Today our Lord was obedient, even to death upon the Cross. For us He gave His life, not in the hope of saving us, but to assure that He did.

No greater gift has ever been given. It is the one act that changed my life forever, and I know it can change yours as well.

Consider this day all that the Lord has done for you and be thankful. And show Him your thankfulness by giving your life to Him.

May He Bless you with His tender mercy, on this, the most Holy of days.

Fr. Tom+

Tonight is the night we celebrate the Institution of the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist by our Lord Himself. On the night before He was crucified He took bread, gave thanks, blessed it and gave it to His friends saying, “Take, eat, this is my Body which is give for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” He did the same with the wine. The Latin word we use for Holy Thursday is “mardare,” meaning “mandate” which is where we get the word Maundy, of Maundy Thursday. Jesus is giving us a mandate to not just celebrate the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, but also to serve (that’s why we often see footwashing services on Holy Thursday too.

As Anglicans, the Lord’s Supper is something we celebrate often…just has He has commanded. And today will be our last until Easter, until the Resurrection.

Please join us today in one of our four Churches for the Eucharist. remember, Jesus came not to be served, but to serve. He gave us not just a mandate, but an example. Come join us this day, and live your life as an example to others!

God Bless!

Fr. Tom+

Much of today has been, as they say, a wash. I did manage to take Ben to the sitter, Cookie to the vet to get her staples removed, and then when I returned home I CRASHED. Though I had gone to bed at 11:30 last night it was all too much apparently. I slept about 7 additional straight hours and have been pretty fuzzy since I woke up. Okay, A LOT FUZZY.

It amazes me at how my body works these days. I can still really go at it, but then suddenly my body just shuts down and says SLEEP…..and sleep I do. I want to share with you that it is really addictive too. It not only heals my body and brain right up, but since my stroke I have wonderful dreams when I sleep, particularly when these periods happen. I do wake up often, but not too much physical time passes each time, but in my dreams I have done so much! I don’t know if that makes too much sense, but to me it does. My life for the past year, though changed in so many ways, means more to me than it ever has. Sure I struggle a bit, but the depth I have now makes all of it worth it….a gift in fact that I would never trade!

And tonight, though the end of an unconscious day, finds me once again out on the back porch with the cat, and a glass of wine…for me, not the cat. She’s loopy enough just drinking water. A good end to a good day.

Tomorrow is Holy Thursday and I hope to see you in Church!

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Fr. Tom+

This was written on Monday night, rather than tonight, because I knew that on Tuesday I would be with our clergy in Akron all day, and then on the way home, I would divert to Mishawaka (my hometown) to meet with a group of high school classmates who are planning our 30th high school reunion this summer. So chances are, if you are reading this on Tuesday night, I am almost home from both.

In Akron we are attending a Chrism Mass, which is where all the clergy gather with the Bishop to receive the Holy Oils that we use all year, celebrate Communion, and renew our vows. Since we will be there in two cars, I will drop my passenger off with the others just north of Fort Wayne on the return trip and then continue on to Mishawaka. As far as the reunion meeting is concerned, I am not sure who will be there, nor am I sure I will remember any names, but they have been doing a lot of work in preparation, and I do want to help when I can. God has blessed me with many wonderful people in my life, and I really should say that there is no finer group of people than those I went to high school with. Hindsight is always the best I suppose, but I do regret not getting to know many people better that I grew up with. Thank God I am still alive to have the opportunity to get to know many of them now better!

Anyway, this will be a long day for me, so I do hope you keep me in your prayers. My bed will be a welcome friend. I just hope I see it before midnight!

I hope you have had a great day! God Bless.

Fr. Tom+

I have spent the majority of the day getting things ready for the services at all our mission. We have Good Friday services, Stations of the Cross, readings, bulletins, the need for Communion supplies such….all of which I would like to distribute to our clergy tomorrow (since we are not all in one place this week other than tomorrow).

The good news is that everything seems to be copied and we now have to go out and get a new stapler, since our good one broke, and the new one was hardly even functional. Amanda is out getting a new one. It is not a standard one, which we have ten of. It is one that staples booklets, since a lot of the things for Holy Week are in fact, booklets.

BUT….if we get these done tonight, all I will have left is my sermons for Thursday and Sunday! I hope to go to sleep tonight with that being the case!!

Anyway, I am trying to write when I remember, and this of course is pretty early. BUT it is a post, and for TODAY!! Yee ha!

My hope and prayer for you is that you have had a blessed day. Mine is far from over, but looking better every minute!

God Bless you my friends and I hope to remember tomorrow as well!

Tom+

I am writing tonight at just shy of 9pm, after just getting home from running a few errands with Amanda, which we went on right when I returned from work. And though I am thankful to be home and thankful for the wonderful day, the week ahead still looms large. Being a priest is such a privilege, but it is no more evident than to me than in Holy Week. It is the most moving time of the Church Year for me.

Of course I also know that there is quite a bit more for me to do during Holy Week, and I am aware that I am probably difficult to live with during this time. I am certain all the other time of the year I am quite fun to be around….a saint in fact, but I would prefer you’d not ask my wife or kids about that, because quite frankly I enjoy living in my delusion.

I would ask that you pray for all our churches and all our clergy as we walk through this sacred week. But even more importantly, that you would allow the Lord to deepen you and stretch you and change you into the person He calls you to be.

Have a blessed night! And thanks for checking in!

Fr. Tom+

If I only was practicing lacrosse, I could blame my forgetfulness on that, but it is Spring Break. I did go a day or two without Internet….thanks Comcast, but it wasn’t their fault either. The fact is, I am trying hard to remember things, even routine things, and at times it becomes difficult. My apologies to you all.

On the up-side, Steph, Amanda, and I were able to get Steph up to Purdue for a college visit. She seemed to like it, and will be attending an Engineering Camp this summer on campus. We went to a math meeting as well, but she seems to be leaning towards the engineering instead. She loves math and science, so it seems she will end up in one of those smart-girl type fields. I am just amazed we are at this point. I still think of her as my little girl.

Today I am in preparation for Holy Week, which begins tomorrow with Palm Sunday. I do have the palms, which is a good start, but we have a lot of services to prepare for and I am working on those. To show you the extent of my progress. I still have bulletins and a sermon for tomorrow to finish and then we will start on the other days! Yikes!

Cookie is home and doing well…….a detour we were not planning on time-wise or financially, but the big blessing is she is going to be fine. Of course she will have no puppies or show any more, but all our dogs are family first and work for us second! (on their list it is often lower!) So the bottom line is that we are so pleased that she dodged a bullet at 4 and will have plenty of more ball chasing years here at home.

Anyway, off to do that work I have been talking about. Remember again, Holy Week begins tomorrow! Get to church!! I will see you there.

God Bless.

Fr. Tom+

Today has been a scary, but good day. One of our dogs, Cookie, had developed an infection over the weekend and had to have an emergency spay this morning at our vet. She is one of Steph’s show dogs, and this not only ended the hopes of puppies with her, but her show career as well.

To be honest though, it was not a hard decision at all. Dr. Vicki Hagerman and I talked about it only briefly. Cookie had been on antibiotics since Saturday, with the hopes that they would work. They did stop her from getting worse, but it was not enough. We talked about an additional treatment that might prevent the spay and give her a shot about the puppies…….but we have a great vet, and I am a good breeder. Pups and the show ring were not worth the risk. We both knew that. Cookie was in surgery a short time after that. I had even not fed her or dosed her in case that was the direction we needed to head. Delaying it would be risky. We love her, and just wanted her to be healthy. The report this afternoon was that she did fine. She will stay an extra day because of the infection and return to us Thursday morning. Thank God she is doing well!

Sometimes blessings come through the darkest of storms or the highest of seas. I am thankful for them all. These past few days have been trying, but we all have done our part to see Cookie through, especially Steph.

The reunion Thursday will be well worth it, as is the peace I feel tonight knowing she is on the right road to recovery.

With that, I am off to bed!! Goodnight my friends and God Bless.

Tom+

It is truly back to the grind here. Although I was able to spend the day with Amanda and Ben at home, soon the time came for me to head off to lacrosse practice. Then home, then dinner with the family, and now homework and other family stuff. Our days are pretty regimented, but that’s a part of what makes them fun. We can usually count on dinner together, and some time a little later too.

Of course there are days, like tomorrow, where a game will interfere with our routine. Scott plays tomorrow night at Carmel, so we will be hanging out there instead. Hopefully they will have concessions. I love stadium hot dogs! I hope to not be disappointed and to see a big Noblesville win.

Of all of us, Ben seems to be the happiest. I guess we will never know what he wondered had happened to us when he was away in Arizona with Amanda, but clearly he is enjoying seeing us all now. He just smiles and looks at us. It warms your heart.

Anyway, I don’t want to miss a thing, since everyone is still up. I hope you have had a great day! God Bless!

Tom+

I know when the President flies into somewhere an advance team is there ahead of time making preparations for his arrival. Everything is in its place in advance, so that when he arrives everything will go smoothly.

In preparation of Amanda’s arrival tonight from Arizona many similar things are taking place, but of course all without the aid of an advance team. We have been straightening things, cleaning, organizing, and making things “Amanda ready.” Sure, we are certain there will be something that we will miss, but hopefully she will be too tired to care! I am certain she will just be thankful to be home.

And of course then there is Ben! The house has been toy-free for a few days, and whereas we are not allowed to be such tornadoes here at home, with him it is expected. It has been too quiet. We are looking forward to the noise. I am taking tomorrow off just to get to hang out with him! I cannot wait.

The cat is even lonely! She howls when she cannot find Ben, and will be happy to see him. It is no surprise that his first two-word sentence (just last week) was “Hi Kitty.” They will be happy to be reunited.

Anyway, back to the grind I go. Steph is now at her work, and Scott is doing homework, so unless the cat does laundry, I am on my own. BUT, we will get it done, and she will be happy to be home. No one however will be happier than I! Things are always so much better when we are all together!

God Bless you my friends, and thanks for checking in!

Tom+