Thanks for the Christmas Present

A little boy looked up at me as I was greeting people after Mass on Christmas Day. His mom and dad were standing there and I found myself asking the kid what he thought he might get for Christmas. He mentioned some toy --a name I did not recognize. Then he asked me what I was getting for Christmas. I mumbled something about not knowing what I wanted.

"I'm going to get you something," he said. Maybe he was five years old. "I'm not sure of what, but I'll think of something."

I thought that was nice but my attention was already moving on to greeting the next people coming out of church. As he was walking away with his parents I said, "Hey! What's your name? "Jesus!" he replied.

Now in print those five letters read out loud and clear, don't they.But, I'd been speaking Spanish and the boy had answered "Hey-Zoos!" accent on the "Zoos." But, I saw the word "Jesus" in my head and heard it in my heart.

Ever since, I have felt that I have been given a unique gift this Christmas. The child reminded me that Christmas itself is my gift, the one the boy had been thinking about.

So, I am grateful for the Divine Child in the manger and the gift of grace that He brings to our world, to you and to me. I've always thought that inattention or rejection of a gift is one of the worst things you can do to someone. Accepting a gift with thanks is one of the best things you can do.

The Lord has given me a grateful heart as a Christmas present this year. Little "Hey-zoos" can forget about finding a present for me, I already have his gift.

Bob Feller's baseball

Bob Feller, the Hall of Fame pitcher who played eighteen seasons for the Cleveland Indians died yesterday. I met him twice at autograph signings, once in Chicago in the early seventies and then In Las Vegas about ten years ago.

"Rapid Robert" had lost a lot of speed on his fastball by the time I saw him play in Chicago.  That's nearly sixty years ago.  He was still formidable but he was crafty and mixed in change-ups that made his strike-out pitch look faster than it really was. He left baseball in 1956.

Feller was signed right out of high school and skipped the minor leagues. In a memorable game that first year, Bob Feller truck out seventeen batters.  He was seventeen years old.
A few years later, on opening day at Comiskey Park in Chicago he no-hitted our beloved White Sox. That was in April 1940, three months before I was born.

Feller claimed that his fastball in mid-career was clocked at 106 mph. I'll be that hurt when it snapped into the catcher's mit.

He was joking around at the small store in Chicago which had arranged for him to come in and sign autographs. Forty years ago, it was still a novelty to pay for a baseball player's autograph but I wanted my book signed, one of his books on how to pitch. I think he charged five dollars for a signature.

When he walked into the store he held up over his head, a baseball covered with autographs of the players who had played in an old-timer's game the day before at Comiskey park. There were a handful of people waiting.

"The first thirty-five dollars takes it," he said.  I didn't hesitate."I'll take it," I said. Before I knew it he tossed the ball to me --overhand.  He was maybe fifteen feet from me. I caught it! I thought: "I just caught a ball thrown to me by Bob Feller!"

The ball is long gone and so is the book.  But, it's a good feeling to know that I met this great baseball player. He's not just an obituary to me.

I am sure no one will mind if I pray for him today.

Second Sunday in Advent: Twice as bright

It's the Second Sunday in Advent and I am high on the Kingdom of God.  It struck me this week that the "new way" which the early christians talked about was, and continues to be,
the building up of the Kingdom of God in this world.  John the Baptist exclaims: "Repent the Kingdom of God is at hand." We don't have to wait for it.  It's here.  It's now.

I had way too much to talk about in the homily today.  So, I simply spoke from my heart
about the joy that comes from knowing that I am a member of the God movement to change the world in the Name of Our Lord. Calling for repentance and living the Gospel is the same message that we hear at the beginning of Lent. But advent celebrates thebirth of the new kingdom.  First the shepherds heard about it, then the wise men sought the king. Those were the first christians, the first members of the kingdom.  Apostles and disciples followed.  Now, there are many, many of us.

We are pilgrims walking along the way straightenting out roads, bringing down mountains and filling up valleys. There is a lot to do but so many of us now to do it.
The Kingdom is here, it's just not finished yet.

A good start is to remember the Christ Child, the Savior born for us and born a king.
It is His kingdom we celebrate in advent.

We light the second candle on the advent wreathe and our little kingdom shines twice as bright as it did last Sunday.