Remembering Deacon Peter Joseph

December 8, 2014 - Remembering Deacon Peter- St. Joseph Maronite Catholic Church in the City of Waterville, Maine experienced a loss that cannot be easily expressed by words. This man known as Deacon Peter, Uncle Peter, Dad, Rabi, and friend and community leader passed from this world to eternal life in Christ.   In that moment he was reunited with his beloved wife and sweetheart, Pat.  Peter was born and raised in Waterville, the youngest of seven children of John R. and Lena (Ferris) Joseph. As a young boy, Peter helped his father lay the foundation of St. Joseph Maronite Catholic Church, the church in which he spent his life serving, as an altar boy, parishioner, lector, council member, Sub-Deacon and Deacon. He left a legacy that all will remember and his spirit will live in his family and all who knew him forever.       Joseph spent a lifetime helping people from the time he was a child handing out food to homeless people who stopped at the family market on Front Street,.  Joseph came from a large Lebanese family that owned not only the market, but also Joseph Motor Co. His father, John R. Joseph Sr., came to the U.S. from Lebanon in 1900 and married Lena Ferris, who also was from Lebanon. Peter’s daughter Lea Williams said his deeds imparted a lesson that can only be taught through example — giving of yourself to others.     I remember him always telling me that his favorite saying, the one that he identified with most, was the following: ‘I shall pass through this world but once. Any good, therefore, that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.’ I think most people would agree that he lived up to this creed.    Another parishioner, Paul Ferris, wrote on Facebook:"  Peter had too many achievements to recount but what I remember most is the fact that he was one of the first people after Vatican II to serve in the role as permanent Deacon. He pioneered that ministry which had been dormant for hundreds of years. He had no map or example to follow so he made his own path with great humility and distinction. He once related a conversation he had with Father Paul. He said to him, “I am a Christian, a Catholic, and a Maronite.”
My father in law, Deeb Ferris, was ordained with Peter as  Subdeacon, which led me to answer the call as well.
Rest in peace Deacon Peter.

Thanksgiving for Dale Ferris

I am not sure when I first met Dale, but I am sure she was with her sister, Judy, as they were never very far from each other.  It may have been at our wedding, 1975 when we received a plaque of an American Indian Marriage Ceremony from Dale and Judy, which continues to hang on our wall and reminds me of Dale’s acceptance of the diversity of cultures. Or it may have been at one of the family gatherings that seemed to happen so often when all the children were younger.   If you ever saw the movie Big Fat Greek Wedding, then you know the ethnic family experience, although my experience might be called the Lebanese version of that movie.   Meeting Dale and the rest of the family was quite an experience for a WASP from Philadelphia.    Dale was one of Allison’s most colorful relatives. She was honest and straight forward and a deep spiritual thinker.   She enjoyed providing honest feedback regarding those who strayed from what she believed was the truth. 
I loved her for her frank and honest discussion of the most controversial of topics and will miss her terribly.  I am sure many here today will also miss her. 

When I was preparing this I called Fr Jim to get some ideas.  He was one of her favorite people, I am sure she is smiling from heaven upon Fr Jim here today with us to honor and celebrate Dale and her life.   Fr Jim said they first met at the Blessed Sacrament, was just before he was scheduled to go to Africa. They invited him to the Holy Childhood Nursery School and they became the best of friends for the next 40 years. They corresponded often between Africa and America.

Their First airplane trip was to Africa to visit Fr Jim 1980. They made a lot of friends in Africa.  Dale Loved to talk about her travels like going to Africa, Rome, Bar Harbor and Cadillac Mountain.
She had a great love for the Eucharist and like serving as an Extraordinary Eucharistic Minister. She was very interested in the Peace and Justice Activities in the Church and her model was Dorothy Day

Whenever I saw Dale I always  felt “ at home”.  AT PEACE. She always smiled and gave me a big hug and kiss.  On a few occasions we visited them on a Sunday afternoon at the Nursery School before they moved to Seton Village and she would sometimes get out some wonderful cheese, maybe a bottle of wine or some beer and always some zytoon, bread and whatever else she might find when she went downstairs to the basement of her home where she kept her treasures of the pallet. I think she and Judy bought a barrels of various Lebanese food from a middle eastern grocery story in Brooklyn, NY or Lawrence Mass to be sure she always had something special to share with their guests.  During these visits, we would talk about politics, the Catholic Church, the days social problems. She always asked about family.  She usually had a strong opinion about something and could back up her opinions with facts she had read or learned in her research as she had a real thirst
for knowledge.  On one of these visits she and Judy gave me a copy of Seven Story Mountain by Thomas Merton. This book inspired me and I am sure began my path to serving God and the Church.   I found a quote from that book that provides a perspective from Dale AND her impact on my faith in God.

“I was not sure where I was going, and I could not see what I would do when I got [there]. But you saw further and clearer than I, and you opened the seas before my ship, whose track led me across the waters to a place I had never dreamed of, and which you were even then preparing to be my rescue and my shelter and my home.”
― Thomas Merton, The Seven Story Mountain

Dale Ferris was a remarkable women.  She was loved by all who knew her including her family, many friends and people in this community.   She loved the children she taught for 28 years at the Holy Childhood Nursery School.  She loved the parents of those children. She loved spending time with the adult children who so often would return to visit her and Miss Judy.  She loved visiting the sick and infirmed. She loved justice.  Most of all she loved Jesus like no one I will ever know. 
She was a model Christian.  She encouraged and promoted Jesus Christ as our savior and bridge to eternal life.   Her faith in Jesus Christ our savior was an inspiration me and to all who knew her. 
  Thank you Dale for your gift to us all.  I believe you encouraged GOD’s grace to be present to us all as a result of knowing you. My thoughts and prayers go to Aunt Judy, who with Dale, became the book ends of the early childhood catholic education for this city.  We are all grateful for her gift and service to this community.

WE need not be sad for Dale. Dale is very happy . She is with the LORD She is with her family members who have gone before her. She will live in eternal life with and in the Most Holy Trinity - Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit forever.  AMEN 

Basketball and God...

I first learned about basketball at my grandfather's basketball camp in Etna, Maine called Camp Katahdin.  I started playing basketball there. Check out the picture below, I am the little tanned guy with his arms hanging down  to the left of the coach.

Then then I played as a young person in South Jersey,  where I was on a junior high school intramural team and a good friend of mine recruited me to join the CYO Catholic Youth Organization basketball league.  I played in High School.  Then coached both my son's at the YMCA and was a Freshman Coach at Waterville High School for one year.

The wonderful thing about basketball is that is an equalizer.  Good players are good players no matter their ethic or socio-economic background.  Later in life I met and married a Lebanese women and soon was introduced to the 1944 New England Championship team that was comprised of Lebanese men.  My cousin Ray Edelman played at Kentucky and his Dad, Ray Edelman SR. was a coach at the University of Pennsylvania.

Lots of basketball in my history.  I love the game. Seems two things have been part of my life.  Basketball and God.

 Then recently I saw this video and it touched my soul.  And I knew.  There must be a court in heaven.  Playing the game of basketball has had an impact on the lives of many young people including some wonder seminary students featured in the video.  The game taught me to be a team player, to get back up when I fell down and to keep on even in the light of a terribly mismatched game.   What a great game.   Watch this.  http://www.heroicpriesthood.com/

Changes, Changes, Changes

Transformation occurs when you surrender your life to the will of God.  Unfortunately, you do not always have a map, nor can you call or text God on your smart phone for directions. Praying to God, then listening is the way. Sometimes you can't hear the response due to the multiple distractions that bombard us each moment of every day.

 I am learning this as I continue balancing my faith with my work in the world.  Mitigating this challenge is becoming a priority in my life.  I am happy to say that God, the Source of Life,  is winning.  Whenever my work poses any conflict with my Faith I begin to get dysfunctional. I have struggled because this seems to start before I am fully aware of it.    It is not even a choice any more.  I simple can no longer give energy or do things that violate my faith.  Sometimes throughout my career I was able to express this and that was enough, my supervisor or manager would permit me to adjust the process I was using so it would fit my conscience.  But that has not always been the case.

So here is my challenge.  How can I live my faith and make a living that supports my family at the same time?  How can I remain authentic, living as a whole hearted, God loving, human being, and still work in an imperfect world that seems at every step to be working against the True self I am becoming.  It seems the only way I can do this is to work in ministry or be in a professional position where I can control the work I accept or reject.  Seems I have two career choices going forward.

The first and my preference is to get a job doing the work God wants me to do that will provide for my family.  As a certified rehabilitation counselor, for the last 28 years, I have always believed I was doing the work of God by helping individuals with disabilities find livable employment.      So I continue to look for a job that will permit me to do this work.  I have not found the right job yet, but believe there is one out there.  I still have a few opportunities I am waiting for the next steps.  I remain hopeful. In the meantime I have started offering my professional services. http://stevecratecrc-public.sharepoint.com/ Since I was in the business for more that 15 years ago, I am getting cases assigned and remain hopeful.  

So I continue day by day to do the work assigned, look for the full time job with benefits and pray that the right job will come along. God willing it will all in good time. 

Instrumentum Laboris... a good read for searching Catholics...

http://whispersintheloggia.blogspot.com/2014/06/october-instrumentum.html

Stacking out at 73 pages and released at Roman Noon, the all-important Instrumentum Laboris for October's Synod on the Family is available as both html and pdf.

Don't let somebody else be your brain, folks – do yourself a favor and actually read it https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B5FGuFFkfrDvanFuZlBGbENJdDg/preview" 

Anger is OK... but...

Great article by Rekha Shrivastava, M.S., CH, CRC, CASAC at  http://tinyurl.com/l7e4ely    This article has some good information.

I know that for men who grew up in the Western social/cultural norm where expressed anger is seen as "manly" or "strong" or "powerful". the new social values may be difficult.  Strongly expressed anger or some might even call it "verbal violence" is unacceptable in most social settings. It appears only to be acceptable by a Staff Sargent in basic training and that may not even be true today.

Our world is so much smaller now and we as human beings are more than our family or even nationality of origin's expressed norms. So anger expressed in an emotional way simply does no good even though it may be cathartic for the individual speaking.   I have recently become aware that I sometimes have been perceived in that way and never really knew it.  So.... learning to express anger in an acceptable way is critical for me and for others (males and females) in our society. 

So for all the times I have lost my temper in a meeting or social setting or other public place I ask for forgiveness from friends, professional colleagues, clients, parishioners and any others who I may have hurt by this expressed anger.  My intention was never to harm anyone.  I know the way to Hell is paved with good intentions.  So I guess as my Mother would say, " Steve there is no excuse, if you don't have anything nice to say don't say it.  She was proper Bostonian and I miss her dearly. 

 Namaste  #PBTGA

So what have we learned in 2 millennia?

"The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work instead of living on public assistance."  

                                                          Cicero - 55 BC

Evidently  nothing.....

Pope Francis Sends Prayers and a message to Evangelical Christians in the US

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/kathyschiffer/2014/02/pope-francis-to-pentecostal-conference-tears-of-love-spiritual-hugs/ 

This is a remarkable and historical event and the beginning of a new unity in the universal catholic church.  We can respect our diversity but remain unified. #PBTGA.

I just sent an email to K Love radio that I was praying this would occur in the near future. I was pleasantly surprised to see the Holy Spirit moving amongst all Christians for Unity in the Faith.

A Pontifical interpretation of Economics. Ethics matter.

I got a great email recently from an graduate school contact that presented economics in a way that makes sense, but proposes a new focus on ethics with an moral framework in our free-market economy.  

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/freakonomicsradio/~5/0DwoYoNzSgU/freakonomics_podcast121913.mp3

A new Friend at Wellspring

http://tinyurl.com/mj69vj2  I recently discovered another quiet contemplative who expresses beauty and Divine intention like an angel.  I appreciate her creative and spiritual presence in her work. Thank you Laura

What if you had the perfect Visitor

This had been sitting in my unfinished que since this summer. After editing my piece on addiction and the importance of education I found this.  Can we educate ourselves to heaven? Hm.... since my family has brought a long line of teachers, I have always thought education and learning was the key. But this has changed in this moment. Read this story and then decide.

We had a visiting priest last weekend and his homily is one that will stay with me for a long time.  This can be considered by anyone, a Christian, an atheist, a Moslem, a Jew, a Hindu or anyone. I am taking some editorial leeway and stretching his message to include my friends and others who are not Christian.  But I want to bring home his point.  Consider for a moment that there does exist an entity that actually created the world.  This entity has the power to create or destroy any and all things that anyone can think of. This entity created you, your friends, your parents, your brothers or sisters and any and all people in the world today back through to the beginning of time and in the future to the end of time.  This entity created all the plants, bugs, dogs, cats and cows.  Everything that is came from this entity. No name for now just dream a little let the hopeful part of you feel this reality.  Now the wonderful thing is that this entity can present as a human with the ability to talk, listen and empathize.  For the purposes of this story this entity does present as a human.  This human decides that you have earned 1 hour of their time to do what you will.  How will you spend the hour?  What will you say. 
The priest went on say that a common person might collect all the books, and research about the beginning of the earth, the secrets of the universe and the secrets to happiness.  When the entity arrived, this individual might then ask all those questions trying to learn the keys to life. 

After 55 minutes of being drilled by this person the entity finally said

"STOP, are you sure you want to use the whole hour to learn more? Does not learning just create more questions? Where is the certainty in that?  Why not just sit by me and have a cup of coffee, or tea or a soda?  Lets just visit. I want to get to know  you. Tell me about your dreams, your hopes." 

This individual stopped asking questions. A slight tears appeared and a big smile came upon this persons face.
"You mean I can just be in your presence and visit? I don't have to be ambitious and thrive to perfect myself"
" Yes, that is all I want. I want you to know that I Love you and that all your mistakes are forgiven. I want you to be peaceful, happy and calm.   Just sit and visit with me for the last 5 minutes and tell me what you did today. "

This person then brought some drinks and spent the last 3 minutes of the hour just visiting. Then the appointment was over.  With only 30 seconds left the person asked one final question.

"What should I do now, I have made so many mistakes?"

I created you perfect as you are right now. I want you to Love and serve your fellow humans. 


 

Addictions, teaching learning.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=c4-feed-c&v=AaUaKHjxYy4  This short two and a half minute video is one of the best shorts about addiction I have seen.  It comes at a very important time in our society when addiction is eating our society alive.  Deepak Chopra is a very good teacher.  He is not a god, or a guru or an evil secularist.  He is a MD, who studied meditation and believes in a broader definition of Creation.  He is not an enemy of Christians or of any faith based group who believe in monotheist peaceful coexistence.  

 As a devout Christian and Maronite Catholic I can understand how some would be turned off by his teaching. At times he speaks of Christ head, or oneness or mindfulness which sounds much like Buddhist teaching. This language and concepts can be found in Eastern Christian Theology.   But remember, just like when you sat in Math class or Art or History and learned somethings, decided other things were not worth learning and daydreamed without listening.   Information is present for us to learn. Then we give it to our Creator, the Trinity who dwells within and amongst us. We then discern it as truth or false teaching. When it is truth it helps us deal better with the world. We have the freedom in America to take it or leave it. Nothing more, nothing less.  As Christians we also have the freedom to seek and ask questions. Learning, teaching is still one of the most important activities of our society. With all education we must be aware of false teachers. That is the danger of giving our full attention to worldly spiritual teachers. Some are false teacher seeking your attention, wanting to sell you something or even leading you to destructive paths.   Learn what you can but do not forget....  none of what you hear is ever a replacement for a loving relationship with Jesus Christ that is nurtured and made whole by prayer, forgiveness, and regular participation in the Eucharist celebration that occurs weekly at the Diving Liturgy.

subdeacon stephen

Right or Wrong? from God or Man?

I am amazed by what has transpired.  I continue to let God lead my life and although at times the direction seems to be gray... or not absolutely direct from God, but, when I pray and let go, it becomes much more clear.  There is a right and wrong in our daily life. My liberal view of the past seems to have been more about fear of conflict and disagreement.  I just did not want to fight with people about who I am or what I think.  This stems from my Dad, who I could never say no to, but that is another story.  Now, when I stay true to my beliefs, I find that it usually it is accepted and there is no conflict or at least the conflict is more about my lack of trust in my message or discernment of God's plan.  The more I trust the more clear the message is.

I can't help but think that this may in fact be a function of my mind simply discerning what I want with God as a standard.  That may in fact be the same process.  Thinking about my actions or daily activity and comparing my decisions to God's standard of perfection, Love, compassion and faith appears to be the same as letting God lead my life. How do I know it is God?  I know through my prayer, worship and contemplative practices.

This is a very interesting discernment because I recently started reading a novel called The Babylonian Codex.  Kind of a take off from  It is a novel about American government and an alleged rightwing Bible toting conspiracy that is directly connected to the theft of all the antiquities in Iraq.   The novels premise is fiction, yet it had an amazing amount of similarity to our secular vs God culture. Yet it painted the God inspired as a truly satanic force because it focused on demons, war and killing non believers.  Kind of like an an underground led force similar to Al Qaida. They told a story of how the military led by these rogue crazies destroyed an ancient antiquities site outside Babylon with bulldozers and the like completely disregarding the historical significance of the site.  Did this happen? I can't go there. Sadam Hussein was a very bad man. He did not protect the antiquities either.  Some day the truth will be told.

This morning I was reading the novel again.  It is coming to the final battle between the good guys and bad guys.  I do love it when the good guys win.   I decided to Google the Babylonian Codex which let me to the novel first AND then the Hammurabi Code.  The link referenced an article in the Jewish Quarterly which opined that: " with the enactment and acceptance of the Hammurabi code  man began to emerge from the complete dependence on God as the source of all law." Since God up to this point had been interpreted by religious leaders, laws were issued from the perspective of a few. Thus we had tyrannical society or submissive society or somewhere in between depending who was in charge or at least considered in charge because of money or an army or other political power.  But was their rule always right and true?  That is what is debatable.  Do humans define what is right or wrong or does God.  Some might answer this question by saying humans define what is right or wrong with inspiration from God.  The secularists say humans determine what is right and wrong through rational thinking and each persons conscious.  That actually is the teaching of the Catholic catechism. (see my earlier blog) Unfortunately, human rational thinking and conscious can be incorrectly formed and influenced by social and intellectual pressure.  So how do we know if we are right or wrong?   We don't know we only can believe and have faith that our conscious discernment is well formed and in-keeping with God. Through prayer without ceasing and mindful choices if we can honestly say we do that daily, as much as possible, we are on the right track.

Mindfulness is a good thing for all.

Some time ago I became aware of being mindful.  I had heard the term, mostly from Buddhists and other secular stress management consultants as a way to bring excellence and calm to ones life.  I recently heard a Catholic teacher that I greatly respected attribute mindfulness to those other people, you know the non-Catholics who lead us away from Christ.   I must say I was very disappointed by that attitude.  Mindfulness IS NOT just for Buddhists. Being mindful is being present in the moment. Aware of your choice from the multitude of impulsive possibilities in your daily life.  If you have learned some self discipline you may not consider this as you may already have utilized it.  Your parents may have taught you at a very early age and over time and through the maturing process you have incorporated mindfulness into your daily life.  Mindfulness is a skill that can be applied to Christianity, or work or eating or exercise.  It is a skill like listening.   I am mindful of Christ in my life.  I try to be mindful of my prayers and contemplative practices.  Most of all I am trying to learn to be mindful of what I eat each day.  It is remarkable to consider all the bad habits a man can develop over the course of 60 years of life. (almost 61)  It is being present to my self and my soul that finally saved my life. Being present to Jesus in my life and the choices I make daily that keep my body temple healthy.  That is what changed my life. Being present to the LORD each and every moment of every day. Even as I work I am mindful of his presence. #PBTGA.

What Jesus Taught and on Silence

My recent discernment started after my recent attendance at a political event (see Politics and Faith) led me to go back to the beginning.  I did some research.  What did Jesus really teach?  Fr. Richard Rohr tells the truth about what Jesus really taught .  I discovered Fr. Richard Rohr and started getting his daily meditation blog via email.  His web referenced his talk at the Festival of Faith at Louisville Kentucky in March on Silence.

Silence is the phenomenon that brings our culture together as one. http://youtu.be/uaMVKnpsDA8?t=10m25s  .