Author Archives: Kathy

Bringing Light

Posted on December 23, 2017 by Kathy

On Saturday, December 22, 2007, St. Cecilia’s had already replaced our annual Toy Sale with an open house for the neighborhood. (Much to Father Dan’s satisfaction: no more plastic toys!) Friends from suburban parishes had arrived early to deliver groceries to … Continue reading →

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Another Last Mass

Posted on November 11, 2017 by Kathy

I chose a chair in the back row. When Mildred and Elaine arrived and sat nearby, they told me, “We’re from the neighborhood.” That was significant, because most of the people gathered in Father Jim and Sister Maggie’s spartan living … Continue reading →

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Suffering

Posted on November 3, 2017 by Kathy

One time, I asked Father Dan to explain suffering. I wanted him to tell me why it exists. Why is there such profound pain and fear, even for animals? In response, Father Dan launched into a story. He had recently … Continue reading →

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Scattered Seed

Posted on October 2, 2017 by Kathy

I’m trying to write about the experience we called Scattered Seed, after the diocese closed our parishes St. Cecilia and Epiphany, along with so many others. This prelude to our last Mass, on August 7, 2016, is sustaining. It’s all … Continue reading →

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Teaching Vietnam Vets

Posted on September 27, 2017 by Kathy

I was a naïve girl of 24 teaching English 101 in the spring of 1975 at Kent State University. I had already taught freshman composition for a semester, and I had been a student teacher at McKinley High School in Canton, … Continue reading →

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Because He Lives

Posted on August 20, 2017 by Kathy

I have some tapes from Masses at St. Cecilia’s, my old church. Tonight I felt like hearing a random sermon from Father Dan. I guess you can’t say picking out an Easter Mass qualifies as random, exactly, but let’s say the … Continue reading →

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This Bears Repeating

Posted on August 16, 2017 by Kathy

Donald Trump’s election – and Hillary Clinton’s defeat – was about gender, race and decades of sexist, anti-Hillary hate: Kathy Ewing (Opinion) 78 Posted on November 16, 2016 at 5:25 AM Hillary speaks at the Hillary Clinton and LeBron James … Continue reading →

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Father Dan’s Funeral Sermon

Posted on August 6, 2017 by Kathy

When I mention that Father Dan wrote the sermon for his own funeral Mass, people are sometimes taken aback–people, that is, who didn’t know him. “Wouldn’t somebody else have liked to say something?” one of them asked me, implying that … Continue reading →

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Moving Mountains

Posted on June 19, 2017 by Kathy

Because Father Dan wasn’t the formal celebrant on St. Cecilia’s last day, he couldn’t deliver the homily. That’s a rule. According to canon law, the Bishop says the last Mass and gives the homily. Father Dan was leaving his neighborhood, his … Continue reading →

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If Nothing Ever Changed . . .

Posted on June 12, 2017 by Kathy

Google proved a goldmine of information for Father Dan’s homilies. On Epiphany, he would explain the Star of Bethlehem this way: the astronomical conjunction of planets in about 6 BCE lined up in Pisces, a constellation special to the Hebrews, sparking … Continue reading →

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