted to try for the salt mines again - but that would have been tempting fate. Back to the airport with reluctance - checked in and I was exactly 22.9 kilos. Boy I’m glad I threw away my broken shoes. I bought some duty free items to use up the last of my Euro and listened to a couple of lectures on one of my courses while waiting for the check in to start and then another for the flight to actually board. No exit row but a good seat, gentle trip, easy trip home by train and in the house before ten. No one else in residence, so I unpacked - did email (the computer worked fine, no problem) and watched a little tv and bed.

And here again seems a good place to let the popcorn popper do its thing, stretch the old legs (or the young legs, depending) and visit the porcelain chapel for a few moments of tension releasing meditation.

When we come back together, assuming the butter knife doesn’t run away with the jelly spoon, we’ll have

THE LAST DAYS IN ENGLAND
(Sounds a little ominous, doesn’t it? Well, it’s supposed to.)

And a special prize for anyone who knows what the closing reference is to (assuming the butter knife etc)