A Sure Sign

It was surreal. There I was last Sunday morning, sitting in the sun at a small table on a glorious Spring day with a familiar stranger, who has moved in and out of my life since we were boys. It was my brother Tom. Sitting in a park, overlooking the Connecticut River where the Holyoke Dam roars with magnificent power, we enjoyed a picnic lunch on the edge of the neighborhood where we grew up together. On such a fine day, you would never guess we were sitting near "The Flats", a drug-infested ghetto in our home town with one of the highest crime rates in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Our connection as brothers ended prematurely almost 5 decades ago, when I ran away from home at age 13. It was a desperate act at a desperate time in my life. I never thought I would ever see this place again, especially with this brother of mine, taken from my life when he was 10. We never lived together again and had little or no contact for many years.

Tom is a lifelong alcoholic and addict, and has been homeless for most of his life. He has been in and out of prisons, county jails, and hospitals all his life. Once in a while, Tom found someone he could live with, obtain a job, and almost have a normal life, but it never lasted. He had two children with different women. He has been at death's door many times, and I never expected to see him alive at the ripe age of 57. Since being hit by a car last October, the Mass Health Care system has spent over $500,000 to patch him up, rebuild his pelvis, restore 30 broken bones, and even provide beautiful new dentures. My brother appeared incredibly well and in his right mind as we sat in the sunshine. I found the entire scene completely unbelievable. I kept asking myself : "Is this really happening?"

For many decades, I have pursued Tommy, trying to support and encourage him, praying for his recovery, and looking for him when he went missing. I have given him up for dead so many times, I can't keep track of the count. So there we were, enjoying pasta salad and fruit together in the warm sun, joking and laughing like normal brothers do, and I just could not get my mind around the fact that this was real. Gary & Tom were sitting together, very near where our family disintegrated, and we were happy, even giddy to be together - an incredible time for both of us. As we smiled and talked about our dangerous exploits as two unsupervised boys, playing in the dangerous river and canals of Holyoke in the 1960s, I recalled that last Sunday was "Divine Mercy Sunday". It was a divine mercy for Tommy and I to share these moments together, something beyond either his expectations or mine. My brother honored me for pursuing him all these years. "You never gave up on me" he said. "That's not true", I thought. I fell into despair over him a dozen times. Somehow, hope returns unnoticed.

Whatever may happen, whatever the future may bring to our relationship, we had that time together, a connection we had missed for so long and I am grateful, profoundly grateful. If you had told me this was going to happen, I wouldn't have believed it. But God wanted both of us to be encouraged and not give into despair. Today's gospel records Peter's miraculous catch of fish when the apostles were beginning to doubt the mission Jesus had given them. John was the first to suspect that Jesus was at work with his outburst : "It is the Lord!" Then Jesus fed his disciples breakfast, just as he was feeding Tom & I at this picnic near the water last week. When time gives way to eternity, my family will be reconciled, restored, and forgiven. Prayers are never wasted. Mercy triumphs in the end. Gary

the Catholic "problem"

I cannot vouch for the veracity of the following article I received from a friend [nothing on snopes or truthorfiction], but I have read similar stats over the years. Even one priest involved in pedophilia is tragic, but we must understand the whole picture. Pedophilia reportedly affects 3% of all people. It is not limited to one race, culture, or religion. A failure of a Catholic leader makes news precisely because the Catholic Church is known to have the highest moral standards in the world. Some enemies of the Church pounce on such tragedies to use as a weapon against the Church. In today's climate, The Catholic Church is one of the safest places for a child to be in. In fact, other churches and entities are modeling their programs to combat pedophilia in their own institutions.

======= Sam Miller on Catholics =======

Excerpts of an article written by non-Catholic Sam Miller, a prominent Cleveland Jewish businessman: "Why would newspapers carry on a vendetta on one of the most important institutions that we have today in the United States , namely the Catholic Church? Do you know - the Catholic Church educates 2.6 million students everyday at the cost to that Church of 10 billion dollars, and a savings on the other hand to the American taxpayer of 18 billion dollars.

The graduates go on to graduate studies at the rate of 92%. The Church has 230 colleges and universities in the U.S. with an enrollment of 700,000 students. The Catholic Church has a non-profit hospital system of 637 hospitals, which account for hospital treatment of 1 out of every 5 people - not just Catholics - in the United States today.

But the press is vindictive and trying to totally denigrate in every way the Catholic Church in this country. They have blamed the disease of pedophilia on the Catholic Church, which is as irresponsible as blaming adultery on the institution of marriage. Let me give you some figures that Catholics should know and remember. For example, 12% of the 300 Protestant clergy surveyed admitted to sexual intercourse with a parishioner; 38% acknowledged other inappropriate sexual contact in a study by the United Methodist Church , 41.8% of clergy women reported unwanted sexual behavior; 17% of laywomen have been sexually harassed. Meanwhile, 1.7% of the Catholic clergy has been found guilty of pedophilia. 10% of the Protestant ministers have been found guilty of pedophilia. This is not a Catholic Problem.

A study of American priests showed that most are happy in the priesthood and find it even better than they had expected, and that most, if given the choice, would choose to be priests again in face of all this obnoxious PR the church has been receiving. The Catholic Church is bleeding from self-inflicted wounds. The agony that Catholics have felt and suffered is not necessarily the fault of the Church. You have been hurt by a small number of wayward priests that have probably been totally weeded out by now. Walk with your shoulders high and you head higher. Be a proud member of the most important non-governmental agency in the United States . Then remember what Jeremiah said: 'Stand by the roads, and look and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is and walk in it, and find rest for your souls'. Be proud to speak up for your faith with pride and reverence and learn what your Church does for all other religions. Be proud that you're a Catholic."