{in response to the question, posted on my gang board on www.Hobowars.com} I am not my religion. Religion is something I choose to practice. It doesn’t even have to be something to believe or not believe in … let other people argue over that stuff and be all smug about being right when everyone else [...]
{not my best writing, but not too bad for off the cuff …} A military Chaplain could be compared to a parent. They pray with you, encourage you, equip your soul with any good thing it can carry, then send you off into the world of battle or the battle of the world. They’re there [...]
Praise you Lord, for in the midst of woe you have not forgotten me. To each you give a burden they can carry, and share the yolk invisibly next to us. Of broken heart, I see the sky is blue, the breeze gentle. Anguished and pensive, you find work for my hands and thoughts. A [...]
{This year (2004), we were unable to go to our church for a blessing on our Easter baskets — a Polish tradition called that is spreading throughout the Catholic Church. After researching it online, I wrote and used the following blessing as an approximation of the traditional Polish blessing, of which I could not could [...]
{Given by me at McKinley's Banquet Facility for my BNI group members and their spouses. My nickname in the group is “Rev” for reverend, although I don't care for the title. :rolleyes: } Moment of Silence We all stand upon the shoulders of the previous generation –Our parents and family, teachers and mentors. Let us [...]
As Chaplain of the Sons of Confederate Veterans Buffalo Guards Camp (#1975), I helped officiate the grave memorial ceremony held in the Woodlawn National Cemetery in Elmyra, NY, where nearly 3000 Confederates were buried from the prisoner of nearby war camp during the Civil War. Due to unimaginable overcowding and resulting health issues, as many [...]
{Used at daughter's school mass in May of 2000} Prayers of the Faithful The response will be “Lord, hear our prayer.” For Father Art, Bishop Mansell, John Paul our pope, and all the clergy and religious … we pray to the Lord. For the leaders of our city, the nation, and the world, that they [...]
{The woman whose funerary service I wrote this for was my wife's aunt – someone I was proud and blessed to call family. She was someone I could hug, and I miss her today. Playing this special role for her family meant a lot to me, and I had never done such a thing before, [...]
{originally to be published in the Buffalo Guards Newsletter, September 2004} In a time when fellow countrymen fought each other on American soil over irreconcilable issues, it was seldom the place of a Chaplain to preach the war, either on the side of South or North, Federal or States’ rights, slavery or abolition. But the [...]
{Here are some personal prayers I wrote, excpet for the first one:} Lord: Help me to get through the hard times and give me the strength tosurvive. Give me the light to help me see others as they are and help usto understand them as we would like to be understood. Amen. {Confirmation class, Collaborative [...]