Faith-Filled Weekend

Whew! This past weekend flew by like a 747! But it's all good, because God was definitely in every minute of that flight.

I had the chance to spend the day with my four sons and a few friends on Saturday. It was the annual "Fire on the Hill St. John Bosco Youth Day" rally at Holy Hill Basilica in Hubertus, WI. This faith-filled day of music and speakers for teens set our hearts on fire, blazing like the bonfire that warmed us up in the 40 degree weather. But nothing could warm us like time spent confessing our sins and spending an hour in Eucharistic Adoration followed by Mass with Fr. Stan Fortuna.

In his homily, Fr. Stan was explaining how we can better understand what God's will is for us in this world. He said that the only way that we can hope to understand how God is working in our lives is to "turn it around." Instead of hoping to UNDERSTAND, we should be trying to STAND UNDER. Then he lifted the crucifix from the altar and held it over his head to show us that we are to stand under the cross, like Mary, and it is there where we will find God and realize how we are called to serve Him in this world.

Sunday afternoon, my family and I stood along a busy highway holding "Abortion Kills Children" signs for our local Life Chain in honor of Respect Life Sunday. Nine-year-old Mary kept us entertained by making up pro-life songs with lyrics like "You can stop abortion, yes you can!"

As the weather continues to be chilly in my part of the world, I was glad to sit down for a cup of coffee after that with a young girl who is preparing for her Confirmation this Spring and who has asked me to be her Sponsor. What a joy and an honor it is to be considered worthy to form the faith of someone who is serious about her relationship with the Lord!


Finally, St. Augustine parish is within walking distance of my home and they held a Transitus Service last night in honor of St. Francis of Assisi. I had never heard of Transitus before, so I was intrigued to learn more. My daughter, Mary, and I walked over and were pleased to take part in a solemn service in honor of this great saint! Mary noticed that the service began a lot like the Easter Vigil, in darkness. After Archbishop Listecki gave his homily, the pastor of the parish read the story of the passing of St. Francis from this life to the next while the altar candles were extinguished, one by one, leaving only one flame burning to represent the light of Christ that St. Francis reflected in this world. Then, from that one candle, every candle in church was lit. It was both beautiful and joyous!

And now, I am glad to land again on a normal Monday at work so that I can catch my breath from all of last weekend's excitement!

Fr. Stan Fortuna

I am richly blessed by the God of surprises. He has provided me with everything I could ever need to satisfy me. He gives me a little suffering, a little joy and a lot of love. What else could I ever ask for? God is soul good!

What I love the best is when He sneaks up and sends me something fun just when I need it the most. Like yesterday, for example. I received an email from my friend Julie. She was passing on a message from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Campus Minister, Fr. Michael Lightner, telling me that none other than Fr. Stan Fortuna would be appearing on campus that very night for a free talk and concert!

I raced home from work, picked up my son, John and we went to get my friend, Marge, and the three of us hurried to the UWM campus, thinking that the place would be packed by the time we got there. We arrived fifteen minutes before the program was to begin. We found Fr. Stan and a few assistants in the auditorium rehearsing, all alone. Nobody was there! We thought that maybe we had made a mistake about the starting time. But we didn't. In fact, by the time Fr. Stan was ready to start, there were only about twenty people there! We had front row seats to the best concert/inspiration talk/comedy show we had ever seen!

He had us laughing, crying and tapping our feet and lifted our hearts and souls to heaven so easily! There he stood in his grey habit, the bottom hem ripped and pinned in the front, long, thick locks pulled back in a pony tail. He was a one man concert with a recording machine that replayed each sound he played so that it sounded as if he had a whole band with him. He sang a great song to the tune of George Benson's "This Masquerade" about how God comes to us in distressing disguises. He said he wrote that song after first baptizing his guitar.

He shared the story about how God called him to the priesthood. He said he was about as low as a person can get, but then God got lower. That was followed by a Bob Marley impression of a song called "You Go Low, He Go Lower". Then he treated us to one of his rap songs called "FAMILY-Forget About Me I Love You". Every time I looked at my son, he had a huge smile on his face. That's a sight I will never forget! John had the time of his life listening to Fr. Stan sing and speak.

He spoke about how he wants to write a book called "The Rebukes of Jesus", he told us that God gave him a Divine upper cut when he called him to the priesthood, and talked about the baboons in Uganda in a hilarious example of how everybody peels bananas in a different way. He shared stories about life in the Bronx with the poor, mixed in with a few quotes from JPII and B16. But his biggest and most important message was that all hurt comes from no love and we are all called to love. Just love. What a beautiful message.

The evening ended with ten minute long blessing and a handshake from the amazing priest. It was simply fabulous and I am blessed! I had the time of my life and I am spiritually renewed! If you ever get the chance to see Fr. Stan, I highly recommend it, even if it comes last minute!