Two New Saints, III

The whole world watched on Sunday, April 27, as Pope Francis canonized two of his predecessors, John XXIII and John Paul II.  Last week it was announced that Pope Francis will beatify another predecessor, Paul VI, in October.  Beatification is the final step before canonization as a saint.

In October also Pope Francis will preside at an extraordinary session of the Synod of Bishops.  The topic is "pastoral challenges of the family in the context of evangelization."  Everyone knows that it is very difficult for one man and one woman to faithfully live the sacrament of marriage.  The synod will offer help and support to married people and families.

Just as the church needs saintly examples of popes, so the church needs saintly examples of married men and women.

So let me suggest to Pope Francis that one initiative he might suggest to the Synod of Bishops is that over the next ten years the Catholic Church make a worldwide effort to identify and tell the stories of married couples who have lived saintly lives.

The first step could be to repeat what the pope did last year.  He asked the diocesan bishops of the world to conduct inquiry among the faithful in their dioceses regarding knowledge of and adherence to the teachings of the church regarding the sacrament of marriage.  Unfortunately the time frame given to the bishops and dioceses was very short, and only about one third of the U.S. diocese actually did public surveys, and fewer dioceses overseas.

In this case, the pope could ask every bishop around the world to identify holy married couples from their diocese who lovingly lived out the teachings of the church on marriage.  Bishops could take suggestions from church historians, veteran pastors, the faithful at large, fraternal and ethnic organizations, and the leadership of organizations which support marriage and family life.

After a period of time, perhaps three to five years, any bishops who feel they have found one or several couples who lived in their diocese, whose holiness was truly public, exemplary, and extraordinary, and whose holiness can be documented, could forward the names of the couples and their investigation dossiers to their national conference of Catholic bishops.  Here from a more objective perspective, national conference staff (perhaps helped by teams of volunteer married couples) would review all candidates.  Then, after a period of several years, names of worthy and saintly couples would be given to the Vatican's Congregation for the Causes of Saints for its lengthy and deliberate consideration.

Think of it--the entire worldwide church would be looking for married saints!

While the church is at it, why limit the search just to holy married couples?  Why not cast a wider net, and search for holy single men and women, and holy widows and widowers?

The upcoming extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family will repeat and reecho the traditional church teachings on the sacrament of marriage.  We learn Christ's teachings not only from catechisms, textbooks and papal writings, but also from stories--stories of saintly figures from the past.

The Catholic Church needs more saints who never attended a seminary, or monastery or convent.  The Catholic Church needs more saints who worked in factories, offices and farms, schools, mines and the military.  The Catholic Church needs more saints from every culture and language who changed diapers, raised children and attended Sunday Mass in their parish, and who practiced the teachings of Christ with as much faith and fervor as the Twelve Apostles and early martyrs, with as much courage and dedication as St. John XXIII and St. John Paul II.  I have no doubt that they are "out there."  We just have to find them and lift them up.

Let's tell the stories of holy married couples, single women and men and widowed women and men, to show the world the special power of love in the sacraments of baptism and marriage.

Two New Saints, II

As the world knows, Pope Francis canonized his predecessors John XXIII and John Paul II on "Mercy Sunday," April 27 in Rome.  Between one and two million pilgrims came to witness the Mass (although dire predictions had upwards to four million coming to Rome) in St. Peter's Square.  The Catholic world rejoiced in this pronouncement of two more members of the heavenly family.

But not all were happy.  On the one hand you had New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd weighing in on "A Saint, He Ain't." Link here .  Her argument:  "Sometimes leaders can be remarkable in certain ways and then make a mistake so spectacular, it overshadows other historical achievements....John Paul may be a revolutionary figure in the history of the church, but a man who looked away in a moral crisis cannot be described as a saint."  She brings up John Paul's role in the ongoing saga of the clergy sexual abuse scandal, including giving "sanctuary" to Cardinal Bernard Law, defending and praising Legionaires of Christ founder Marcial Maciel Degollado, and failing to bring light an end to bishops covering up clergy who harmed children.

In a more restrained vein the National Catholic Reporter editorialized "New papal saints have flaws as well as greatness."  Link here.  Money quote:  "If we fully honor our saints, then we honor them in all of their humanity, which means in all of their flaws as well as their greatness.  Perhaps there is no better time than now to engage in a bit of sobriety about the record of John Paul II inside the church.  It evinced some significant flaws, the results of which were passed on to his successors."  These flaws include certain theologians called on the carpet, loyalty being the prime virtue for candidates for the office of bishop, financial scandals and the sad sad sexual scandals.  I have to agree when the editorial quotes the sober Vaticanologist, John Allen:  John Paul was "the apostle of unity ad extra and the bruiser ad intra."  He was a pope who "leaves behind the irony of a world more united because of his life and legacy, and a church more divided."  

The church has proclaimed Angelo Roncalli and Karol Wojtyla saints.  I add my "alleluia" to this decision, and my prayers for their intercession for us who still struggle on earth.

But at the same time it is worthwhile to remember that canonization, a pronouncement of holiness, is not an announcement of perfection.  Roncalli drank (but not to excess), smoked, and looked like a heart attack waiting to happen.  Wojtyla made a decision at the beginning of his pontificate, that he would make the world his parish, and proclaim as loudly as he could, "Be not afraid!" in his globe-trotting evangelical travels.  That decision, however, meant he gave short shrift and little attention to the internal administration of the church.  He was as blind to the clergy who were pedophiles as 99% of the bishops of his era.  Because of his Polish background, which served him so well as pope in many areas, he just could not imagine hundreds and hundreds of priests (2 to 4% of the total number) who had immoral, sinful desires for harming children and teens.  

Neither man was perfect, or even close.  Both prayed and prayed and prayed, and tried to do the will of God as revealed in their lives.

We the church, and the world (sorry, Maureen Dowd, you're wrong) would do well to remember this distinction.  Neither man was our savior.  We already have one, fully human yet fully divine and without sin.  Separating the two helps us to embrace all the saints, flaws and all, and to profess Christ our Savior as son of Mary and son of God.

Housing the Clergy

These are interesting times for bishops.  So many folks -- or at least reporters who have listened to Pope Francis -- are watching to see where they live.  Pope Francis has decried careerism among the bishops, and called for them to be authentic pastors.  They should avoid "the psychology of princes" and live in humble settings.  He himself did that, by turning down the traditional suite of nine rooms on the fourth floor of the Apostolic Palace, in favor of a small three room suite in the Santa Martha guesthouse.

Some bishops are not getting the message of Pope Francis.  To wit...

• The infamous "Bishop Bling," Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst of Limburg, Germany, spent around $43 million on an office complex and episcopal residence.  In April, the pope accepted his resignation.  He's now praying somewhere without a job.
• In New Jersey, Newark Archbishop John Myers didn't think the Cathedral Rectory of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart was enough for a residence.  He didn't think a $300,000 retirement home, 4,500-square-feet, in a rural area of New Jersey outside the archdiocese was enough.  So he embarked on a $500,000 addition, a three-story, 3,000-square-foot addition to the retirement home.  The new wing will include an indoor exercise pool, a hot tub, three fireplaces, a library, a "wellness room," and an elevator to a third-floor "observation room."

• Atlanta Archbishop Wilton Gregory found that no good deed goes unpunished.  He has lived in the cathedral rectory for ten years.  He agreed to move out, and allow the priests serving the growing cathedral parish to move in.  The parish then will tear down the parish rectory and build needed office space and gathering space for ministry needs.  The archbishop consulted with appropriate bodies, and set about to build a $2.2 million episcopal residence in a tony neighborhood of Atlanta.  But when word of this spread to the secular press, and the faithful of Atlanta, he received such a storm of criticism he backed down.  At least he had the humility to publicly apologize to his flock. 

Such criticisms of clerical housing are not limited to the Catholic hierarchy.

• Trinity Church in Boston, an Episcopal parish, recently bought a $3.6 million condo in Beacon Hill for its rector, the Reverend Samuel T. Lloyd III.  Many have criticized the parish for this.
• Last fall, the 33-year old pastor of Elevation Church in North Carolina, Steven Furtick, revealed plans to build a 16,000-square-foot estate with 7.5 bathrooms and an electrified gate.  Furtick is a Southern Baptist, who heads a fast growing congregation.  Criticism of his decision has not stopped construction, however.

Two Pittsburghers do get the message.  When Bishop David Zubik returned to the Diocese of Pittsburgh in September 2007 after serving as head of the Green Bay local church, he announced that he would live at St. Paul Seminary.  He put the bishop's residence on Warwick Terrace, near the Carnegie Mellon University campus, up for sale. The mansion had been gifted to the Diocese of Pittsburgh by the Maytag family in the 1950s.  Bishops Dearden, Wright, Leonard, Bevilaqua, and Wuerl had lived in it. It subsequently was sold for $2.1 million, and some of the proceeds went to carving a suite of rooms for the bishop on the first floor of O'Connor Hall.  The suite has a tiny chapel, a dining room which seats ten, a small kitchen, living room, study, bedroom and bath, as well as storage space in the basement.

(In the 1960s Mass was said in the tiny chapel over the arched portico at the bishop's house on Warwick Terrace and broadcast over WTAE radio at 8:00 a.m. on Sunday mornings.  Usually Father Jack O'Toole, the vocations director and longtime aide to Bishop Leonard, who lived with the bishop said the Mass.  The lector for the Mass was one of the students at the Bishop's Latin School.  I remember several times being the lector, and along with my mom joining the bishop for breakfast afterwards.  In those days there were three or four Sisters of Divine Providence who also lived in the bishop's house, serving the needs of the bishop.  Needless to say, they departed at some point, and laity were hired to take care of laundry, cleaning, and food preparation.)

Last summer Bishop Bernie Hebda of Gaylord, Michigan was named by Pope Francis to be coadjutor archbishop of Newark.  When he moved to New Jersey, he chose to live in a small three-room suite in Xavier Hall, a dormitory on the campus of Seton Hall University.  He will succeed Archbishop Myers upon his resignation or retirement.  It's quite a distance from "Your Grace" to "Bishop Bernie."

As these dust-ups appeared in the newspapers and in the blogosphere, I mentally reviewed the rectories in which I've lived.  I'm sure that some of these buildings would be "mansion-like" to most parishioners.  But unlike bishops, the parish priest (at least in this part of the United States) is usually stuck with a residence which is decades and decades old, next to or attached to the church.  These buildings were built when the priest WAS a prince, and when there were several priests serving the parish.

For the first six of my assignments, I lived with several priests.  Each of us had "the usual digs"--a sitting room, bedroom and private bathroom.   The buildings were large, but our interior living quarters were modest.

When I was a deacon at St. Michael Parish, on Pius Street in South Side, I had a wooden spiral staircase to myself.  That was unique!  Ten years ago that rectory, and the church, were sold to a developer and became "Angel's Arms" custom condominiums, with a great view of Downtown Pittsburgh and the Monongahela River.

In my first priestly assignment, at St. Therese in Munhall, the retired pastor, Father Joe Nee, used parish funds to have a suite of rooms built in the unfinished attic of the rectory, for his retirement.  $25,000 got him a bedroom, sitting area and bathroom.  In today's funds that would be $100,000 in improvements, and without any pesky consultation with the parish finance council.  I remember how irritated I was that Father Nee had this space built for himself.  To my knowledge, he was the only priest to ever live there.   After he died, I used to go up to the third floor if I wanted peace and quiet for prayer or study.

Only when I became pastor of Incarnation Parish on the North Side, did I live alone in a big house.  That was because there were two rectories, and two priests.  I lived in the old Annunciation rectory.  It had single pane windows, drafty high ceilings, and desperately needed repairs and a paint job--which I couldn't do because the parish was in debt.  There was a hole in the kitchen floor through which I could look down into the basement.

Later I lived in Bethany House, the oldest (1927) building on the campus of the Sisters of Divine Providence's motherhouse.  This former farm house was quaint, cute and small.  On the first floor, a tiny kitchen, a dining room, a living room and porch.  On the second floor, two small bedrooms and the only bathroom.  I thoroughly enjoyed that little house.

Today three of us priests live in what can honestly be termed a mansion, built about 1905.  Each of us has five spacious rooms.  We live under one roof as a sign of our sharing in the priestly ministry and fraternity.  I enjoy the company of my brother priests.  The faithful like our arrangement also.  On the Sunday after our first Christmas in St. Mary's rectory, we hosted an open house.  Over 200 parishioners went through the building to see our living quarters, and everyone approved.  

Two of our rectories here in New Castle have no permanent residents, although St. Vitus rectory housed two seminarians last summer.  (I hope there are no thieves reading this blog.  Well, no worry about that.)  We just this week welcomed retired diocesan priest Father Joe Pudichery into St. Vincent de Paul rectory, and into our brotherhood.   

One of the challenges of such rectories is "living over the store."  The unstated expectation of living in a rectory next to the church was that the priest(s) were 24-hour-a-day watchmen, on call to prevent break-ins.  The distance from the bed linens to the altar linens could be measured in feet.  This caused a certain internal tension, as you never really left work.  

When I was named administrator of Nativity Parish, for the first time I did not live where I worked.  The parish offices were underneath the church, in what had been school classrooms.  Our rectory (which housed myself and three priests from other countries who were students at Duquesne University) was across Franklin Road.  Even though it was a short distance to walk, the separation between office/church and residence was psychologically great, and very healthy.  Since then I have never lived "over the store," and hope I never do.

For us parish priests, the challenge to live humbly and simply as Pope Francis teaches is less about where we live than it is how do we spend our discretionary income and time.  Flashy clothes, several overseas trips a year, the best restaurants each week, a new leased car every two years, befriending only wealthy parishioners--these are the things that rightly irk parishioners.  We diocesan priests do not take a vow of poverty, as do women and men religious (and as Jorge Mario Bergoglio did as a Jesuit).  But we would do well to live as if we did.  

Two New Saints, I

You probably could not get two more different men who served as Bishop of Rome and Supreme Pontiff, than Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II.  Yet both in their own unique way lived the holiness of a saint.

Angelo Roncalli (1888-1963) was a peasant from the Lombardy region of Italy, the fourth  of 14 children.  He was ordained a priest in 1904 and served his bishop as secretary for ten years.  Then he entered the Vatican diplomatic corps.  He served as the Vatican's representative in Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey during World War II, in France, then was appointed Patriarch of Venice and named a cardinal by Pope Pius XII in 1953.  When Pius died in 1958 after a long illness, there was no clear successor.  The generally thought successor, Giovinni Baptista Montini, the archbishop of Milan, (and future Pope Paul VI) was not a cardinal.  The 48 cardinals in the conclave elected the 78-year old Roncalli as a "place-sitter," until (they thought) a more worthy and deserving man became pope.   He took the name "John" which had not been used in over 400 years.   But Roncalli shocked the church and the world when, only three months into his pontificate, he called for a worldwide council of bishops, the first in almost 100 years.   His sense of humor and humility led the people to acclaim him "Good Pope John."  John was known for his saying, "See everything, overlook a great deal, correct a little."  He lived to see the first (of four) sessions of the Second Vatican Council, in the fall of 1962.  Pope John XXIII died of stomach cancer on June 3, 1963.

Karol Wojtyla (1920-2005) grew up in Poland amid much sadness.  His mother died in childbirth when he was 8, his father when he was 18.  His two older siblings died before he was 20.  Wojtyla was a brilliant student, and was an actor, a published poet and playwright.  He lived under the specter of the two horrific political systems of the 20th century--Nazi Fascism and Soviet Communism.  He was trained as a priest in the archbishop of Krakow's "underground seminary," and was ordained a priest in 1946.  He was named a bishop at 38, archbishop of Krakow at 44, a cardinal at 47.  He earned two doctoral degrees, and was fluent in at least six languages.  He attended all four sessions of Vatican II, and participated in the 1978 conclave which elected Cardinal Albino Luciani as Pope John Paul I.  But when Luciani died of a heart attack after only 34 days in office as pope, the cardinals elected as pope the first non-Italian in 455 years, the youthful vigorous Wojtyla from Poland.  

Though he probably would have preferred to take the name of the Polish bishop-martyr Stanislaus as his namesake, he showed his continuity with his predecessors by taking the name John Paul II.  From his first talk after his election, John Paul II made history, with world-wide travels, voluminous writings, charisma, outreach to Jews, and effect on world history.  (He is rightly credited with helping to bring down the Iron Curtain and Soviet Communism by his support for the Polish labor union Solidarity.)  From his first encyclical, he was known for his complete trust in God, his saying "Be not afraid," and his great devotion to Mary, Mother of God.   His pilgrimages to over 100 countries allowed him to be seen in person, it is said, by more than a billion human beings.  After quietly suffering from Parkinson's disease for decades, he died in 2005, the second longest serving pope ever.  At his funeral more than two million people passed by his coffin, crying out "sancto subito," (Italian for "make him a saint now").

We the church rejoice at these two new saints, both "servants of the servant of God" in their ministry as popes.  Yet both point us in the same direction, holiness.  Each of us is to follow our own vocation, whatever it may be, as disciples of Jesus Christ, with love and energy and prayer, carrying out the will of God.

A Different Kind of Service

On Tuesday evening as he began a series of encore songs near the end of his concert in Pittsburgh, Bruce Springsteen mentioned that this year is the 50th anniversary of his first picking up a guitar.  

Yesterday I attended the first of four annual Membership meetings for Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Pittsburgh, Inc.  That figure was in my mind as I did the math in my head and realized that this is my 25th year of serving Catholic Charities as a board member of one kind or another.  

I first went on the Board of Directors in my capacity ex officio as chairperson of the Allegheny County Community Advisory Committee to Catholic Charities in 1989.  The next year, through the suggestion of mentor Msgr. Jack McCarren, then-Bishop Donald Wuerl appointed me to a three year term on the Board of Directors, which was subsequently renewed.  In 1995 Bishop Wuerl appointed me to serve him and the diocese as secretary for social concerns. My place on the Board of Directors remained, but for a different reason, now ex officio as the bishop's representative.  

In 2002 when I became pastor of St. John Vianney Parish, I lost my place as a Director.  But later that year Bishop Wuerl appointed me as one of the eight Members (from Allegheny County).  And in 2011 when I moved to Lawrence County, with Bishop David Zubik's permission Father Mark Thomas was glad to give up his role as a Member to me, now representing Lawrence County.  

The Board of Directors is a representative body of the community.  Its role is to directly work alongside the executive director and senior staff in planning and executing services to the needy, according to the current times and conditions.  It also assists in the necessary work of raising funds and friends to support the agency.  In this "two-tier" model of governance, the Members are the "owners" of the corporation, who hold reserve powers to guard the mission, vision, by-laws and overall Catholic identity of the agency.  The Membership is chaired by the Bishop of Pittsburgh, along with his representative to the agency, and six priests, one from each of the six counties of the diocese.

During those years there were 25 annual Bishop's Dinners for Catholic Charities, five executive directors, two and a half bishops (counting diocesan administrator Bishop Paul Bradley as a half--sorry Paul!), and countless meetings.   Meetings for personnel, budget, St. Joseph House of Hospitality, strategic plans, fundraising, friendraising, board nominations, executive committees, annual joint meetings between the Members and Directors.  

32nd Annual Bishop's Dinner

for Catholic Charities

May 2, 2014

Westin Convention Center Hotel, Pittsburgh

Over that time the percentage of agency funding from governmental sources has dropped from about 75% to today's under 40%.  United Way funding has also shrunk.  Fundraising has increased, but not enough to cover all those revenue losses. Each year there are struggles of management, cooperation with the pastors and the political heads of the six different counties which make up the Diocese of Pittsburgh, and over the past year, with the HHS (U.S. Health & Human Services) mandate of the Affordable Care Act. 

There have been so many success stories over these 25 years.  Catholic Charities was a national leader in refugee resettlement, after the Vietnam War and throughout the 1980s and 1990s.  It was one of the first diocesan agencies to initiate "parish social service ministers," that is, parishioners who were trained by Catholic Charities and paid by parishes to assist parishioners and neighbors in identifying the right kind of help for the needy.  In 2007 the Free Care Clinic began, which remains a bright light of service for working individuals and families who do not have medical or dental insurance.   

Anyone who serves on a board of any kind--whether of governance or advisory--knows the real "dirty" work of service goes on every day by the social workers, administrators, aides, secretaries,  and financial officers who meet clients and help people directly.  Yet good management demands a clear vision and embraced mission, and that's the work and leadership of the Directors and Members.  

Four years ago  Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Pittsburgh celebrated its centennial.  Founded in 1910 by three laymen, it remains the premier social service agency of western Pennsylvania Catholics.  It is part of the network of Catholic Charities nation-wide, with over 1,400 different agencies, thousands of employees, and literally millions of clients served each year.  Each of these agencies needs the volunteer leadership of boards of directors, and the visionary leadership of diocesan bishops and holders of the mission.  

If Pope Francis is known for anything, it is his desire that every aspect of our church serve the poor.  This service is done by individuals, families and parishes, by dedicated volunteers and by trained social workers, by small and large professional institutions.  

It is one of my favorite stories, which I first heard from then-Bishop Sean O'Malley.  O'Malley was for a time the director of services to Hispanics in the Archdiocese of Washington.  His office helped to fund and build a shelter for homeless persons in the District of Columbia.  Cardinal James Hickey was the archbishop of Washington at the time, and was leading reporters in a press event around the new facility.  One of the reporters asked him, are all the homeless persons living here Catholics?  The cardinal replied, no.  He wisely remarked, we serve the homeless, and all persons in need, not because they are Catholic, but because we are Catholic, following Jesus Christ's mandate.  

For more information visit Pittsburgh Catholic Charities"s website, www.ccpgh.org , or Catholic Charities USA at www.catholiccharitiesusa.org .

May Catholic Charities grow in its effectiveness and reach to serve all persons in need, regardless of their religious affiliation.

Springsteen Again!

For the eighth time I had the privilege of attending the Boss's concert.  Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band returned to Pittsburgh for the first time in two years on Tuesday, April 22.  Consol Energy Center was about 90% full to hear the 18-piece orchestra (ha!ha!ha!) and the most energetic, hardest working 64 year old rocker in the universe.  E Street Band had just been announced as new entrants into the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, finally joining Bruce, who entered in 1999.  Bruce was quick to crow on their behalf about this well-deserved award.  

This was the fifth venue in Pittsburgh for a Springsteen concert (Three Rivers Stadium; Civic Arena twice; PNC Park; Petersen Events Center) for me.  And maybe I'll catch another one.  Near the end of the show Bruce brought on stage (as he always does in the Burg) Joe Grushecky and his son, Johnny Grushecky, and announce a "Joe and Bruce and the Houserockers" concert May 22 and 23 at Soldiers and Sailors Auditorium.  Anybody want to give me a birthday gift six months in advance?!!!...

(From the November 2, 2011, concert at Soldiers and Sailors Auditorium.)

The show was....superlatives as always fail.  The band is as tight as ever, Bruce bounces all over the stage, and among the crowd, and into the crowd, and surfs the crowd, and dances with fans on stage.  I found the set list eclectic in the extreme.  The musicianship and the quality is just there, song after song after song.  As he did for the first time when on tour in Australia, Springsteen brought with him Tom Morello, from the group Rage Against the Machine, to sub for Little Stevie Van Zandt.  Van Zandt is filming his HBO show "Lilyhammer" in Norway, and was absent.  Morello brings tremendous guitar skills (even playing with his teeth!), and I love the skreeching, scathing version of "Ghost of Tom Joad" he does with the Boss.  But I missed the duets between Stevie and Bruce.  Jake Clemens (Big Man Clarence's nephew) keeps getting better and better on sax.  And wife Patti Scialfa joined Bruce on "Seven Nights to Rock," half embarrassed (as it seemed from our sky-high seats) and half winking at the crowd over the double entendre lyrics.

Personal favorites "Youngstown" and "Land of Hope and Dreams" were just powerful.  Two years ago in Cleveland I saw Bruce do "Back in Your Arms" on the fly as a fan request.  This concert it was on the listed set, haunting and evocative as ever.  (Bruce preceded it with a short setup, asking the crowd "How many of you have messed up a relationship?" getting a smattering of noise, and then adding, "And the rest of you are liars!")  Every time I hear "Wrecking Ball" there are new angles to reflect on.  This time it brought to memory that the wrecking ball had indeed done to the Civic Arena across the street what it did to old Giants Stadium in New Jersey.

What I take from the three hour fifteen minute musical extravaganza by the self-proclaimed "Prisoner of Rock and Roll" is the sheer sheer joy of entertainment.  The other night I caught a half-hour HBO documentary on the making of Springsteen's latest album, "High Hopes."  Near the end, Bruce answers the question a lot of people ask, why does he (and the band) still go out on the road (and fly to Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and all parts of Europe)?  He's made more money than anyone of us can imagine.  He's got the awards.  I'm sure he feels the aches and pains of his aging body.  His kids are grown and on their own (no grandbabies yet).

Bruce said, "I do this because I must."  He never mails it in.  The E Street Band never mails it in.  The passion is still there.  And us fans keep wanting more.  

(Photographs from Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.)

Back to Some Normalcy

A blessed and holy Easter to one and all!

Let me apologize for my few but loyal followers, for my failure to post during Lent and Holy Week.  Almost every day I jot down notes and ideas for blog posts in my notebook.  And then I either fall asleep at night or can't find the time in the day to sit in front of the computer and write/compose.  The glory of Easter and this season, and the prospect of more open space on my calendar gives me renewed energy to try to post more often than once a month.  So with that apology let me begin again.