Yay for him, Boo for us!

I'm probably a day late and a dollar short on this one, but I'm really sad that Archbishop Timothy Dolan will be leaving Milwaukee and heading to New York City. I mean, it's quite an honor for him, don't get me wrong. He will be leading the largest, most high profile archdiocese in the U.S. But Archbishop Dolan did a great job in Milwaukee. He has a great personality, he's likable, personable, humble, and really funny.

I remember the day he was named archbishop. It was huge news, and I was producing a less than huge newscast. Basically, I had to find my own lead stories, because my show was not a prime newscast (I produced the 4PM news at that time; the 5,6 and 10PM are the "big shows."). So I started digging around and found a religion reporter for the newspaper in St. Louis who had covered Dolan while he was the auxilliary bishop there. I talked her into going to a St. Louis TV station so we could do a live interview with her, to learn a little more about this man who would be leading Milwaukee's Catholics. Somehow it all came together and it was a great interview. I received compliments from my managers and anchors that day... something that didn't always happen. It was such a great show that I used it as part of my resume tape for a long time.

I met the archbishop a couple of times. The first was after he had just arrived in Milwaukee. He was there to tape an interview show. He made his way around the newsroom, shaking hands, and introducing himself. He complemented me on the Krispy Kreme paper hat I had at my desk. I told him I was Catholic and that I was honored to meet him. He couldn't have been nicer.

But my favorite memory of Archbishop Dolan comes from the day Pope John Paul II died. I was one of two producers working that afternoon/evening. Normally on big local breaking news days, it was all hands on deck. For some reason, the only extra hands I had that night were an Executive Producer who was on call. On a normal Saturday I would have to produce 2 newscasts, both 30 minutes long. We did extended coverage that day, so I produced an open ended cut-in, an hour at 6 and an hour at 10. It was crazy. We called the office of the Archbishop and invited him to come to our studios to discuss the pope's death. AND HE AGREED! And we were the only station in town to have the Archbishop live on the set discussing this sad, historic occassion. He came early and talked with those of us in the newsroom. It was a challenging day professionally. I was deeply affected by the loss of Pope JPII. He was my pope. I grew up knowing him as the Pope and couldn't fathom him not leading the Church. But I also had a job to do. An important job to deliver the best coverage I could of an historic event. I just remember Archbishop Dolan's larger than life presence as a comfort in the newsroom that night.

There are big shoes to fill here in Milwaukee now! Our loss is most definitely New York's gain! I expect this will not be the highest position Archbishop Dolan holds. I think he is destined for great things in the Church!

A letter to Father (name ommited)

Dear Father (name omitted),

Forgive me for being so blunt, but get your act together!
You've been at our parish for nearly a year, and a priest for much longer than that, you shouldn't be forgetting to restock the hosts before mass.

At least once a month, you have to send one of the Eucharistic ministers back to the sacristy to get the ciboriums and to get more hosts. Come on! How hard is it to remember to do this? You have to do it at least once a day!!! Write yourself a note and post it in the sacristy!

Also, do you need a refresher course on baptisms? We've had them each of the past few Sundays and you never remind the congregation when they are supposed to respond and you often seem to get lost while saying the prayers.

Your rambling, scatterbrained ways make it very frustrating as a parishioner. You are a nice enough guy, but when you can't even manage to spit out the rules for fasting and abstaining from meat during Lent, it makes me question your vocational training.

So get your act together! And you might just win over the congregation!

searching for something

I was surfing the web over my lunch today and I found the website for the Newman Center in Iowa City. I got really nostalgic. So much so that I teared up a bit. My first week of college I went to mass at the Newman Center… and discovered my church home-away-from-home. It has a phenomenal liturgical singing group, simply named “The Newman Singers.” It is a vibrant community full of students and community members as well. It was a place that made me feel like I belonged.

I went on a retreat, called “Antioch” in the fall of my freshman year. It was a community building retreat, and as a result I met some great people. I also became a Eucharistic Minister, something I wanted to do since high school. Every week I went to church. Sometimes alone. Sometimes with my roommates or a friend. It didn’t matter. I felt like I was an active part of that congregation. My four years at Iowa went by very quickly. Before I knew it, I was standing at the front of the church the week before I graduated, telling everyone what I majored in and what I would miss most after graduating. Without a doubt, I miss the Newman Center the most.

It’s something I’ve been searching for ever since. The closest I’ve come since moving to Milwaukee was my time as a parishioner at St. Robert in Shorewood. I was a Eucharistic Minister there as well. I was sad to leave St. Robert when we moved to Wauwatosa. I shopped around for churches. I liked the physical structure of St. Margaret Mary, but wasn’t too thrilled with the main priest (though I really liked the assistant pastor). I tried Mother of Good Counsel, and really liked the priest but didn’t like church. Nothing seemed to fit. I’m registered at St. MM, but I still don’t know if it will be a permanent fit.

Being active is harder now that I have a two year old, and a husband who is supportive of me being Catholic, but is Methodist himself. I want to be a Eucharistic Minister again, but who will stay in the pew with Alex, since mostly it’s just the two of us going to church? I know it’s only going to get more difficult as Alex gets older and as our family expands. (God-willing!)

I don’t know if I need to shop around for churches again or not. I just know I want that feeling back… the feeling of belonging to a larger parish family. Sometimes I hear a song that we sang at the Newman Center at church, and I'll belt the song out with my voice cracking, and tears welling in my eyes. It's close to that feeling... and I'm hopeful that eventually I'll feel like I belong.