A FINAL PUSH FOR THESE STONE WALLS! 

Dear friends These Stone Walls is at this moment just 3 percentage points away from first place in the category of Best Catholic Blog. It would mean a lot to the morale of falsely accused priests, and the priesthood itself, to win this thing, something that seemed impossible just a few weeks ago. The voting ends at midnight tonight. 

WE NEED YOUR VOTE! IT WOULD BE A TREMENDOUS BOOST FOR FR. GORDON!

Can you please ask your FB and Twitter friends to consider going to this link to cast a vote for These Stone Walls? May God bless your effort - and you!

http://catholicism.about.com/library/bl-readers-choice-awards-best-catholic-blog.htm

THESE STONE WALLS IS A FINALIST FOR BEST CATHOLIC BLOG!

In a time of controversy in the priesthood, These Stone Walls, the blog of a falsely accused and wrongly imprisoned priest, is a finalist in the About.com Award for Best Catholic Blog. The blog now in the lead pretty much wins this every year, but These Stone Walls has come from behind to make this a closer contest than ever before.

The Key is voting once per day between now and Tuesday, March 19. Please take a moment to visit the About.com Best Catholic Blog ballot page to vote for These Stone Walls.

It would also be a great help if you would share this message with your contacts and social networks.

Thank you and God Bless.

PLEASE NOMINATE THESE STONE WALLS...

EDITOR’S NOTE: Please nominate These Stone Walls for the About Catholicism Reader’s Choice Awards.  Please log in and vote in each of these categories!  Just copy/paste this info:

These Stone Walls

http://thesestonewalls.com

Best Catholic Blog

Best Catholic Website

and for the Facebook category, copy/paste

Fr. Gordon J. MacRae

http://www.facebook.com/gordonj.macrae

Best Catholic Facebook Page

Thank you!  Your nominations will help others know about These Stone Walls.

The Saga of the Bras

THE SAGA OF THE BRAS

Picture this! 

Two mature women – mature as mid-70s, close to 80 years old – are enroute to a beach vacation when they decide to visit a friend, a civil detainee who is detained in a “hospital.”  Once they realized they were close to the “hospital” they decided to stop for a quick visit.

The women went inside, showed their drivers licenses, and a check was done to see if they were wanted by the police in any state, etc. – whatever else they check in a few minutes.  The women proceeded through the metal detector and WHOA! – alarms sounded, the doors locked automatically, the guards drew their weapons and everybody froze.  Since the women had no other metal on them, the guards said it had to be the underwire bras the women had on that set off the alarm. 

One woman, fondly called The Mouth, immediately said, “Well, we’ll simply remove our bras and go on in.” 

The guards, aghast, said, “No way!”  They were not going to have these two elderly women marching through the “hospital” with their boobs bouncing around.  Picture that! 

They were told to go away and return in bras without underwire.  The two women stomped back out into the parking lot – which is a far piece from the entrance to the “hospital.”  There The Mouth removed her bra in the car –visible to anybody passing by – not giving one whit as to who might see her.  She then took from the glove compartment a tiny knife and she cut her bra to enable her to remove the plastic-underwire-touched-by-a-bit of metal .  Once she removed the underwire, she put the wireless bra back on and prepared to retrace her steps to the prison, er, “hospital.”  The other woman did not want to ruin her expensive bra by cutting out the underwire, so she remained in the car. And that is another no-no!

Meanwhile, upstairs in the “hospital” the visitee was awakened and told to get dressed.  He had gone to bed at 5:30 a.m. and it was now 11 a.m. His normal waking hours were between 2 and 3 pm.  He was understandably a bit confused.  He rushed to get dressed, thinking that he was being taken to the hospital for a back x-ray.  Then he remembered it was a holiday.  He went to the medical unit to see if they had called for him.  No, they reminded him that it was a holiday. 

Meanwhile, in the visiting room, The Mouth was having a fit – to put it mildly! She ranted at the guards in the visiting room that she had been there for 45 minutes and she had another appointment and needed to leave.  Where was the visitee? Had he been notified?

Back upstairs the visitee called someone to see who called him to tell him to get dressed.  He was told he had a visitor.  A visitor? Nobody just dropped in to visit him.  They always called first.  And then he was told it was The Mouth, and she was upset that he was late!

Late? He wondered how he could be late when he didn’t know she was coming in the first place! After combing his hair and flossing, he appeared in the visiting room and was immediately subjected to a bit of The Mouth’s wrath – from the bra episode, to him not showing up, and then being “late.”  When he asked about the other woman, he was told that she was in the car in the parking lot. That is a no-no, and he was surprised that the guards didn’t tell her nobody is allowed to sit in a car on the parking lot.  He immediately told The Mouth that she had to leave and get back to her car.  She promised that they would stop again in a week when they left their beach retreat.   She also said they would not wear underwire bras and would bring him a lot of his favorite foods to eat – that is a perk allowed at that “hospital.”

They say all’s well that ends well.   I say all is well that ends! And that ends the saga of the bras!

Picture that!

OUR NEW SHEPHERD: ARCHBISHOP JOSEPH W. TOBIN

W E L C O M E!

For two days last week I was among a select few invited to participate in the pageantry of the Installation of a beloved Redemptorist, Archbishop Joseph W. Tobin, who is now the Archbishop of Indianapolis.  This holy man is cloaked in spirituality – a palpable spirituality that he would surely deny.  He exudes a spirit of caring, sincerity, and love, and reaches out to others.  My heart soars when Archbishop Tobin speaks of his beloved parents and siblings. His mother and most of his twelve siblings attended both ceremonies.  His mother is fragile, but she was here and oh so proud of her oldest son.  It was touching to see him give Holy Communion to her and his other family members. 

At the end of the two days, I felt as if I had attended a two-day spiritual retreat.  A month ago we learned that we had a new archbishop coming to us after 12 years in Rome. Some said it was a demotion for him, but most of us knew -  without knowing how we knew -  that we were blessed with the appointment of Archbishop Joseph Tobin. We have been praying for over a year that the Lord would send us a good shepherd and He has.  Archbishop Tobin immediately flew to Indianapolis for a whirlwind few days to meet his flock.  During the few days that Archbishop Tobin was in Indianapolis, he celebrated Mass for the seminarians at Marian University; a Mass a The Little Sisters of the Poor and the elderly residing there; he was everywhere, but quietly. At his press conference he was prayerful and humble, humorous, and he paid homage to his predecessor, Archbishop Buechlein, who retired due to illness.  He thanked our Apostolic Administrator Bishop Coyne for guiding us almost immediately after he was named Auxiliary Bishop to assist Archbishop Buechlein.

And then came the ceremonies that began on Sunday, December 2, at a Solemn Evening Prayer for the First Sunday of Advent and Profession of Faith in anticipation of his Installation. At first, the Sunday evening service was to be open to the public, but then it became “by invitation only” due to the large number of religious, family members and friends of Archbishop Tobin. I had looked forward to attending because I knew I would never get an invitation to the Installation Mass – or so I thought.  A nun friend invited me and my house guest to that service. The service was joyful, lots of wonderful music along with the blessing of the Archbishop’s miter, his staff and his pectoral cross.   I walked out of the Cathedral feeling very blessed. And why not – I had just been in the presence of greatness – our new archbishop.

After the Mass we were invited to the Catholic Center (across the street) for refreshments.  What a spread that was! The company sponsoring the reception spared no expense. They apparently served everything they would serve for their own receptions, including hot hors oeuvres, miniature sandwiches, fruits, veggies, many desserts, and an outstanding bar. I chuckled and thought: only Catholics!

Two weeks before the Installation I learned that each of our 147 parishes was given two tickets to give away. I immediately told my parish priest that I would like an invitation to the Installation and he said he would look into it.  That sounded like “no way.”   It was not going to happen. I steamed and stewed! And I wanted one or two if possible. And then came the day that my pastor said I had a ticket! I almost shouted with joy! I then told my house guest that she could have it.  She adamantly refused and insisted that I go. However, she is blessed with the gift of gab, and managed to wheedle her own invitation to the Installation Mass.

The pageantry continued on Monday, December 2 at the SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral.  The Archdiocesan Choir, composed of singers from various choirs in the archdiocese, entertained as we waited for Mass to begin. The voices were angelic and the musical instruments from flutes to trumpets to kettledrums demanded to be heard and appreciated, and they were.  The procession began.  Altar servers were followed by the Knights and Ladies of St. Peter Claver; the Knights and Ladies of Malta, the Knights of Columbus, Knights and Ladies of the Holy Sepulcher, and an Irish group of women from the Orange Order.  Our hundreds of priests and seminarians processed in along with Indiana’s bishops, the few visiting bishops, the Papal Nuncio and finally our Archbishop Tobin.  He must have been nearly blinded by the flashes going off as he was welcomed into the Hoosier state. This saintly and holy man opened his Installation homily with a joke about his girth, and he saluted the largest Catholic group in Indiana – the Notre Dame football fans. He spoke lovingly about the Church reaching out to the “marginalized the forgotten, and those hurt by the Church.”  I have waited for years to hear such words from a bishop.  I was in love!

Some say Archbishop Tobin was removed from the Vatican because he was sympathetic to the U.S. nuns in the cross hairs of some at the Vatican.  His group was responsible for the nuns and their supposed “disobedience.”  I doubt that this holy man would ever have approved the insults and accusations hurled at the very nuns who taught many of us about our faith.  I was not a Catholic when I attended a Catholic school, but I never forgot it. During a very rough period in my young life – which lasted for 9 years – it was the Catholic prayers I was taught, and my mother’s promise that when I reached age 16, I could be baptized in the Catholic faith, that kept me sane. Despite the nightmarish and terrifying events thrust upon me, I knew that our Lord and His Mother were with me.  They have never failed me.

How I wish that each of my priests in prison had had a bishop such as Archbishop Tobin. I can’t wait to tell him all about our priests in prison and what I try to do for them and what they do for me.  I am so blessed to have them in my life. I will always feel that way despite their protestations that they do nothing for me while I do so much for them.  It is a blessing to me to serve these fallen angels who made mistakes in their lives.  Our Lord will judge them and He will judge me.  

And so I rejoice in he who we have awaited – Archbishop Tobin.  He is humble and comes ready to serve.  He has a forever home - here in Indianapolis.  We welcome our Shepherd, and I wish him our Lord's peace and blessings.

A POET- PRIEST WRITES FROM PRISON, PART II

                                                   

if . . . in the greenwood. . . 

I'm in prison

I'm a "hardened con" after 8 years.

I'm a priest.

I want to stay here.

I don't want parole.

And I'm innocent.

My savings went to legal costs.

The Cardinal took away my pension.

The social security ended at conviction.

My car went to defray the cost of an expert witness.

The Church took away my livelihood.

My landlord took my apartment.

The Cardinal took away my medical benefits.

I'm anathema at the old priests' home.

The Cardinal won't tell me if I am excommunicated or not, so

I'm unwelcome at the prison Mass.

To dig, I am unable at 82 yrs. of age

As "the most hated man in Mass., one of the ten more notorious

criminals in Mass. history?" The "worst of the worst."

My life is in danger from the vigilantes.

I cannot stay with friends without making them targets.

The sex offender registry all but insures retribution from neighbors.

Is it not curious that the DA, now  the Attorney General, found

me harmless enough to go home with no prison time if I would

take a plea bargain and confess to 1456 rapes, or even to two?

Now ten years later I am surely less harmful.

Broken physically, socially, spiritually, religiously, vocationally,

my reputation destroyed, my integrity impugned, my golden years

squandered, parole would require yet another pound of flesh.

In prison I am so hated that I am kept out of sight even of

the general population -- protective custody.  Prison within a prison.

In any case it is useless to ask for parole since one is required

to admit his crime, show remorse and take the sex treatment

courses.  I have not even a smidgen of remorse for heinous acts

that never were.

Nearly deaf, hands shaking with familial tremors, a heart condition,

rosaea, limping from nerve damage from sciatica, allergies, skin cancer, 

high blood pressure, and cholesterol, I could not sleep under bridges

as do my compadres. My thyroid and my eyes have conditions which

require regular observation.

Let me die in prison, in solidarity with the countless other

innocents whose lives have been blighted or taken; the lynched,

the witches ...  while society consoles itself with two

great fallacies: "I can tell a guilty person" ... "Seldom do innocents go to 

prison."

 Modern science will disprove both.


S.P. in the Fields

Confessions From a Priest in Prison _ Part I

Dear Charlene,

You have been tireless in your championing the priests, innocent or guilty, and in that you are almost a voice crying in the wilderness. As the grateful recipient of your singular understanding of Christianity, I thank you.  How is it possible that nearly the whole bevy of bishops could fail in so basic a way?

You are the first to notice in print that even brother priests have generally abandoned the incarcerated. Is the veneer of Catholic morality so thin, so tenuous, that it dissolves by unspoken agreement? It may be that the bishops made some sort of pact, but surely the priests have done this on their own.

And you alone remembered that Charity is the queen of virtues. Or that Jesus Himself was at pains to require the visiting of the prisoner. Or do we have here the Unforgivable Sin which, like the Holy Grail, has had an elusive history?

You mentioned in your excellent essay: Forgiveness.  Have you seen or heard this word, this concept, applied somewhere in Catholic literature? I suggest it was stricken by the lawyers from clerical vocabulary in order to satisfy the hysteria of the mob.

You may want to think about a new problem: convicted priests who are about to reach parole dates.  They have no place to go unless their bishop intercedes.

I have a heart condition for which they want to send me to the hospital and to a specialist. I am refusing not the treatment which I want, but the ordeal. I can no longer sit on a stone bench in a cell with no magazines or books, chained around the waist, hands manacled, ankles manacled, for up to 8 hours.  I tend to fall asleep and I fear falling since I could not break my fall.  

Then too they stuff me in a metal box, sitting sideways, my long legs cramped, my back problems exacerbated, and drive off for the 45 minute horror.The wagon is similar to the ones you have seen in which they place animals who have been picked up by the dog (catcher). This ... chains and handcuffs...is called "elderly abuse" in society.  It is called "security" in here.

Your ministry is unique. Isn't that outrageous?

                                                                      Cordially,

                                                                       S. P. in the Fields