My Life and Times

So this past week in Hungary it was the national holiday recognizing St. Stephen of Hungary and this weekend it was the feast at our parish which is named after St. Stephen.

St. Stephen was the first king of Hungary and united the various tribes and brought religion to the Magyars. He was King from 1001-1038. His right hand has been preserved and is a national symbol and highly revered. In fact I had the chance to see the hand in the basilica that bears his name St. Stephens in Budapest.

Legend also has it that on his death bed he left the kingdom of Hungary to our Holy Mother Mary so that Hungary will always be in her hands. I was able to see (although it was raining) the site of his coronation and his burial site. Hopefully next time I will spend more time there and learn more about the history of the man and how he shaped a nation. Certainly I lament not knowing more about my Hungarian history.

As for our parish yesterday was the 59th year it has been in operation. 59 years ago a group of Hungarians in the Hamilton region decided they needed and could support a parish and built St. Stephens. Yesterday it was a packed house for mass and even more showing up for the anniversary luncheon. Makes you wonder why not all attended the mass as well. In truth the future of the parish is shaky at best as me being 49 and heading toward 50 years of age well I am one of the younger ones in the parish. yes it seems that the younger people do not come anymore and carry on no sense of tradition of there Hungarian background. I was no different though and now I really regret not being more involved at an earlier age. Hopefully more people will realize and change course before it is too late.

Okay so brief history lesson of St. Stephen and our parish. I do have some pictures of St. Stephen’s in Budapest and will post a couple later on. Until then take care!

So yes I am back and things to say the least have been hectic at times. My vacation was beautiful but as all of our vacations are much too short.

Yes I went to Hungary with my family and was there for 2 weeks which went by way too fast. I will slowly bring everyone up to speed with the trip and what we saw and how really impressive it all was. History that I saw and for once was able to appreciate really knocks you on your keester. I stood in a church that had construction started in 1039AD. I went to Sunday Mass in a church that was close to 300 years old and I was able to see just how important religion has been to this country through their history and how the church helped keep a nation together through the dark days of communism and other dark points of their history.

I was able to take in the magnificent architecture of these churches along with other buildings. It really and truly was amazing.

Coming back and finally getting back to our own little Hungarian parish church here was a treat. Father B literally flying up to us to welcome us back and of course to get me back into the directors chair and run the visual program he set up to accompany mass. He said no one would volunteer to do but they all complained that it was not being done.So yes it was good to be back also and I did miss my little parish and missed it quite a bit.

So that my friends is it in a nutshell. I have added a picture for you to see from one of the churches we went to in Hungary, kind of an appetizer for all of you.  Yes I also have changed the theme of the site a bit also. I will hopefully start to blog much more than in the recent months but from what I see quite a few bloggers take the summer off. Take care until next time.

Yes I am back! I have been away physically and mentally. I hope to catch up with all of you soon. I have been to Hungary for a few weeks and have some great pics of some very beautiful churches.

I also needed a bit of a break and have been wrestling with some personal demons. That match is still ongoing.

Yes I will try to catch up in the next few weeks.

Who changed the blog site? Now I have to learn this blog site over again. Too old for this stuff but will try.

Take care!

So this run of work work and more work has finally caught up to me. Due to my recent workload I have been cutting corners and relying on other people and not following up myself on the items I have going on work wise and in my own personal life.

 This past Monday while travelling out of town my wife calls. Now usually she would call later than the current time of 6:30pm. Then the niceties started like how are you how is the trip etc. Usually this a red flag for most married men! Your mind starts to wander what has happened or what has your wife bought and why is she starting of a conversation by trying to ease the forth coming pin you can sense?

 Well I asked her to get to the point as I had a lot to do and I was driving as fast-as I could to get to the hotel. Well she-says that due to the doctors not sending in the required paperwork on time my driver’s license has been suspended. Well I almost drove off the road. I said okay I will try to deal with it.

 Now most of this will go into a different blog but this has knocked me uonto my large rear end! But is this a blessing in disguise? Is the old adage of the lord working in mysterious ways applicable? I don’t know yet. The point though is this, I am on the verge of exhaustion. I have since mid February close to140 hours of overtime. My wrkload grows. I ask for help and get none. In fact I get more downloaded onto me. Now without a drivers permit my ability to go on service calls will be eliminated. This will either hasten my boss to get a replacement for me in service and either taking me off the road permanently and allowing me to pursue the purchasing title he gave me and developing that aspect of the company or he can fire my butt for being unable to perform my duties in the service department. Should be interesting times. I can get to work luckily as we do have some form of transit here in our small city and the bus takes about 15 minutes with a 10 minute walk.This is neat right now as it is summer and the weather will be enjoyable and the walk will do me good anyways and my carbon gas contribution drops. I did kid about my methane contribution possibly growing though!

 Well no matter I have just started to try to get my license back but this could take a few months minimum to maybe never based on my health as the department of transport sees it. I will as mentioned earlier go into that because it is a catch 22 if one ever existed. Take care!

I thought maybe a little thought from my pea sized brain for the week. First I got a new lap top at work. Seems the old lap top didn’t like coffee. I should have spilled decaf! New computer is faster they say I can be more productive. Does this mean the 7 hours of the day I don’t work I now can?

 Now to something a little more serious. Being catholic these days although wonderful is not a great thing to be in the eyes of the secular world. Many people are very anti catholic, anti Christian etc. Seems any form of worship has become an easy target. Conversely it has also become a great photo opportunity at times also for world leaders. George W has been around the pope so much lately you think he was a cardinal! Maybe he needs a lot of forgiveness for all his sins and they have undertaken a long term project. Maybe he is ready to convert like Tony Blair did. I don’t know but I think you get the picture. I hear it at work I see it all around me. I even see it at my kids Catholic School. That whole system of education well the only Catholic thing about it is in the name. Inside might as well be the secular public school system because definitely catholic values are not the basis of the education system there. This is an entire blog for another day.

 The other week when I visited with Father B he made a comment and said Catholics are persecuted in North America. He went on to say the whole church is under fire around the world but in North America it is very anti Catholic and he said the media really conveys this. He also said that the church and Bishops here are at fault for much of the bad press. He did wonder how long the church can survive these constant media induced attacks and went on to say that the saving grace for the church was JPII and now Benedict as they have been able to counter in the media with their own image and pass the word.

 Really opened my eyes and caused a lot of thinking to occur in my brain. ( I thought that smoke was the burger on the BBQ) and really you read the news and the church world wide is under attack. Generally as I return back into my faith and learn about my faith I have really dropped a lot of the news and views of the secular world.I generally look for news from a Catholic agency. Even when Pope Benedict came to the US I watched it on EWTN. I did not want the CNN slant of the truth. I watched there a few times and almost puked as the so called experts interpreted to me the teachings of the church. Yep get lost was all I could say. Thank god for Raymond Arroyo!!!!

 So that is my little rant for now but here is an article from Spain to reinforce what I have been saying and this whole story makes me wonder what were the authorities waiting for the end result that occurred?

A group of vandals destroyed a statue of St. Anthony of Padua at the parish of San Miguel in Valladolid, which the pastor Father Javier Gomez called “an total attack against religious freedom.”

The latest attack was another in a series of acts of vandalism that began on Corpus Christi. For several days afterwards the glass panel that protects the statue of St. Anthony has been covered in satanic graffiti and inverted crosses, the priest said.

Attacks on the parish subsided in recent days, but they returned this week with the destruction of the statue.  The delinquents “threw rocks at the glass protecting the statue,” which is “beloved and venerated by parishioners,” and they threw the statue on the ground and reduced it to rubble.

Father Gomez said he has requested greater security from local officials to “protect the constitutional rights and the religious freedom that was violated that night.” 

Police have yet to detain any suspects in the case.

So this past Sunday I started the second part of my small way of helping at my parish.

Yes not am only in charge the visual productions but now I also help in collecting. At my former parish it was simple they handed out a basket and it was passed around. At this parish we have the-long handle and go from row to row awaiting donations. Last Sunday was the debut of me the rookie from left field.

 I again was nervous, what if this what if that what if I do a face plant and trip etc.etc. Then when I started I started to feel like Tony Soprano, stretching in the basket it was like where is the money? Put it in the church needs it!! Make sure you get that money in there or there will be trouble!!! Actually first time out things went well.

 I really do wonder about the parishioners at this church. As usual father B and I met before mass to go over the visual slides and this is when I first noticed that the one lens on his glasses are broken. I never noticed this as he always holds his glasses in his hands and although for reading he kind of held them with his hand for a quick read or his head is bowed down and you can’t notice the cracked glass.

 What really gets me is this how come no one has stepped forward to help Father B with a new pair? Okay maybe someone has and Father might have refused but I doubt that scenario and still think no one has come forward. That is sad. There are Doctors in the parish family who could call in a favour and get Father a new pair of glasses. I have an eye doctor appointment tomorrow and will see what my eye doctor can do for him. It just makes me scream but I don’t want to get into the politics of a parish. I just want to go help as asked and be at mass and try to absorb and learn and be better at my faith. There is no power trip or ulterior motive in my going to mass. I don’t need to advertise what i am in the church to get off. It kind of reminds me of when I coached soccer in out local club and had travel teams for about 7 years. Many coaches were there for themselves and not for the kids. It was look at how many trophies I have won. Look I got rid of the local boys and got ringers from other places to win. Me I kept the local kids and let them play taught them the best I could. Sure there was the occasional tournament win but it was about there development. Some of these idiot coaches asked me what did I ever win, I said not much but many of my players have gone on to scholarships some have had pro offers and one I heard yesterday is going overseas for a year to play on a National junior team in Europe. Yep no trophies but only the ultimate success development of the player.

 I am the same at church no matter how much I help it is not about me but about the Lord and Jesus. It is just a small way to show them that I am trying and that I do want to go down the right path and become a better person and a better Catholic. That is all. like father said some of these people who do things at the church are at the point where they want to lay out and basically run the whole mass. Father won’t back away and causes friction as he said the mass is his to organize and run. Always something. Take care!!!

So this past Sunday it was the Corpus Christi mass at church. Father B had gotten his way and made only one mass for Sunday with a procession afterwards in the church yard to 4 different altars which had been set up.

For me it was showtime in front of the rest of the congregation who usually attend the 11:00am mass as opposed to those of us who attend at 9:30am. We also had a special visitor. So lets get there first. We arrived about 10-15 minutes before mass and Father B was already hunting for me. Soon as we stepped in he basically grabbed me and ran me up front to our pew where I do the control of the presentation on the large screen. He had a “cheat sheet” printed up and I quickly looked over and then the zinger there was also a special page for our special guest. A Hungarian prince was to attend at mass in our small church. Yes a real prince from teh alst Hungarian Royal family.

 Okay that was cool but I started looking at the order of mass etc and thought boy this was long. I think Father B sensed this and told me don’t worry I will cue you if you get stuck. So off we went. Introduction everything right through to the end went brilliant!

 The mass was very beautiful and the procession Father B set up with the young altar servers dressed in white throwing down flower petals as we went from altar to altar outside and the church bell ringing all the time. I asked my wife and she said she did not remember this kind of mass when she used to go to church in Hungary. When we went back inside and finished up the mass. That was it no hitch and Father B was beaming from ear to ear. His mass was great and as he said he could see more people paying attention and following along on the screen. Father B said this was an old tradition that most of us had gotten away from and he was implementing it back into circulation. He said he will bring back a lot of the old customs for mass and how certain masses are celebrated.

 We were also told that during July and August that mass on Sunday will be cut back to once on Sunday at 10:00am. Now with this I told my wife that I bet any money this will be permanent as he wants only one mass if possible so the pews are more full and we get a more feeling of togetherness as a congregation. I think he will sneak this in and good for him if he does. As I may have mentioned before I really really like him and he is not just a wonderful priest but also a wonderful person.

This Sunday I start double duty. I will be helping with collection as well. Yes going around with the basket. My wife is doing the reading and will be the relief mouse person while I do collection. I really don’t mind it at all and I think Father B trusts us and can see we are not in any circle but here for the mass and the message and to pray and he told me the other week that it was to be that I end up there. I still have to let him know my whole journey back but for now time to get ready for Sunday showtime!!!

As mentioned in the last post I volunteered to help out at church during mass. Of course I thought maybe helping with the collection plate etc. No Father B asked me to run his big screen so that the congregation can see the hymns and announcements etc. With this they might pay more attention and get more involved.

 So I had spoken with Father B that I will come Saturday and we can iron things out so I can get familiar with what is needed. Well I went to Saturday morning mass and after we were to try out the computer which-would have a power point presentation in it and I would basically scroll through with the mass. Well the IBM was not cooperating. We kept getting an error message that there was no pointer device hooked up. We did everything short of breaking the computer in half.

 Father B took me into his office an on his other computer he showed me what was to be done and we did a dry run on his computer. I did have a very nice visit with Father B and we discussed a lot of issues and the time flew by! Truth be told this is the first time that I have ever really spent time with a priest. He was very warm and forth coming and he mentioned many times how happy he was that we decided to join the parish community. He also went through roughly about what a difficult parish it is to run and how the parishioners are difficult to satisfy even if you do what they want.

 So Sunday morning of to mass and guess what the IBM was alive! I asked Father B what did he do and he replied nothing. He left the computer on and the next thing he knew it was up and running. So there I was a bit nervous but I scrolled through the hymns etc. that Father B put on. It seems to have been a big hit with most. In the meantime I also will have to help during collections so my wife will have to double up on the screen control.

 I will talk with the IT guys we use at work because they get a lot of off lease computers and try to get one which is a bit better and more reliable and get one for the church.

 I know it is not much but I really feel much better about myself that I am in though a small part helping out. Hopefully I can build on this and do more. This coming Saturday I will be going in again to help decorate the church for next Sunday’s mass.

 So I figure this is not the wrong place to go to especially with good intentions. Until next time take care!!!

 Wow I flew through April and now into May. My hectic workload has taken its toll and I am tired and worn out. I went as far as to ask my boss if I should leave because I just can’t do it anymore. 50-60 hours week after week now for about 6 weeks steady.. In the last month I have almost put in a month and a half of time. Of course being stubborn I still lived under the guise of you can only do the work when you have it!

 Friday that was to change as I was called into the bossman’s office. I was told that even though I will stay on service and installation work or system upgrades may be priced by me but in a manner where we have sub contractors or someone else from our office doing it. The boss told me I can’t be out of the office constantly and be able to perform my duties there as well. He also wants me due to the growth in our workload to be in charge of all procurement but especially responsible for the projects we have coming up. I will have to work with engineering on the projects and see the projects through to the day they leave. By that he means getting parts and organizing up the traffic patterns in the shop for builds etc.

 All of this came as a relief as I was starting to wonder if I was totally nuts or nut and boy some days I felt all of my 49 years! With the service contracts out there that we have it will still be a bit of a juggle but I can make my schedule more flexible and I will be able to slow down the pace a bit at least back to an acceptable pace. I guess the good lord did answer my prayers and came through with a little help that I requested!!!

 Meanwhile in our parish last Sunday at mass in the bulletin it had a little blurb about anybody willing to help to talk to Father B. So I finally summoned up enough courage and went to see Father B. He was in a jovial mood and said he knows he can count on myself and my wife. One of the parishioners who kind of helps to oversee the running of the church said I could help with the collections and then Father B had a brain storm. Last Christmas someone I guess was feeling guilty and donated a large screen TV to the parish. Father B wanted it set up so Sunday Mass would be up on the screen and the parishioners can follow along if they so choose. Apparently this is a big thing in many churches. In fact the cathedral we attend the Anniversary Mass in also had the big screens through out. Well anyways Father B wants me to run the screen during mass as he said he needs someone who knows where they are in the mass to be able to have the correct page up on the screen. I of course said it should be one of my kids doing this as they are more in tune with this stuff. I think though father B might have been worried that a teen ager might go to facebook or MSN messenger during mass. Well anyways I will go next week for training and then probably start doing this. Of course collections helping as an usher or anything else was what i really was looking for but I guess this was the choice so I will do it.

 So there you ahve another week gone by some good some bad I guess life of an average person. Take care and God Bless!

So the big visit occurred and went off with out a noticeable hitch. The Bishop came saw and left. Father B thanked all involved and all of the parish who attended the big Mass with the Hungarian Bishop.

 It really was quite a day. It was for the first time in my memory that there was standing room only in the church. Yes even those who never come showed up to be amongst the numbers. I told my wife I wouldn’t have let them in! Be there on a regular basis don’t just show up on a special occasion!

 The Bishop though was impressed and gave an inspired homily about the Hungarians abroad and how big the church has been in their lives and how for many the Hungarian churches abroad were their first place of refuge and first place to seek help in starting a new life in a new country. This is all true and he also mentioned how the church had through the communist years held the family together and gave always a sense of hope for the people. He also mentioned that when he met Pope Benedict XVI how the pope was impressed with the Bishops role and that how many Hungarians and Hungarian churches there are outside of Hungary. The Pope was to have said that this truly was something to behold how a nation of people even abroad can stay together like this.

 Father B I have to admit got the politics out of the way when he had 2 of the older kids (actually very young adults) to read during mass. I smiled and thought this was good this way none can argue that how this person could read when the Bishop was here etc.

 Yes we all sang and we were all louder and somehow in tune with the hymns. We also sang the Hungarian National anthem at the end and truth be told there was not a dry eye in the church. Even though I was born here in Canada I have always been very proud of my Hungarian heritage and this day reinforced that in me. A simple group of people who left with nothing to come elsewhere for freedom and start new. Also all the support they sent back to their families through all those years but never ever forgot their roots. Never forgot their love for their homeland and for those in attendance their church.

 So now back to the regular flow at mass. This past Sunday maybe 40 of us. I told m wife if I was Father B I would have introduced the ‘regualrs’ to the Bishop and sat them up front but alas Father B does not like and tries to avoid confrontation.

 OPff to work and until next time take care!