This past Friday, I pulled off an amazing feat of deception and an opportunity for grace.
I managed to gather about 20 families together in our home for a Mass of healing for Cathy.
She never saw it coming!
I had a friend invite her over for dinner while everyone showed up at our house, and then when Cathy came home at 7:30, she walked downstairs into a room full of family and friends.
Fr. Neil Herlihy, from St Thomas More, celebrated Mass, and annointed Cathy after the Liturgy of the Word.
After Mass, we had beer, wine, and cookies and snacks.
Cathy, other than being uncomfortable as the center of attention, which she hates, was really touched by everyone's presence and love.
I'll say, for the record, that I would have like to have invited MANY more people, but the space just wouldn't hold everyone. Even if just my whole family, almost all of which live here in Atlanta, had been invited, we would have had more than 50 people.
What I tried to do was invite representatives from our church, our friends, and our family, so you were represented, even if you did not know about it.
So, if you were not invited, please do not take offense, you were certainly in our hearts, it's just that your bodies would not have fit into our downstairs.
I also figured that the fewer people who knew about it preserved the intended surprise aspect, and that worked, and she had no clue what was going on.
It was a very special evening, and now that we are within 24 hours of going to the hospital, Cathy and I will be strengthened by the memories of that night in the next 24 hours, and in the many hours beyond.
The picture is an old one of Jude from the beach in 2003.
He's one hep cat!
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