April is the month of Easter, showers and the IRS. It has been called ‘the cruelest month’. How it earned that title escapes me, but I can assure you in years past the only reason it was so named was due to the tax chore. Retirement has saved me some of that grumbling. It is another gift of having less but enjoying it more. March was filled with visitors. Rich and Shirley stopped by from the 3rd to the 19th. They then took off for Peru via Miami and returned March 28th. Tom, Sue, and their gang landed on the 18th. We had the pleasure of their company from then until the 21st. They headed home early on the 22nd. We had the additional joy of celebrating their youngest daughter Colleen’s seventh birthday on the 21st.
Kate, a budding novelist, one of Sue and Tom’s, continued to enhance her reputation as a yarn spinner by telling us how she became an orphan. Becoming an orphan was required for her part in the upcoming musical of “Annie” at her school. This is how it happened to Kate, she says, She was born in Paris to multi-millionaire parents, who were assassinated (how or why is not elaborated). Her bad brother John steals all the money and Kate (name of orphan I suppose) runs away to the “deep” south of France. There she is cared for by I believe an uncle, but could be otherwise. He is blind and deaf and speaks only Spanish. She doesn’t like him so she flees to L.A. in America. She finds no friends there so she comes on to N.Y. So that is how she comes to be appearing before this audience. I am sure I have missed some of the important details but that is how I recall the tale some days later. Meg impressed us with her drawing. She sketched for one thing her sister Kate sitting in the porch lounge chair reading a book. It was a remarkable piece of work. The last of the three girls, Colleen, the birthday girl, continued to be “something else”, a moniker she placed upon herself some years back after hearing her parents refer to her as “she’s something else”. She is a master (mistress) of the faces and smiles. We had a good visit and look forward to seeing them when we head their way in the summer.
Rich and Shirley are great borders. They have enough knowledge of the area having visited many times in their home on Massachusetts Avenue. That home is presently rented. We were lucky users from 1990 till 1997. Their knowledge makes it unnecessary to be tour guides or go hopping about with them. They visited the Everglades while here prior to their ten-day trip to Peru. One problem they have had is that Rich suffered a hand injury on Valentine’s Day so it has deterred his joining Shirley and I for some time on the links. Hopefully before they leave, the weather permitting, we will get in a round or so.(It didn’t happen. They left April 4th)
Late in March I learned of an article published in the Philadelphia’s Archdiocesan paper, “The Catholic Standard and Times, entitled “Uncanonized Saints”. My Mom and Dad were listed as two candidates. It appeared on March 15,2001 and was written by Lou Baldwin. He asked the question, “How many uncanonized saints have there been? Hundreds of thousands? Millions? At this point, only God knows”. I thought “at any point ” only God knows. It was a great compliment to Mom and Dad that others thought they lived saintly lives. I see my mother as a candidate with ease, my Dad is tougher to handle, but I’ll accept Mr.Baldwin’s opinion with thanks. He was naming only those who had lived in Philadelphia. The section referring to Mom and Dad was:
“For Fostering Vocations: …A more contemporary couple who would also qualify are Marguerita (Rita) McSorley (1887-1952) and Richard McSorley (1886-1970) (sic- the actual date of Dad’s death was March 14,1972) who raised 14 children (another died in infancy). Two sons became Jesuits and two became Oblates of Mary Immaculate (one a bishop). Bishop Francis McSorley, OMI, probably would have been an archdiocesan priest, but he flunked Latin at St.Charles Borromeo Seminary. Two daughters became Sisters of the Holy Child Jesus; one Sister, Servant of the Immaculate Heart of Mary; and one a Religious Sister of Mercy. Originally from South Philadelphia and married at St. Thomas Acquinas Church, Richard and Rita settled in Southwest Philadelphia where the family attended St. Francis de Sales Parish.
‘ We were daily communicants at St. Francis de Sales from the age of 7’, said Mercy Sister Mary Rita McSorley. ‘There was also spiritual reading at breakfast and the evening rosary. Whatever Dad wanted, happened, but it was Mother who kept it going.’ Rita, who was an only child, was named National Catholic Mother of the Year in 1948, and she confessed she wouldn’t have been able to do it without the help of her own mother who lived with the family. While there were eight religious vocations, the children were not pressured. ‘Our family was very close’, said Sister Mary, ‘yes, I think our parents were saintly — they had to be to put up with all of us.’ ”
Mary hit the nail right on the head with her comments as usual. I couldn’t agree more that Mom was the paste, the balm that healed and held us together. Dad was a molder, who kept pounding us into his idea of what shape we should become. Some of our clay didn’t always fit his mold and it was Mom who soothed and sanded the rough spots. She put us into the shape we became. If my second Mom, Winnie, was here today I am sure she would note that there is no doubt Mom and Dad fostered vocations, but not only religious ones. They also fostered the vocation of marriage even more by action, by living it. In fact the religious vocation was encouraged because of the good family life they provided and exemplified.
The article said Frank failed to become an archdiocesan priest because he flunked Latin. I am not sure whether that is correct or not, but I do know that at his installation dinner by the Archdiocese one of the speakers noted that the first step on becoming a Bishop in Philadelphia Diocese was to fail at St. Charles Seminary. I loved the words attributed to Tom Dooley about calling some one a saint while they were still living he said, “It makes it tough to order a beer”. I never knew any canonized saints but now it is great to be able to say I knew some uncanonized ones of Philadelphia according to Mr.Baldwin. But then as he points out, only God really knows who are saints and frankly as long as I am one day in the company of God, I won’t care, any more that Mom and Dad do I’m sure, whether I am remembered here below as such.
I attended a program entitled “Renew 200”. It is to “celebrate the 2000 years since the birth of Christ,…to acknowledge our differences, celebrate what we have in common and commemorate…as people sharing belief in Jesus Christ as Savior” It is a program promoted by the Roman Catholic Church. We had our Pastor and his wife as members of the group I attended. There were those of other faiths also in attendance if not in our group in others. It is a good program of ecumenism. It is an attempt to return to the beginnings of Christianity when all were one and denomination was not even a word in their dictionary. It was conducted for six weeks commencing on February 27th and running to April 3rd. I missed two sessions, Feb. 27 and March 27, due to working at the election polls. The sessions consisted of readings of Scripture and then sharing of thoughts on the reading, prayer and meditation. One interesting survey occurred. We all were asked what we believed all Christians did agree on. The result was a list of ten items. Some them were, salvation via the Cross, prayer works, Love is the core of Christian belief, the Resurrection, baptism and the Bible. I had a reversal of roles with my Pastor and friend Jerry Straszheim. I listened as he inquired as to certain Roman practices, like the Sacrament of Penance. How it has changed in the Roman Church over the years and why Lutheran’s do not consider it a “sacrament”. Then there was discussion about his coming retirement and how his position at LCC would be filled. It would have input from the congregation and nothing would be commenced until he left. Now the Roman Hierarchy receives no such input from its congregation, and in some cases one is replaced before the other leaves. It is the difference between semi-democratic selection and a CEO search with appointment by the Board, or hierarchy. Actually the Lutheran idea is closer to what happened when St.Augustine became the Bishop of Hippo in the 5th Century. He was elected.
I worked both the Primary and General in a new capacity. He is the Mobile Ballot Demonstrator. It became my job at the Primary and I did so well I kept it for the General. I am moving all day and time flies. I approach each voter as they enter and ask ,”Would you like a demonstration of how to properly use the ballot?” Most of the time I got a ‘no thank you’ or a few comments about not being a Democrat, or from Palm Beach counties, etc. I’ll tell you more next time.