An Old Irish Blessing
May the road rise to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and the rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of his hands.
Fr. John is from Ireland and so he sings the Irish blessing for a final blessing at his Masses. It is very beautiful when he does it. My sister Charlotte went to Mass on St. Patrick's Day at which he was the celebrant and she related two funny stories that Fr. John told, which I'd like to share with you now. They capture the great sense of humor of the Irish. First story.....
When Fr. John was a newly ordained priest he went to visit his grandmother in the hospital after she had fallen. She was in a large ward of the hospital with many other patients and the doctors and nurses knowing the importance of the Mass, brought patients from other floors of the hospital in to this ward to attend Mass. After Mass, Fr. John visited with his grandmother and she told him that she had been on the Lusitania (the ship that was sunk by the Germans); she caught hold of a piece of the ship floating in the water and floated to shore. Fr. John had never heard this story before so he asked his mother: "Mom, how come we never heard this story about Grandma before?!" In her Irish brogue his mother replied: "Sure, and you never asked?!"
Second story....
Fr. John's mother would say to him: "You should call your mother. Why don't you call your mother?" He would try calling and he'd leave numerous messages for his mom on her answering machine. Finally they connected. His mother said "How come you never call me?" He'd say "Mom, I've been trying to reach you for days!!! I've left you messages." His mother replied "Sure, don't you know you shouldn't be calling me when I'm not in?!" lol!
There is nothing like good 'ole Irish humor!
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