14 February 2011

Fame: Excitement and let down

Yesterday morning I assisted Bishop Paprocki during a Confirmation Mass in a parish in the Diocese.

At the reception following the Mass a man approached me and said, "I suppose you know we had a famous person at Mass today."

I, of course, had no way of knowing this; no one sends such notices to me, nor do I want them to do so.

With a rather stupefied expression on my face, I asked, "Oh, who's that?"

He said the man's name and, having never heard of him, said, still with a stupefied expression, "I don't know who that is."

The man explained, if I remember correctly, that he is the quarterback coach for the Green Bay Packers and is from this parish. Not caring at all about football, I didn't have much to say and, being quite disappointed at my lack of enthusiasm, walked away.

As he walked away, I realized what I should have said to him: We have Jesus Christ and all of the angels and saints at every Mass wherever it is celebrated. The presence of a famed atheltic figure is of no real consequence.

Incidentally, just prior to the Mass I met a descendant of Saint Thomas More. And that is far more interesting than a football coach.

6 comments:

  1. Well then... I had no idea that we had the quarterback coach for the Green Bay Packers in our parish, much less at Mass yesterday.

    But I must say that when I started to read your post, I thought (and hoped, perhaps) that someone from our parish had the insight to tell you that the "famous" person that they saw at Mass was, in fact, Jesus Christ, and the saints and angels.

    Ah well...

    So glad you were able to visit our parish yesterday. I'm looking forward to the Confirmation at St. Elizabeth later this spring when I'm not sequestered in the choir loft, and hopefully have a chance to chat with you!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks, Michael; I look forward to it, too!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous9:25 AM

    A descendant of St Thomas More?? That IS interesting. Can you tell us any more?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow--I can just picture how the descendant of a saint works that into a conversation :) Of course, it only impresses a select audience.

    ReplyDelete
  5. ... regrettable on a number of levels. Yes, those Holy Spirit moments for teaching and reaching out out to misdirected souls come and go so quickly.

    This little tale also made me wonder how this one individual and what appears to be misdirected awe, unintentionally tarnishes and makes it difficult for the rich and famous Catholic to obtain the spiritual direction and encounter with Jesus that they too need.

    ReplyDelete