Sense out of Suffering

(Still here in Phoenix, 1 hour later)
No flight delay - I just got here early! I need to begin sharing some information for those of you who know someone with a disability. A friend in California is asking your prayers about a new association that is slowly being formed in the Church. So far it is not an official association - yet - but there are hopes it will be formally accepted in time. Meanwhile the basic idea is so needed I feel called to let you in on it - even as it is being formed. It is designed to unite those faced with chronic illness or suffering in a common purpose. My friend Mark hopes to guide those who suffer to offer that suffering up for the sake of souls. I will be quoting/paraphrasing some of the information sent to me from 'brother' Mark. First I am posting the a bit of the story of St. Giles: Later I will tell you more about this wonderful effort.

Introducing who St. Giles Is:

St. Giles of Nimes is the Patron Saint of Disabled Persons and Outcasts in our Roman Catholic Church. The feast day of our Saint is September 1st. St. Giles had a burning desire in his heart to dedicate his life as a hermit in the forest of Nimes, France. However, his dream of being a hermit was tragically interrupted. One day, the king of France was out hunting and came upon a beautiful little deer. The deer fled in fright into the arms of St. Giles for protection. The king haphazardly shot his arrow toward the escaping deer and tragically lodged in the arm of St. Giles rendering his arm useless from that moment on. The king became so sorrowful for his actions that he asked humbly for St. Giles to forgive his actions. Through the Saint's forgiveness, the king turned his heart over to God. The king had a monastery built for St. Giles in Nimes. This allowed St. Giles to not only follow his heart to live as a monastic and at the same time receive medical assistance with his daily struggles that stemmed from his disability. St. Giles began to follow the path of Jesus once again with the Sacraments, the Scriptures and the Rule of St. Benedict to guide him. His holiness spread through the land and was known for many miracles God worked through him.

Stay tuned for more on this subject. The flight is boarding now - gotta run - I mean fly!

Tigger or Eeyore?

(Thursday morning view at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport)

I know, I know - why would anyone leave Phoenix a few days before the Super Bowl? I'm not sad about it. This is one of those (thankfully rare) times when Mary will ponder what it is like to be a single mom for a few days. (Extra prayers for her and the children, of course) I'll be back Tuesday. Pray for the wedding in Oakland, CA this Saturday - the couple tells us they, too, want to be a holy family. Then tell anyone you know in Southern California to come Monday night (yes, the day AFTER Super Bowl) to St Charles Borromeo in North Hollywood. Click here for the CONCERT SCHEDULE and pass the word. Those of you who cannot come, will you please offer up a short prayer for those who might attend... that they will come and be open to receive the graces God wants to pour out on them and their families? Thanks!

Last weekend in Surprise, Arizona, a young woman told me she wanted to know "How do you hold onto that amazing peaceful feeling? When you came to our parish a few weeks ago, I was floating for three weeks - then it stopped! I got very angry about it." I told her it might be wonderful to 'feel those warm feelings' but it is important for our growth to not be "floating" all the time. There is a temptation to worship the blessing instead of the God who bestows. For the most part Mary and I feel nothing warm or fuzzy about the ministry we offer. We are motivated because we feel it is a matter of life or death. The life or death of a marriage, a family, an individual, a dream. We are compelled to do what we do - and we are sometimes thankful for the absence of the 'feeling' side of ministry because it constantly tests our motivation.

Did any of you grown ups see the movie: "The Bucket List"? This blog is not a movie review - and if you can excuse Jack Nicholson for "acting" like he does in most movies he makes (only more so in this one) then you will be left pondering what you would do with your last months on earth.

Mary and I are thankful to say we would be doing exactly what we are doing now. If you do not feel the same way - pay attention to that realization. Don't panic about - pray about it. I will no longer ask a child: "What do you want to be when you grow up?" At the suggestion of someone I met last month I will now only ask: "What do you think God is calling you to be right now and later when you are a grown up?"

That is the question. Like I tell the children when I visit classrooms: "Pay attention to what gives you joy and makes your heart happy now - it has something to do with what God is calling you to do with your life." I just heard this great question: "Are you a Tigger or are you an Eeyore?" Kids will get this question. For Tigger, everything is an opportunity unfolding with possibility; for Eeyore the only thing 'unfolding' is another failure or disappointment.

If you're more like Tigger - thank God. If you're more like Eeyore it is time for some 'imagination boot-camp'. I know - for you 'Eeyores' out there - it would be a great idea to give up complaining for Lent. Not only that - Lent is a time to renew our hearts and nothing renews faster and more effectively than thanking God. I need to do this more. How about you?

God's Car?

9-year-old Jaime Bickley from Massachusetts left one of the comments in the "Message from the guys" post:

Hi Joseph and John Paul. I met you in Arizona. I was two and John Paul was six weeks old. I'm nine now.

Hey all you kids out there and grown ups too I have a question for you. 

If God lived today would he drive a Ferrari because he is so mighty or would he drive a broken down car because he is so humble? This question has been in my head for a long time. Please let me known what you think. - Jaime Bickley (age 9)

That’s a good question! I think he would drive in a broken down car because he is so humble. Joseph (12)

A broken down car, I think, because he doesn’t care about how things look.
John Paul (8)


Okay all you children of parents who can type a comment, go for it. I am sure Jaime meant something more like: "If God (Jesus) was walking the earth today..." Because,of course, he IS alive today. Just had to add my grownup two cents... Right away I thought about what he did when he was born. He could have been born in a palace because he is so mighty - but he chose to be born in a stable because of his humility. I'm sure some grown ups and children will add even more. Good for you, Jaime, asking questions like that. It is one of the ways we grow in wisdom and grace. - MJP

Prayer Request

(photo courtesy of Grace Minton)
After reading an e-mail that came yesterday, we are now adding a place where you can post your prayer requests. The first one is from fellow musician, Julie Carrick and you can read about her prayer request by clicking "In the River of Mercy" the address is www.intheriverofmercy.blogspot.com if you would rather copy and paste it into your web browser. Okay - let the prayers begin! AND let the posting of prayer requests begin - only please do not add tons of information. Keep it simple! "For a special intention" is often the most charitable way to ask someone to pray for another family or individual. I know it is hard to fathom, but prayer request lists can lead to temptation if a desire to pray gives way to nothing more than idle curiosity. 'Nuff said. Let's pray for Julie and all who sign up at this prayer-request-blogsite.

Message from the guys...

We are in Arizona right now and today Mary and the children made a visit to the Phoenix Zoo. Since Therese is still too young to describe much, I had the boys dictate their thoughts for you. Be ready for anything. It did not snow at the Zoo - but these were the pictures they wanted posted...
(photos courtesy of Grace Minton)
Hi kids out there. I got to go to the Zoo today and I got to pet a White Spotted Bamboo Shark and Stingrays. We got to see otters and some little monkeys that peed and wiped it on their hands. That’s really what they do. Kind of embarrassing. When I was in Flagstaff I got to play in two feet of snow. It was really awesome. There is something really scary that happened to us in Flagstaff when it was snowing really really hard - we almost got stuck in our RV. I’m thankful that people prayed for us. That’s all I have to say... signing out! - Joseph (12)


I got to pet a shark and a stingray, too. And it was the same kind of shark and when I pet the stingray I thought it had a spine. It felt like something like some little bones were sticking out. Then I found out that stingrays can have seven or more spines and some of them are venomous. And I got to play in a park that had a little stream running through and I got pretty wet, too. And I got to see vultures - oh yeah and I got to see peacocks that were loose but they weren’t male because they didn’t have those big tail feathers. I got to climb on spider-web made out of rope and I got to slide in a pretend cactus slide. And I got to see baby kangaroos. John Paul - (8)

Health Update - Good news!

Last Wednesday I went in for the 6 month follow up visit. This was to see if the tumor was reacting properly to the radiation treatment I received last summer. (A proper reaction would mean the tumor was showing signs of dying) Since the doctor who was treating me in Atlanta just retired, I was told it would be fine for me to have this 6-month follow up visit here in Arizona.

On Wednesday I was told the tumor is not growing and is in fact showing signs of scarring. This is what we had hoped for. Thank you for the prayers and support over the past year -it has certainly having a positive result.

What next?

The routine is to continue checking the tumor every six months until it is completely 'dead'. Also my lungs and liver will be checked once a year for 4 more years. If the cancer does not relocate to either of these places, then they will declare me 'cancer-free'. So far - so good.

I tried to upload a picture of the tumor to show you how close it is to my optic nerve. For whatever reason, the picture would not upload correctly, and maybe that would have been too much information for you... since my mug-shot uploaded without a problem - I'll leave that.

I have been told to expect loss of vision in my right eye due to the after effects of radiation on the healthy tissue. God's will. There is still a possibility of a trip to Lourdes in April - but our priority is to raise enough funds to move into an RV that better suits our family. So far $12,000.00 has been raised - what a sign of encouragement that is! Thank those of you who added your share of that - see how God makes it grow? Every gift - large or small really does make a difference. Please continue helping us get the word out to those who have been blessed in any way by what we offer to families. We want to continue going forward on this adventure - and your support makes that possible. Good news all around - Thank you God.

Epiphany in an RV

Here is a picture of our RV during Christmas week with the fake fire and tree between the two front seats. We took the tree with us for the Feast of the Epiphany in Flagstaff and the snow... Even after the 7 years we lived in Arizona - it is still odd to see Christmas lights on cactus.

A great time was had by all. I'm sure it helped that schools were closed due to snow. Here we have the Minton children who, with their parents, shared our snow adventure the day before.

Grace, upper left, took many amazing photos - including the picture below...

This is the Church of the Nativity in Flagstaff, Arizona where the concert was cancelled due to snow. At about ten minutes to seven Fr Pat called to inform me that people were beginning to arrive anyway and he was going to open the church for them. That is how I wound up offering a cancelled concert for the 50 or so people who gathered in the church that night... We hope to be back in Flagstaff sometime in April. (Photo courtesy of Grace Minton)

Snow in Arizona

Who would have imagined an evening of songs and stories being cancelled because of snow... in Arizona! Well it just happened. Tonight will be postponed until later this month or the next here in Flagstaff. My apologies to anyone who might have driven out without knowing. Always good to check the website.

PHOTO: Our view while stuck on the road.

We were stuck for a few hours yesterday as the snow storm began to hit the area. It was one of those life lessons that we will never repeat because now we are so much wiser from this experience. 

After singing for three morning masses in town, we piled into the RV with 6 children and four adults. Our plan was to drive 9 miles to a play area and enjoy the snow for an hour or so and return in time for me to sing at the evening mass in town.

Sounds simple. Not much snow on the ground or falling from the sky so we headed up the hill toward the snow park. Halfway up and the snow began coming down fast. We decided to turn around and try again the next day after the storm had passed. This would have been easy in a truck or almost any other vehicle - but in a 39 foot RV it is hard to pull a U turn just anywhere.

I'll reduce the next few hours into a few choice moments.

Moment 1: We are stopped outside the entrance to the park as the road has become icy and dangerous to drive on. A patrolman says "No U turn here - you must go all the way into the park and turn around.

Moment 2: We found ourselves 'stuck' on this road for about 2 hours as car after car slowly crept by... several cars were sliding and needed to be towed. We kept praying for them not to hit us. None did. A few of these folks took our picture because they were amazed to see such a huge vehicle in this situation. We were amazed to be IN such a vehicle in this situation.

Moment 3: Once inside the park we began to slide and had to take the lower parking lot which meant having to come up a hill in order to get out. In the end it was too cold for the children to enjoy the snow. Also a not-very-pleasant exchange with two park employees aggravated the situation. Did I mention that the night before our heat in the RV stopped working for about an hour. Yep. So lack of sleep and a tense situation were the framework (not an excuse) for my not very kind words with the two employees who were convinced we had snuck in to play without paying... (sigh) After everyone apologized and calmed down I explained to the employees that we needed to wait for all cars to be gone and the road to be clear to avoid becoming stuck.

Is this too much boring information? Sure does help to write it out.

We made it out in five minutes and went 5 miles per hour back to town where I DID make it in time to sing at the evening mass. Thank you God for helping us. Our prayers were certainly more passionate throughout this ordeal.

Today the concert is cancelled and we are out playing in the snow - which is what I plan to do after I post this.