We hear over and over again about breaches in privacy on the internet. Just the past couple of days we have been reading about the "data torrent" of information from many Facebook users.
   And it is true.
   There are many examples of technology being used in ways that break the privacy of users on the internet.
   But there is also the other side to that coin.
   In having information so accessible, it brings people together again.
   Yesterday was a perfect example of that for me.
   I have been wondering for some time about my best friend from my days growing up. The kid that lived directly across the street from me, Vern, was a good friend up to graduation from high school in 1974. Then, as goes the way of many "best friends" from high school, we went our separate ways and lost communication with one another.
   I have done a search for him from time to time over the years to see if I could find him.
   A week and a half ago, I plugged his name in the search engine and his name popped up in association with an article about a benefit being hosted for him as he fights Chronic Myeloid Leukemia.
   I could not believe that I found him.
   I could not believe that he was that sick.
   But because of his illness and his need for help from the community, his name appeared in the internet search and we were able to connect. Yesterday we met for lunch in Merrillville and got a chance to catch up on the past thirty-some years. We also made a promise that we were going to remain in contact now that we found each other again.
   So information about us "out there" on the web is not always a bad thing.
   It, sometimes, brings people back together again after many years.
   As for my friend, Vern, I ask you to keep him and his family in your prayers. He has been fighting this for a couple of years and his health declined so rapidly that he needed a bone marrow transplant. Thankfully, his sister was an almost perfect match for him and he is somewhat on the mend, though dependent upon many medications.
   We never know what God has in store for us and we all need to take each day as it comes. Let us thank God for the gift of life today. Who knows what tomorrow may bring...

   Today we celebrate the memorial of Peter Chrysologus -- Peter of the Golden Words or Golden Mouth.
   That is because he spoke so well that he brought many people to the faith.
   He main way to present the faith in a time that truly needed to hear the truth was by the short sermon.
   He's my kind of guy!
   So many ministers seem to think that the longer the sermon, the better the message.
   When I was first ordained and assigned to my first parish as a deacon, my pastor told me that I needed to preach at least a half-hour. I told him that I could not and would not do that. After all, our seminary homiletics professor kept telling us, "If you can't say it in 7-10 minutes, you're not going to say it at all, so sit down and shut up." Our text book was entitled "Ten Responsible Minutes."
   It does not take a lot to convey the truth.
   The message can be very simple as long as it is sincere.
   The same holds with our lives.
   We do not have to perform HUGE works, we just have to perform simple, sincere acts in order to show people what it is we truly believe.
   Today, go out and do the work of God -- simply, sincerely, lovingly.
   God bless you!

   Well, at least it's not supposed to be as hot today. Going up to 85 degrees. But with the rain from yesterday and last night, I am sure that the humidity is going to be much higher.
   This is the time of the year that really saps me. Yesterday by 9:00 p.m., I felt like I had been wrung out. I was just wiped out. Tired, sinus headache from hell, hot, and a tad irritable.
   I am not looking for today to be much better either.
   I have a school's meeting at the chancery from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and then a couple of meetings throughout the afternoon and evening.
   I guess I should not complain too much, though. After all, I am a bit of a workaholic and at least I have work to do.
   With this economy, so many people are out of jobs and looking desperately for anything to generate some income for themselves as well as their families.
   So, instead of grousing about yesterday and today, I think I am going to end this right here and pray for those who are looking for jobs that they may find the dignity of labor.
   Have a wonderful day today!

   Well, the past few days, we have been hearing lots of stories about wars around the world and about how some of the wars are nothing but trouble for us with very little possibility of winning.
   I am now in my own personal war -- against technology.
   We are making a major switch here at our parish and school, getting many new computers and moving to Windows 7.
   I am experiencing many a hardware (printer) and software glitch as I look at things I will not be able to use anymore.
   This technology just keeps getting more and more advanced and I feel more and more stupid.
   So, if you will pardon me, there is much to be done this morning. Morning Mass at 6:30 a.m., Finance Committee Meeting to go over our annual financial report from 7:00 to 8:00 a.m., breaking computer components with hammers and baseball bats from 9:00 a.m. on, and a wrap-up festival meeting at 7:00 p.m.
   Should be lots of fun today!

   At the 12:00 Noon Mass on Sunday, July 25th, Steve Ziemba, the immediate past State Deputy of the Indiana Knights of Columbus, along with a Fourth Degree Honor Guard, made a presentation of the icon of Our Lady of Charity to our parish in gratitude for the past two years that I gave to the state Knights of Columbus as their State Chaplain.
   The icon made the rounds of our state the past couple of years and has been presented to us to house.
   The new home for this icon is in our chapel where those who attend daily Mass will have the opportunity to see it on a regular basis.
   The story of Our Lady of Charity is a rather simple one. Like many other Marian apparitions, it occurred in a nameless place and involved ordinary people.
   Around the year 1600, three boys were sent to gather salt needed to preserve the meat of the town’s slaughterhouse, which supplied food for the workers and inhabitants at the Spanish copper mines near Santiago, Cuba. Two of the boys were native Indians and brothers, Rodrigo and Juan de Hoyos, and the third was a 10-year-old black slave, Juan Moreno.
   On their way back to Santiago del Prado (modern El Cobre) and halfway across the Bay of Nipe, they encountered a fierce storm that threatened to destroy their frail boat.
   Suddenly, the waters calmed. In the distance the boys saw a white bundle floating on a piece of wood that they mistook for a sea bird. In reality, it was a small statue of Mother Mary holding the infant Jesus in her left arm and a gold cross in her right. Inscribed on the wooden board were the words, Yo soy la Virgen de la Caridad (I am the Virgin of Charity).
   According to recorded testimony, despite the motion of the ocean waves and the storm, neither the image of Mary nor her white robes were wet.
   As I have said so often in the past, the Knights of Columbus is a very worthwhile fraternal organization dedicated to family and church. It is an organization open to every man in our parish.
   Our parish's Knights of Columbus Council is attempting to form the Squires program as well. The Squires are open to all boys aged 10 to 18. If you are interested, contact our council’s Grand Knight, Gregg Blocher, at 902-1171.
   Thank you to the Indiana Knights of for their witness to the faith as well as for their gift of the icon of Our Lady of Charity.

   I remember my grandparents on my mother's side. My father's parents, sadly, I never knew.
   My maternal grandfather was my best friend. He died a few days before I turned four years old but I have so many happy memories about him.
   My grandmother lived for many years after the death of her husband. She passed away at the ripe old age of 102. She lived with my mother and father for about the last fifteen years of her life, so I saw her quite often. She was the love of my life as well!
   When I think about grandma and grandpa, I saw what wonderful parents they were by the way their daughter, my mother, turned out and by the way she loved them. That love was a beautiful, selfless love. I always thought it was because my grandparents were such wonderful people.
   We remember grandparents today when we remember the grandparents of Jesus.
   Today's feast is of Joachim and Ann, the mother and father of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
   Mary was raised in the faith from an early age. She must have learned how to pray, to anticipate God's love, to wait for the promised Messiah from her parents. I cannot help but think that her upbringing helped her to say yes to the angel, Gabriel, at the annunciation.
   The angel asked her to do something herculean, something most would say was impossible. But Mary found the grace and wherewithal to say yes.
   God asks much of us as well.
   Because of the upbringing we have received, because of the way we may have been raised in the faith, it might be easier for us to say yes to God as well.
   Let's hear it for those who have gone before us, who loved us, who taught us, who shared their faith with us.
   Let's hear it for our grandparents, the shapers of faith for our parents, who handed their faith on to us!

   Yesterday was a bit of a shocker for me.
   I was the celebrant for a wedding between Brittany Novak and Scott Fogus at Queen of All Saints Church in Michigan City.
   I was joking with them at the rehearsal on Friday evening. I told them that I did not know how they could have grown up to marrying age (they are 25 and 24) when I have not aged any. Of course, all of us chuckled about that.
   But really. How could they be 25 and 24 already?
   Well, the shock was to continue. When I go to the church yesterday, the server for the wedding was already waiting in the sacristy. He looked at me and said, "You're Fr. Mike, aren't you?" He seemed to be all excited. I told him that I, indeed, was Fr. Mike.
   He said, "I remember you from when you were here. I thought you were the neatest priest!" I asked him how old he was. He said that he was going to be in the eighth grade this fall. That would have meant that he was a first grader when I left the parish to come to St. Thomas More in Munster!
   My little first grader is not in eighth grade, thinking about going into high school.
   How did that little guy grow up so fast when I haven't aged yet?
   Time is relentless.
   It really mystifies me and stupifies me. I just do not understand the whole concept of age.
   I will be 54 years old this coming October. I remember when I thought anyone older than 18 was dead. Now I look back at all those years and wonder where the time went.
   In all honesty, I do not remember becoming twenty, or thirty, or forty. Even the big 5-0 did nothing to me. Oh sure, the school kids had a blast and I received 50 of almost everything on that birthday. And that was almost four years ago already.
   I do not know how many days or months or years of life I have left. Whether I die tomorrow or, like my grandmother, at the age of 102, I will not believe how many years have gone by.
   God must get a real chuckle out of how we spend our lives trying to figure out what time is all about. He who is ageless and timeless just looks at us and grins and says to Himself, "When they finally come home, this will all make sense to them."
   Here's to making sense! And until that day, let's just enjoy the time that God has given to us.

   Yesterday morning, as indeed most every morning, I was watching "Morning Joe" to get a fair share of the news as well as "all things politic."
   During the program, they were talking about a legislator that was in huge trouble in the national media. They then brought up the "confidence level" of Americans in a number of things. They reported that the confidence level of Americans in regard to Congress was only 11%.
   At the top of the list was "The Military" as 60%.
   Next highest was, "Church" at 48%.
   Forty-eight percent?
   That's all?
   We have much more confidence in the military than in church/organized religion?
   That is quite sad.
   Even sadder is that I believe it is an accurate report.
   When did so many people leave church and organized religion behind?
   I meet more and more people nowadays who have nothing to do with church. They do not believe in religion. They do, however, claim to be "spiritual" people.
   That is most certainly the easy way out.
   "Spiritual" implies some kind of leaning toward faith but not enough to embrace any kind of obligations of faith or religion.
   This watered-down spirituality is a reflection of the watered-down version of morality in so many people today.
   Remember when we used to hear the word moral associated with a person and we would hold that person in high esteem because they were trying to achieve a high, lofty, pure goal?
   Nowadays, "moral" means more like "I didn't get caught."
   I am sure that prophets and religious leaders through the ages have all decried their age as being the "worst." But honestly, can we go much lower? Maybe we have finally come to the worst.
   All that being the case, it is up to you and me today to show the world that our faith is special and to embrace the ideals of our religion, our Church. Let's see if we can bump that 48% higher by our examples!

...Think Cold!

   I just love the news yesterday and this morning.
   We have heard over and over again yesterday about a woman who was fired because of "damning videos" that proved that she was a racist.
   Being a government employee, the government fired this individual.
   The problem?
   The video that was presented as "evidence" was only a partial video and once the entire video was viewed, everyone realized that there was no basis for the firing at all as well as no basis for any of the attacks that had taken place against this woman.
   So now people and groups are blaming each other for close-minded reporting, acting, et cetera.
   Let's call it what it is: Lies.
   Whenever we present a half-truth, we are lying. Pure and simple.
   Lying hurts people.
   We have a responsibility to cherish people and build people up, not to hurt them or to attempt to destroy them.
   Perhaps we can all learn a huge lesson from this episode.
   One of the lessons that I hope people learn is that what is presented to them on the television or radio or newspaper may not be the entire truth. We are constantly bombarded with half-truths to beef up a certain position or view.
   We need to look deeper. We cannot take a lot of this "stuff" that is flung at us at face value.
   I really, really, really hope that this opens up the eyes of many people.

   This morning at 10:45 a.m., I am spending more money on myself. No, it is not another cuckoo clock. Nor is it a piece of Swarovski crystal. Nor is it anything else tangible like that.
   This morning at 10:45 a.m., I will be "checking in" to Ridge United Methodist Church in Munster for a Life Line Screening.
   I received a flyer from them a month ago and thought I would get some health screening done.
   After all, my doctors, for the past ten years now, have been putting "at your age" into phrases as they speak with me. At my age I can expect this from my teeth, my eyes, my system. Sheesh. What is it going to be like when I get older?
   Not wanting to find out the hard way, I thought I would go for five screening tests that will cost $149. If I would have gone to the doctor and he would send me to the lab, I am sure I would be paying a much greater fee.
   The tests are stroke indicators, vascular disease screening, and screening for bone density and osteoporosis.
   Hey, I figure if I could spend big bucks on a clock, I could spend a little on my system...
   When was the last time you got proactive about your health? These kinds of checkups do not cost a considerable amount of money and they can help your doctor in monitoring your overall health.
   If you live in this area, there is another screening opportunity taking place at St. James Parish in Highland on September 24th. You can go on line and select that parish or other places in our area at Life Line Screening.
   Here's to your good health!

   Did I ever tell you that I really like doing funerals?
   I know it sounds a little strange; but, there you have it: I like funerals.
   I like funerals so much because there is such a rich opportunity to share and celebrate our faith with people who are hurting, lost, confused, frightened, et cetera. They often need a lot of direction and I feel that it is the job of the priest to give them that direction, to steer them toward the Lord.
   After all, it is the Lord who can and does console us. It is the Lord who offers us hope, comfort, and peace. It is the Lord who gently and lovingly takes our loved ones to Himself.
   These things can easily be lost at the time of someone's death. If the wrong things are brought into focus, the wake and funeral can be abysmal. But if we help those who remain behind focus upon God and God's love, so much can be done for them.
   There is almost always a time in a wake or funeral Mass or both that I get the people laughing. Laughter can be so healing. It helps people begin to reflect upon their loved one in more realistic terms. After all, their loved one is not dead. Their loved one is alive with the Lord. And, being alive with the Lord and a part of the Communion of Saints, their loved one is still with them. Just not in the same physical way as that person was on earth.
   Once they realize that, the grief is much less devastating. Hope springs eternal.
   Jesus Christ destroyed death and restored live.
   We have the opportunity to celebrate that with each and every funeral celebrated.
   Praise God!

   Yep.
   I did it.
   When I was in Germany, we stopped in the Black Forest and visited a cuckoo clock shop.
   As we approached, I snickered at the people whom I just knew would be "impulse buyers."
   I must admit, I was impressed with the place!
   When we got inside and I saw all the cuckoo clocks, I began to think, "Maybe just one..."
   The owner told us that they had a limited edition in honor of the Passion Play in Oberammergau. I thought to myself, "That will be what I buy."
   But when we saw it, we were far from moved.
   However, standing a few clocks away from it was the one that caught my eye and won my heart: the Black Forest Saw Mill. It is pictured here along with its artisan: Adolf Herr.
   I bought it.
   He autographed the back of it for me.
   He shipped it.
   It arrived Saturday by mail.
   It is now hanging on my office wall. Everyone who sees it just loves it.
   Now, for the rest of the stuff. The clock was in "Box One of Two." Box two should arrive any day now. Maybe today?
   So much for being against impulse buys!

   Today is going to be another scorcher. It will be compounded by the thunderstorms predicted for this morning and early afternoon. That will certainly make the humidity that much worse when the heat cranks back up again.
   The other day I wrote about ways to watch the heat.
   Those tips were directed toward people.
   Now, for you pet owners out there, here are some reminders about the summer heat for your little critters condensed from the web site of the ASPCA:
   Pets can get dehydrated quickly, so give them plenty of fresh, clean water when it's hot outdoors. Make sure your pets have a shady place to get out of the sun, be careful to not over-exercise them, and keep them indoors when it's extremely hot.
   Symptoms of overheating in pets: Excessive panting or difficulty breathing, increased heart and respiratory rate, drooling, mild weakness, stupor or even collapse. They can also include seizures, bloody diarrhea and vomit along with an elevated body temperature of over 104 degrees. Animals with flat faces, like Pugs and Persian cats, are more susceptible to heat stroke since they cannot pant as effectively. These pets, along with the elderly, the overweight, and those with heart or lung diseases, should be kept cool in air-conditioned rooms as much as possible.
   Never leave your animals alone in a parked vehicle. "On a hot day, a parked car can become a furnace in no time—even with the windows open—which could lead to fatal heat stroke," says Dr. Louise Murray, Director of Medicine at ASPCA Bergh Memorial Animal Hospital. Also, leaving pets unattended in cars in extreme weather is illegal in several states.
   Do not leave pets unsupervised around a pool. (Not all dogs are good swimmers.) Introduce your pets to water gradually and make sure they wear flotation devices when on boats. Rinse your dog off after swimming to remove chlorine or salt from his fur, and try to keep your dog from drinking pool water, which contains chlorine and other chemicals that could cause stomach upset.
   Keep all unscreened windows or doors in your home closed and make sure adjustable screens are tightly secured. "During warmer months, the ASPCA sees an increase in injured animals as a result of High-Rise Syndrome, which occurs when pets—mostly cats—fall out of windows or doors and are seriously or fatally injured," says Dr. Murray. "Pet owners need to know that this is completely preventable if they take simple precautions."
   Giving your dog a lightweight summer haircut helps prevent overheating. Shave down to a one-inch length, never to the skin, so your dog still has some protection from the sun. Brushing cats more often than usual can prevent problems caused by excessive heat. As far as skin care, be sure that any sunscreen or insect repellent product you use on your pets is labeled specifically for use on animals.
   When the temperature is very high, don't let your dog linger on hot asphalt. Being so close the ground, your dog's body can heat up quickly, and sensitive paw pads can burn. Keep walks during these times to a minimum.
   Commonly used flea and tick products, rodenticides (mouse and rat baits), and lawn and garden insecticides can be harmful to cats and dogs if ingested, so keep them out of reach. When walking your dog, steer clear of areas that you suspect have been sprayed with insecticides or other chemicals. Keep citronella candles, oil products and insect coils out of pets' reach as well. Call your veterinarian or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435 if you suspect your animal has ingested a poisonous substance.
   Remember that the food and drink offered to guests may be poisonous to pets. "Keep alcoholic beverages away from pets, as they can cause intoxication, depression and comas," says Dr. Steven Hansen, ASPCA Senior Vice President of Animal Health Services. "Similarly, remember that the snacks enjoyed by your human friends should not be a treat for your pet; any change of diet, even for one meal, may give your dog or cat severe digestive ailments. Avoid raisins, grapes, onions, chocolate and products with the sweetener xylitol."
   Never use fireworks around pets. "Exposure to lit fireworks can potentially result in severe burns or trauma to curious pets, and even unused fireworks can be hazardous," says Dr. Hansen. "Many types of fireworks contain potentially toxic substances such as potassium nitrate, copper, chlorates, arsenic and other heavy metals."

   Today is the day!
   Today is the day that Disneyland celebrates its 55th birthday.
   Can you imagine? Fifty-five years of being called "the happiest place on earth?"
   And that is precisely what the Disney enterprise attempts to do -- to makes its places the happiest places on earth.
   They try real hard.
   They instill that desire in all their cast members.
   They do a pretty darn good job with it as well.
   We should do the same.
   After all, if we truly reflect upon the great gift God has given to us -- redemption through His Son -- we would be the happiest people on earth and we would spread that happiness quite naturally to all the people we meet.
   It should work that way.
   However, we spend so much of our lives grumping. Disney knew that. Which is why one of the dwarfs was named Grumpy. And people laughed at him. He needed to cheer up.
   We do not have to travel to a happiest place on earth. (Unless we are going there for a vacation, that is! ) Because we should be creating the happiest place on earth in the exact spot in which we find ourselves daily.
   So, here's to Walt Disney, for bringing us some earthly joy.
   But here's to God, for brining us eternal joy. That is certainly something to make each of us happy!