Previous… HERE. I guess there is something in the air these days about the Sacrament of Penance.
December 13th 2023
Dear Diary,
I am pissed off at Fr. Tommy. I’m pissed at Vice. I’m pissed at the ST rector.* I’m pissed at myself. After the kertussle over that lying couple and the whole marriage blessing at the communal recon service thing – thank God that’s over – I told Vice to restore for use those old fashioned confessionals at ST cathedral. BEFORE ADVENT. I told Vice to get it done. I told the rector. Why O why did I DO THAT? Sure, Fr. Tommy said that if we had been using, how did he put it? “real” confessionals that couple could never have pulled off that scam. And so I spouted off, get em fixed up before Advent. Now Advent is here. Heck its half over and every day for a about a month Fr. Tommy has been dropping the word “confessional” into some remark at least once a day. He had reminded me about it a couple times during the year but we laughed and I forget about it. Or I did. But today… o he really got under my skin with these stupid puns… he said, “Sorry, Your Excellency” – he knows I don’t like that it’s just bishop or something like that – “I guess reminding you about what you commanded really grates on you.” GRATES. Even I got it. Like in those old confessionals!!! I heard Mrs. Kennedy giggle in the outer office Later in the day when I was telling Sr. Randi some notes for a letter, she cocked her head and listened just like priests use to do! And she said in a calm voice, “Can you remember anything else?” They’re all in on it I swear! I’ve gotta get on the horn and get this damn thing done. How hard can it be? HARD! McSwiney’s gonna softly drag his feet. It’s Christmas and I want to be happy and have everyone not nagging me about this. I mean, sure, they’re happy too, but are they also happy because they know they’re getting my dandruff up. They’re all against me on this I know it. Right after Fr. Tommy made the grate crack I noticed Chester in the corner who was ripping up one of the carpet squares and got revenge by telling him to take him for a walk which he cheerfully jumped up to do. He whistled a here boy. Chester looked back and forth between us a few times and happily trotted over to Tommy. I could’ve shot him the traitor but then I’d have to go to confession in one of those damn boxes. Dozer is going to have a fit. Jude will just grin and that’ll be worse. I hit the xmas cookies pretty hard this evening. And EGG NOG! I love Christmas. I just want this confessional thing back in the BOX. HA! I crack myself up.
*Libville’s “Spirit and Truth” Cathedral is really St. Telesphorus. They didn’t want Telesphorus after he was removed from the calendar in 1970 so they called it “Spirit and Truth” because Fatty’s predecessor wanted the cathedral rectory’s engraved silverware and place settings to have the same initials, ST for Saint Telephrous. The rector at S and T is Msgr. Seamus Patrick McSwiney (aka “The Irish Setter”), still there from Fatty’s predecessor. His overarching strategy in pastoral life is to do as much nothing as possible.
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Got the blazon for +McB
On a shield Or – a butter churn proper between three short pants purpure;
above the shield a gallero – vert – with six tassels on each side.
motto: Ven Kingdom Ven [sic]
Note:
‘or’ is gold (or yellow), ‘purpure’ is purple (or violet), and ‘vert’ is green.
What happened to the old confessional booths at ST cathedral? Were they ripped out by the Irish puppy? Most cathedrals have very few parish members, to my knowledge, so the position of Cathedreal rector is just that, rector, not pastor. Many priests I knew over the years who had such a position asked out after a few years, there was not much to do, and they wanted to be active parish pastors. So the Irish puppy may be a do nothing because there is not much to do. By the way is +Atticus going around with other priests to help at Advent penance services at parishes around the diocese? Usually good numbers come, since they have a chance to go to confession to another priest, not from their parish.
I think His Excellency may be worried that he will have to use the device for the “hard of hearing”. Also after all those Christmas cookies and eggnog, squeezing into the confessional ma be a little difficult. I am sure he doesn’t want anyony seeing him having to back in.
I remember when the church for the parish I was in a few years ago had “the light is on” for Advent so had to clean out an old confessional that hadn’t been used in years and was full of old mops and brooms and other bric a brac. It was great seeing it being restored to its intended purpose.
the last sentence reminds me of a line from a pop song written by a fellow from your native place, Father: “i was keepin busy doin somethin close to nothin, not much different from the day before”.