bulletin 6-19-11 copy - St. Columba Parish

Trinity Sunday - June 19, 2011
Brothers and sisters, rejoice. Mend your ways, encourage one another,
agree with one another, live in peace,
and the God of love and peace will be with you.
There are some memories of our fathers we’ll never forget. Some
are visual; some are auditory. I have one image that will stick with me
forever - Dad and our ball games.
Dad loved any kind of baseball or softball. When he worked in
Chicago as a young man, he would take any free time he had to go to
the Wrigley or the Sox park just to watch batting practice. He later
played infield for the Roseville-Oakwood champions of Floyd County,
Iowa.
So every time we came together as a family, Dad played softball
with us at the little field at Roseville. Every family reunion was an
opportunity for us to pull out the old bats and gloves and the beat up
softballs that had been pummeled almost into oblivion from the last
family reunion. But all that old equipment would last for one more year,
and then another and another.
As the years went on and Dad moved in age from his 60s to 70s, we
saw him doing less at those family reunion ball games. At one time, he
played shortstop, then moved to first base when it got harder to move
to his right or left.
Finally, in his early 70s, Dad became “the permanent pitcher”. He
never had to chase another ball, or try to catch an infield fly. He just
pitched, and loved it. His old straw hat sat firmly on his head, and he
often chewed on his tongue as he pitched. He loved to get a strike-out
on the biggest hitters, especially when his slowest pitched seemed to
take an eternity to get to home plate, and the anticipation of the batter
was so heightened that he or she would swing 20 yards ahead of the
marshmallow coming in on a lazy arc.
During one game when he was getting close to 75, Dad just didn’t
have the same old zip anymore. His arm hurting so badly from doing
garden work the day before. We could tell he wasn’t feeling right. The
moment came when, after getting all three outs on the team, he walked
off the field and let us know he just couldn’t do it anymore. We watched
him walk up the road to the house, his shoulders slumped. His walk had
a limp, and his back was to us all. That was the last time he ever was
“permanent pitcher”.
Dad died ten years later in 1992. Although he never played softball
with us again, he always came out to watch us play. Slowly but surely,
we, his sons and daughters, became the first basemen, the “permanent
pitchers”, and the ones rooting from the sidelines. And there will be a
day when we’ll have to walk away from all our former positions.
I know this is kind of a sad and poignant visual memory of Dad. But
as I look back, I know now that he often played those games, sticking it
out to the end, just so he could stay with the family
and enjoy a few moments of fun with us all.
Dad is watching us now from a different
perspective. And I imagine him to be playing the
game again with all of his old teammates and rooting
us on to be as good as he was. Here’s to you, dads!
Mass Intentions
20 Monday 7:30am
+Paul Giampaoli rq Chase Family
21 Tuesday 7:30am
+Mike & Myra Cummins rq Family
22 Wednesday 7:30am
Family of Lisa Taylor rq Bill Taylor
12:00pm Mercy Medical Center
+Fury & Alvene Dalla
rq Theresa Marcum
23 Thursday 7:30am
+Genevieve Gorman rq Family
24 Friday 7:30am
Malberg & Klahn Families
25 Saturday 5:00pm
+Percy & Maude Brown
rq Mary Hopf
26 Sunday 9:00am
Ken Leininger & Pat Petersen
rq Pam Leininger
Parishioners
11:30am
+Joe & Lucille McGoarty
rq Gary & Bernice Vogelsberg
PRAYERS
For the sick & injured of our parish:
Irma McNamara, Bill & Jerri Morris,
Eileen Brown, Earl & Rose Archuleta,
Delores Oleskevich, Julie Maldonado,
John Teiber, Sally Morrissey, Barbara
Ealick, Rob Freeman, Joe Herrera, Doris
Brennan, Char Ware, Lori Kearney
For our families and friends: Mary
Ann Haffey, Jack Treinen, Dorothy
Poferl, Linda Partridge, Emmie Wayne,
Deb Weber, Janie McLaughlin, Angelina
Weaver, Jacquie Brockus, Keaton Roofe,
Bernie Backer, Sherry Wilmoth, Lindsey
Bathke, Christopher Brown, Earl Fortin,
Liz Willmette, Charlene Garcia, Aubree
Lemke, John Barry, Lella & Kelsey
Ashburn, Michal Moore, Bernie Backer,
Maury Picheloup, Laurence Merry
For those who have died: especially,
Selene Benitone, niece of Jenny Land
For our troops: Daniel Beam, Brian
Beach, Ben Fiala, DJ Cummins, Chuck
Sauvage, Brian Lane, EJ Sparks, Kraig
Jones, Matthew Petersen, Bert Close,
Brendan Pederson, Steve Carbajal,
Jared & Jo Thompson, AJ Meiers,
Anthony Salvo, Sarah Maramba, Patrick
Garcia, PJ Abeyta, Nicholas Driggs