1st Monthly Mission of Mercy Mass

Mothers Day - May 11, 2003

S.C.C. has been looking forward to going to the 1st Mission of Mercy mass which is now scheduled to take place at St. Mary’s in Fairfield on the 2nd Sunday of each month. This is what she said she wanted to do for Mothers Day. On our way to Emmitsburg we stopped at "Parish Church" to get the Eucharist to take to Agnes Corradi at Our Fathers House. S.C.C. and C.R.C. waited in the truck while I went in to get the Eucharist. I was not paying any attention to the time but noticed my watch as I was opening the tabernacle. The time was 10:13. I knew then that this was going to be a very special day. I did not have to visit Bob G____ because he was in Reston at his daughter Vivian’s house.

I arrived at Our Father’s House to give the Eucharist to Agnes Corradi and was delayed because there was a Protestant church service in progress. Raymond, the owner of Our Father’s house invited me to sit down and said it would be about another 10 minutes. I will forever value the 10 minutes I spent in this church service because it made me value my Catholic faith all the more. When it was over I gave Agnes the Eucharist and left.

We continued our trip to Emmitsburg and while we were driving I called Sister Genevieve and she said she did not feel strong enough to go but to stop by. S.C.C. said she wanted to go to St. Peter’s book store first. When we arrived at the book store Peter Blanchard who is the owner showed me a new article about Emmitsburg that came out in today's Washington Post. The article was balanced which made me feel good. When S.C.C. was finished at the book store we rode by St. Joseph’s to pray the rosary. We arrived at 1:33. We were the only people in the church. When we finished we got back in the truck and when I started it the CD player flashed the number 13 on the dash.

We drove over to St. Mary’s and everything was wonderful. It almost seemed similar to Thursday night with the opening hymn of Hail Mary Gentle Woman followed by the rosary and then mass. After mass there was exposition of the Blessed Sacrament. Confession was available during the Chaplet of Divine Mercy followed by benediction. When it was over and people were leaving the church to go to the parish hall for a social, Sister Claire stopped me and just wanted to talk for a few minutes and give me a letter that she wrote to me. We were the last people to leave the church and as we did I looked at my watch and the time was 4:13:33.

We walked down stairs to the parish hall for refreshments but there was not enough to go around. The turnout was greater than expected and nearly filled the church. St. Mary’s is about the same size as "Parish Church". Gianna was there and looked like what you would expect someone who has been through what she has been through to look like. Tired.

When we left St. Mary’s we went to see Sister Genevieve and she looked weak. She asked it would be possible to go to Wal Mart in Gettysburg and pick up an electric fan for her. It did seem a little warm. S.C.C., C.R.C. and myself drove to Wal Mart in Gettysburg which is about 8 or 9 miles away and just as we pulled in the Wal Mart parking lot the clock switched to 5:33. We got the fan and returned to the truck. Just before I started the truck I felt that special peace. I started the truck while S.C.C. and C.R.C. were getting in and the CD player displayed the number 13 on the dash. We drove back to Sister Genevieve’s and C.R.C. hooked up the fan for her and got it blowing right where she wanted it.

When we left we drove back to St. Joseph’s and when we arrived the odometer was 333. The peace that accompanied the arrival at St. Joseph’s was as strong as I have ever felt it. This really made me stop and think of the sequence of events that I have just described that caused this to happen. If Sister Genevieve had not needed a fan we would not have driven to Gettysburg and therefore the whole course of the day would have been altered and we would not have arrived back at St. Joseph’s in sync with the 333.

When we left St. Joseph’s, S.C.C. said she wanted to go to the Grotto of Lourdes. We went there and it is especially nice right now because most everything is in bloom. I waited for S.C.C. to say she was ready to leave. We got in the truck and just as we were leaving the clock on the dash switched to 7:13. S.C.C. and C.R.C. said they were hungry and wanted to go get something to eat. We drove back into town and parked at St. Joseph’s. We then walked over to the Ott House. The first person we saw in there was Raymond Sanders who had just quit his job with the Mission of Mercy.

Mission of Mercy has been very good to Raymond and given him a better opportunity than he has ever had before. Raymond came over and sat with us while we ate. I told him that I heard that he quit (again) and he confirmed it. I asked why and he told me. I told Raymond the very best thing he could do was to swallow his pride, admit he was wrong and go to the phone right now and call Dr. Sullivan, apologize and ask for one last chance. Raymond agreed and went to the pay phone there in the Ott House. He came back to the table and said the phone was out of order. I said you can use the cell phone in my truck. We walked back to my truck that was parked at St. Joseph’s and Raymond called Dr. Sullivan. We stood outside while Raymond talked to him. When Raymond got out of the truck he said that Dr. Sullivan said that he had “gone out of bounds” and could not have his job back now. We said goodbye to Raymond and suggested that after a cooling off period that he ask again. We got in the truck and when we started it to go home the time was 8:33.

R_____ C___

May 13, 2003

1:13 Am