Fathers' Day Card

The boys "made" a card for me for Fathers' Day. The construction of the card: crayons, stickers, and stamps, oh my...

A little maternal guidance. Joseph found a use for some extra stickers.


Watch out, I have a crayon in here. I know how to use it!


Ooooh, a card just for me. Joseph is still wearing some of his stickers here.

Easter pics

So I'm entirely out of the Easter Season. Oh well. The boys hunted for plastic eggs in the backyard. You know the convention. Leo is in green, Joseph is in blue. Enjoy the shots...

How to get past the bouncer

I saw a link to this story the other day. Got a good laugh, now you can have one too.

By now it had started to rain. The band were feeling despondent, and they realised that the owner was not going to give way. But, ever resourceful, my brother had an idea.

He began to confidently intone the Credo III:“Credo in unum Deum…”

Msgr Thomas Morgan 1909-2009

A Blessed and Happy Easter to you all. The boys had a lovely Easter; photos of egg hunting will follow in the next few days. It bothers me greatly to write this post. Msgr. Thomas Morgan, the priest that married my maternal grandparents, who baptised two of my sisters and I, who buried my paternal grandparents, has passed away. He was 99 years old.

Msgr Morgan, or Pappy Morgan, as my Poppa Don called him was a truly holy man. He was born in Alexandria, Egypt as his father, an Irishman in British Army, was stationed in Egypt. He studied for the priesthood in Ireland and Portugal. He came to California in 1939. He served in parishes in the Central Valley and in the Central Coast. After starting three parishes (in Hanford, Cambria, and Greenfield), he came to Tres Pinos in 1969. He was our pastor for fifteen years. He retired in 1984, and lived in Hollister until about 2000, when he moved to a retirement home.

He was the quintessenital Irish priest. He was loving, he cared for his parishoners, he had a great sense of humor, and of course, loved a round of golf. When Poppa Don passed away, who came and visited my grandmother? Father Morgan. I remember watering Grandma's roses, and Father Morgan came driving into the yard. I saw the tears in Grandma's eyes, and I knew that I needed to keep watering. When my Dad woke up from having surgery on his knee 11 years ago, who was standing over him? Father Morgan. He said something to the effect of, "Patrick, how are you feeling?". Dad said that seeing Father Morgan made him think that something had gone terribly wrong. No, Father Morgan was making his rounds, and saw Dad's name on the board. Mind you, Father was 89, and still visiting his old parishoners in the hospital! It wasn't that he was bored in retirement, he loved being a priest, he loved his people, and we all loved him.

When Grandma Gen passed away in 1999, Father Morgan was one of the priests who said the funeral Mass. He preached the homily, and Sarah and I were the altar servers. Before Mass started, Sarah took a huge box of Kleenex and put it next to our chairs. We both needed it. Both Grandma and Father Morgan golfed. He jokingly said that Grandma was at the gates of heaven, asking if the Virgin Mary would like to play a round. He figured that Grandma would win, as the only birdie our Blessed Mother knew was the Holy Spirit.

I looked up to Father Morgan as a model priest and gentleman. When I was discerning a vocation to the priesthood, I decided that if I was called to be a priest, I wanted to be like Father Morgan. One Sunday evening during my senior year of high school, I was asked to serve Mass. I was in confirmation class, and it was our practice to have half of the class, go to evening Mass, and then finish class. When I was asked to serve, we were in a rush. The priest tossed me an alb, the long white vestment that servers wear. Priests wear it under the stole and chasuble. Fr. Green, the priest saying Mass that evening said, "Yeah, you're about Tom Morgan's size, it'll fit.". I thought it was awesome, a sign that maybe I was called to be a priest, serving Mass wearing one of one of my heroes' vestments.

I am rambling a bit. I was planning on taking the boys to meet Father Morgan at his 100th birthday party in August. We will all meet up one day, God willing, it will be a long, long time off.

Requiem aeternam dona ei, Domine; et lux perpetua luceat ei.
Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord; and let perpetual light shine upon him.

Opening Day 2009

Giants 10, Brewers 6.

Tomorrow, Randy Johnson starts for the Giants. How weird is it to say that???

Hmmm baby!

Just wait 14 more years...

Two years old is coming quick. Pretty soon Leo's feet will be able to reach the pedals...


For now, they just have to work as a team. Whose turn is it to run the pedals anyway???

MNBS, 4th Sunday of Lent-Yr B

Remember what I wrote when I started this little project over a month ago; that I may not blog all of the MNBSs, or that Alie and I would not be doing it every week. So, here we are, in Lent. I know that not all of the half dozen or so people who read Wheezes is Catholic, so here is the quick version. Lent is a season in the Church's year, consisting of approximately forty days prior to Easter. It begins with Ash Wednesday, this year that was on 25 February. It is the Church's big season of penance and preparation. What are we preparing for? We are preparing to celebrate and commorate the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus. This is celebrated publicly on Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter, in 2009, this will be from 9 through 12 April. What are we doing penance for? Penance is an action that shows how a person wishes to be reconciled to God. Penance is not a person trying to earn favor or salvation from God. It is his effort to become closer to God.

We are halfway through this season. The Gospel for the week:

Jesus said to Nicodemus:
"Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert,
so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life."

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son,
so that everyone who believes in him might not perish
but might have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but that the world might be saved through him.
Whoever believes in him will not be condemned,
but whoever does not believe has already been condemned,
because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
And this is the verdict,
that the light came into the world,
but people preferred darkness to light,
because their works were evil.
For everyone who does wicked things hates the light
and does not come toward the light,
so that his works might not be exposed.
But whoever lives the truth comes to the light,
so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.

This is John 3:14-21. Most of us recognize verse 16; not just what the place kickers aim for after a touchdown. It is essentially the mission statement of Christianity. Why did Christ come into the world? To save it from its sinfulness. Alie said that one of her thoughts for Lent is along these lines: Why did Christ come and suffer? If it was for me, then I should respond by living the best way possible, to work and love as best as I can. If my response to Christ's love is nothing, then what does it matter that he suffered and died for me? My response, too, is that Christ's life, death, and resurrection do not depend on my response to their historical fact. This is not Bishop Berekely asking "Does a tree makes a noise falling if there is no one in the forest to hear it fall?". For myself, knowledge of these events in salvation history cry out for a response to live out a life of love and service. As Christians, our response is to live in the truth, and act. Catholics are called to live out Lent with increased prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. In Christ, we have our model.

Thoughts? I'd love to hear them.