Ask Deacon Mike

When I was in my mid 20s (yes, that was a long time ago) a newly ordained priest was assigned to my parish. At the time I was the president of our parish council. After his first meeting with us I discovered that he and I shared many interests. One of them was cold beer after a long meeting on a hot August night. As James Garner said of his side kick in the movie great (at least I thought it was great) Support Your Local Sheriff. “A beautiful friendship was born”.

Fr. Steve had a line that he always used: God is good. I was reminded of this simple but powerful statement this past weekend as our parish and the universal Church celebrated the great Easter Triduum. After a very harsh winter we were treated to three days of absolutely beautiful weather. But as we remembered Jesus’ Last Supper, His agonizing time in the Garden of Gethsemane, His questioning and beatings and eventual condemnation before Pilate, His painful walk to Calvary and His torturous death on the cross we were reminded of the effects of evil which we allow into our lives. But then came the great Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday, itself.

As the Alleluias began to resound I could not help but begin to think that God is good, God is very good. Only God could take such sadness and ugliness and turn it into something so beautiful that its meaning and its effects on the lives of all believers far outshined the glow and warmth of the early spring sun. As I stood before the altar at the end of the 7:30 AM Mass on Easter Sunday I realized that the Triduum, its various liturgies, all of the preparations were coming to a close for me, all culminated in the closing song of the Mass: Alleluia, Alleluia Let the Holy Anthems Rise. As I stood there, my voice choking back some tears I could hear my friend Fr. Steve say, God is good!

I can only speak for myself, but I think we should spend more time looking for the goodness of God in our daily lives. Sure, we see the negative side of things very easily: politics, the economy, war, disease, poverty, etc. But perhaps we should focus more on the good things. For me, one of those signs of God’s goodness is baseball.

Now that may sound a little strange to some of you, but I love baseball. I am a huge fan and have been since I was a little boy. So, at 1:00 PM on Monday I fixed a snack and sat down to watch a few games. There is something special about opening day. Spring has arrived. The promise of summer is in the air. There is hope. On opening day everyone is in 1^st place. For a few minutes, at least, it seems that anything is possible.

As I sat before the TV excited about a new season I tuned to the Phillies station. They were playing in Washington and the President of the United States came to throw out the first pitch. Regardless of your politics, a presidential first pitch is a very big deal. The sun was bright, the crowds cheered and booed. The players came out for their introductions. It just seemed that for a brief moment, all was right with the world. Again, I could hear Fr. Steve say: God is good.

For me, God’s goodness is reflected in many people, places and things. I am not ashamed to say that baseball is one of them. I would like to think that perhaps when God created the universe and set it spinning on its course, after He looked at it and pronounced it all very good, He just might have thought next: Play ball!

If you have any questions concerning the faith, sacraments or the Church in general please let me know. You can place your question in the collection basket, mail it to the rectory or send it to me by e-mail at deaconmikefranks@verizon.net. Just be sure to address it to “Ask Deacon Mike”.

As we celebrate this beautiful Easter season let us reflect on just how good God is to us. Let us make a point to look for that goodness at every turn. As always, God bless you and I love you all. Deacon Mike.