Fr. JC Maximilian

OK, I had to post this because for those who know me, I have a bird named Max. I got him in June with the money my mother gave me for my 5th anniversary as a priest. OK, my bird is a parakeet and not a blue rock-thrush, but my Max is also blue (and green and yellow and black), and I am teaching him to say, “God is Love” which was, of course the title of Pope Benedict’s first encyclical. I think I know what some bird is getting for Christmas….shh, don’t tell my Max.

New from Ignatius Press:

Max and Benedict
   
by Jeanne Perego
Illustrated by Donata Dal Molin Casagrande

This lovely illustrated book for children (of all ages!) is a sequel to Joseph and Chico, the international best-seller

that told the story of the life of Pope Benedict XVI from his youth through his election as the Pope. With the same award-winning author and illustrator, this lavishly illustrated book is aimed at children but in a way that even adults will enjoy. It takes up the story of Benedict’s XVIs new life as the Pope.

The narrator of this book is a blue rock-thrush that spends most of his time on the dome of Saint Peter’s Basilica and in the Vatican gardens. (The scientific name of this kind of bird is Monticola Solitarius, and it really lives in Rome.) This particular bird’s name is Max, and from his solitary perch, he observes everything in the vicinity. He is fascinated by one human in particular: the Pope. Max tells readers what the Pope does on a typical day, as well as about special moments in his life, such as his vacations and apostolic trips. The book provides a delicate portrait of the Holy Fathers many responsibilities, and it helps us understand the Pope Benedict’s important obligations that he always strives to carry out with love, faith and dedication.

Max talks about the Pope’s private and public audiences, his meetings with heads of state and with children, important liturgical moments, and the Angelus. He also describes more curious events, such as the blessing of the lambs and of a fire truck. He tells us about the moments that the Pope devotes to writing and to prayer. Max flies to see the Pope at his summer home, Castel Gandolfo, and is sorry he cannot accompany him on his important apostolic trips, but is happy each time the Pope returns to the Vatican. Max is also delighted when he sees the Pope relax a bit, playing the piano or strolling through the Vatican gardens. Max loves music, too, as do many of his friends, who live in the Vatican gardens.

Through this wonderful story, the author presents some of the fundamental ideas of Pope Benedict XVI and the important daily life and activities of the successor of St. Peter, told in simple words that young readers can understand and enjoy. The lavish watercolor illustrations make a wonderful gift book and a cherished keepsake for all ages.

Jeanne Pergeo, an Italian journalist who lives in Bavaria, is the author of the best-selling Joseph and Chico, as well as of Benedict XVI’s Bavaria.

Sample images from the book:

I know that I said in my last post that I would be away for a week on retreat.  That was more than two weeks ago.

The retreat was wonderful.  It was the third time that I attended the Communion and Liberation Priest Retreat.  This was the largest retreat yet; about 50 priests, including the Archbishop of Ottawa.  The theme of these retreats are that to be effective priests, one must first have to embrace one’s humanity.  It was a wonderful time to regenerate myself as a man and as a priest.

Of course I hit the ground running when I got back to the parish; I had a wedding rehearsal and a couple of people waiting to be anointed.  Last Sunday (well, actually two Sundays ago) was Mercy Sunday.  We have a remarkable woman in our parish who escaped slavery in Siberia, and then walked first to Israel and then to England before making her way to the USA.  She is Polish, and naturally has a great devotion to St. Faustina and the Divine Mercy.  She donated an image of Divine Mercy to the parish, and during the hour of Mercy on Mercy Sunday I solemnly blessed the image and led the people in praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet.  We had about 75 people there, which was great.

Last week was very busy with meetings almost every night.  Last Friday my Mother and I flew to St. Louis, MO to visit my sister Ann, her husband Kevin and their four children.  Their third child, Deirdre, made her First Holy Communion on Saturday, and since I gave first Communion to her older brother and sister, she wanted me to give her first Holy Communion too, which I did.  It was a very nice ceremony.  Mom and I are visiting here until Thursday, when we fly home.  This coming Saturday, my other sister, Jennifer’s, daughter, Moira, is also making First Holy Communion, and I am her godfather, so I need to be there for that too.  She is close to my parish; only about 75 minutes away.

After these two Holy Communions I thought I only had one more left; Ann’s youngest Declan.  However, Ann and Kevin told the family this evening that they are 8 weeks pregnant.  Of course we are all very happy, but also a little concerned.  First, Ann is 43, so more of a risk for miscarriage.  Also, Ann had a brain tumor removed last year.  It was benign, but it is the kind of tumor that the hormones shifts in a pregnancy can cause to grow.  They could not take all of Ann’s tumor out last year.  She had not had a migraine since the tumor was removed until 10 days ago.  Since then she has had a total of 5 migraines.  In addition to the normal prenatal care, she also needs to go for a MRI to see if the remanent of the tumor is growing.  Please keep her in your prayers. 

St. Gianna pray for us.

I would like to ask the readers of this blog to say a prayer for my sister, Ann Marie (pictured above in Hawaii).  One of the family issues that we have been facing since the beginning of Lent this year, is that Ann was diagnosed with a brain tumor (I cannot discuss the other family issue).

Ann lives in St. Louis with her husband, Kevin, and their for children, Paddy, Brigit, Deirdre and Declan (pictured below,  their 2005 St. Patrick’s picture)

Ann is a pediatrician, and she had a very bad migraine in January which led to her going for a scan which revealed a small tumor, on the surface of the brain.  Her neurosurgeon was pretty sure that it was benign, so they did not rush to have surgery.  The surgery was today.  My mother flew out to St. Louis on Sunday, and she just called to say that Ann is out of surgery.  They could not get all of the tumor out (they “left the tail”) because it was “feeding” from a major blood vessel.  We are still waiting to hear the pathology report.

Please pray that Ann will have a complete recovery, and will be able to get back to work and fun with her family soon.  I even shaved my head in solidarity with Ann (although they did not need to shave all of her head).  Also, pray from my other family issue, which I cannot share with you just now.

Please keep in your prayers the repose of the soul of Julie Fedak Walker, and for the the consolation of her family.

Julie and her family lived around the corner from my family when we were kids. Julie and her sister, Kathleen, were about the same age as my oldest two sisters, Ann and Jen, so the four of them played together a lot (Julie’s brother, Bobby, was a bit too young for me to play with). The Fedaks and the Garretts did a lot of things together, with the parents being friends as well. They became part of our “family. Even after the Fedaks moved, we kept in touch with them, visiting them, getting together for the big events, like graduations.

Julie had some challenges when she was a teenager, and early 20s, but she was always a very happy and friendly person. She loved her family very much, Kathleen was her best friend as well as sister. Julie has two children; both minors. Apparently she suffered a massive heart attack on Tuesday night, and died. She was only 41. Needless to say, it was a tremendous shock to everyone.

Pray that all who loved her will draw close to the Lord in this time of grief, relying on His strength, and trusting in His mercy.

[The reason for the purple butterfly above, is because Julie loved the color purple, and she collected butterflies.  She thought that butterflies reflected her carefree personality.]

The above picture is my mother and father bringing up the gifts at my ordination Mass, in May 2004.  It is one of my favorite pictures of my parents, and my father.  For those who do not know, my father (John S. Garrett) passed away in December 2005.  I still miss him.

For all the fathers out there, living and deceased, biological and spiritual, I wish you a very happy Fathers’ Day.  I also ask God, our Heavenly Father, to bless you abundantly with His love.

Today is a double birthday celebration in my family. First, today would have been my father’s 70th birthday. My youngest sister, Mary, was born on my Dad’s 32nd birthday, which led Dad to say he was “32+Mary”. The picture is the last one I have of Mary and my Dad. The younger girl is my niece Sydney, Mary’s daughter, then Mary, and Mom standing behind the chair. It is not a good picture of Dad; I don’t remember why he was making a face. It was taken around Thanksgiving, 2005. Dad died a few weeks later of cancer.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD AND MARY! I love you.

I guess for someone who just came home from vacation, I really should not be feeling like today’s reading from the Book of Job in which he laments the day he was born, but I really think that I am the Born-Loser.

I came back from my cruise to Alaska to be faced with a lot of issues concerning my Uncle Bob. Uncle Bob is my father’s older brother. While he is only 70, he has a lot of medical problems, and my parents really allowed him the illusion of independence the five years after my grandmother (with whom Uncle Bob lived) died. With my father’s illness last fall, and then his death, I promised my dad that I would look after Uncle Bob, and became his power-of-attorney. Uncle Bob agreed to move into assisted living, last February, so I thought that things would become much easier for Mom and I. How wrong I was. While I helped Mom as much as I could, Mom really was the one who cleaned out Uncle Bob’s house to get it ready to be sold. But we did sell it pretty quick, so we thought it would just be visiting Unlce Bob.

I did not realize that assisted living really means, “pay $111/day, but we don’t help him with really anything.” He seems to have constant doctor appointments, and we have to take him (mostly Mom). They call to complain regularly (Uncle Bob is hard of hearing, so they find his TV/radio too loud).

At the end of August Uncle Bob seemed to take a turn for the worse. He fell at 4 a.m., and needed 7 staples in the top of his head. A week later he fell again, this time breaking his ankle. He had surgery on Labor Day for that, and then got transferred to a rehab hospital attached to the assisted living and nursing home facility he is at. That first weekend I thought he was going to die. He was so out of it; I had to go up to feed him one night. Mom has been doing his laundry. It turned out he had pneumonia. He is better now, but he is not improving in rehab as much as he should. It seems as if he has no motivation.

They really cannot keep him in rehab much longer, and the assisted living place will not take him back because he needs too much help with everything (but we are still paying $111/day). I thought it would be an automatic “step up” to the nursing home, but they have no beds, and do not expect one for 2-3 months. So they want us to move him to another nursing home until he can get into the one there. I think if he is never going to get back to the level where he can function in assisted living, we should just find a permanent nursing home placement. They want me to fill out the paperwork ASAP, but they do not call back to tell me what they think his long term prognosis is.

Today I have been mostly doing Uncle Bob’s paperwork and banking (the real annoyance is that the application for the nursing home is the same, just check a different box, as the one that I completed to get him into assisted living, but they needed a new application anyway). Mom met him at the dentist; oh yeah, all of his upper teeth are falling out. Mom has been running all day for him too. This has not been a great way to come back from vacation.

I will try to find time to write about the cruise to Alaska; it was very beautiful. I was the chaplain onboard, which had some cool things too. I did read a fantastic book, With God In Russia, the story of Fr. Walter Ciszek, S.J. Read it if you have not yet.

I would like to ask everyone who checks this blog to pray for my mother. She is part of a group who left today for Medjugorje. While I don’t think we are allowed to have official pilgrimmages there, she is traveling with a group of spiritual people. My concern is not with Medjugorje, but with all the craziness that has gone on in England with the terrorists. Mom called me early this morning, rather nervous about her trip. Ask our Lady to pray for them all.

(Above are pictures of the two Young Theologians I am heading off to visit. They are my niece and nephew, with my sister and Dad. In the post below I did not use their real names.)

Tomorrow, after celebrating the 8 a.m. Mass at St. Anthony’s, I take off for St. Louis, MO. Apparently I will be participating in the “Council of Chesterfield,” LOL. Actually my sister, her husband and their four kids live out there (Chesterfield is a suburb of St. Louis), and my brother-in-law’s nephew is getting married, and they want me to do the wedding. However, I have been warned that I best be prepared to delve into the depths of theology. Let me explain…

As I mentioned, my sister and her husband have four children; the youngest two, whom I will call Clare, age 5, and Francis, soon to be 4, apparently engaged in theological debate the other day as my sister was driving them home from daycare (while the niece and nephew are real, the names are not, to protect the innocent). Francis was holding firm to the position that there were two Jesuses: the baby Jesus and the man Jesus. Clare was passionate in trying to convert him to the orthodox position that there was in fact only one Jesus; that the baby Jesus grew up into the man Jesus. I did not hear if Francis recanted his heresy, but of course I pray he has; afterall I baptized him. Then Clare made an interesting, albeit puzzling, theological observation. She declared that St. Joseph was a carrier. My sister, who is a pediatrician, was quite interested in this proclamation and inquired as to what St. Joseph was carrying (she feared it might be TB, the plague, or Avian flu). Alas, Clare explained that he was carrying the big stick with the curved top. The full significance of this theological insight is yet to be completely explored (I am told that the great Swiss theologian, Fr. Hans Urs von Balthasar was sketching the outline of a book on the topic, as part of his homily after being named a Cardinal, when the Lord called him home). Then round two of the Council openned when Clare declared that God was dead (though not in the sense that Neitchze declared Him dead). Francis, filled with the Holy Spirit, strongly proclaimed God alive, but Clare wished to explain her position. Her reasoning was very simple; since Grandpa (my dad) was dead, and she was told that Grandpa was with God, then clearly God must also be dead. At this point my sister, an amateur logician, intervened and tried to explain that God was alive, that He always was, is, and will be. To which Clare asked, “So, is God and Grandpa undead?” I think that was when a recess was called, largely because my sister was laughing so hard, that all she could say was “Wait until Uncle JC gets here, he’s a priest.” So, I am off to finish my laundry and pack my Summa Theologica; St. Thomas give me strength!

Mom and Dad bringing up the gifts at my ordination
Originally uploaded by frjcmaximilian.

My father, John S. Garrett, died this evening of cancer. He was 68 years old, and married to my mother for 42 years. He was one of the first Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion at our parish, serving as one for about 30 years, not only at Mass but also taking Communion to those in the hospital. After his retirement, about 15 years ago, he went to Mass nearly every day. He was very active in the Knights of Columbus; serving at three separate times as Grand Knight, and once as Faithful Navigator.

My sister Mary and her daughter Sydney drove up from NC last night, and my sister Ann arrived from St. Louis this afternoon and went straight to the hospital. Apparently Dad was a bit more responsive this morning; answering “yes/no” questions, and telling people he loved them.

I was on duty at the parish today, so I had several shut-ins who called wanting to go to Confession before Christmas. I arrived at Dad’s hospice room a little after 3 p.m. this afternoon. Mom and Sydney had stepped out for a bit, so it was Ann, Mary and me. When Mom and Sydney got back, about 4 p.m., I celebrated Mass in my Dad’s room, giving him Viaticum, a final anointing, and the Apostolic Pardon. I stayed talking with my family, sharing stories of Dad, until 6:15 p.m., and then I headed back to the parish to attend the pre-school Christmas show. I was just about back to the parish when my sister Mary called to say that Dad had just died, at around 6:30 p.m.

I went back to the hospital. All my sisters, my brother-in-law Ed, my nieces Sydney and Moira, and nephew Liam were there with my Mom. Mom was holding up pretty well. When I hugged her I just started crying. My sisters were all crying, as was Sydney. I don’t think Liam and Moira fully understood what was going on, although Liam seemed to a bit more. Of course we were calling a lot of people to let them know, and to activate the various “prayer trees.” Ann told me that she had a premonition during Mass that Dad was going to die that night; see the Gospel today was the account of the Annunciation and Dad was born on the Solemnity of the Annunciation. After spending about an hour at the hospice with Dad’s body, we went to Uncle Bob’s to tell him. He handled the news of his brother’s death pretty well. He said that he was glad that Dad was no longer suffering, and that he was now at peace.