.=: U S U A L S U S P E C T S :=. from Father Pat Umberger "Round up the usual suspects" ~"Casablanca," the movie __________________________________________________ F A T I M A / L O U R D E S / S P A I N / L I S I E U X / P A R I S THIRTY NINE are currently signed up and our goal has been surpassed. We still have ROOM FOR FIFTY. So eleven possible spaces remain. Early Sign-up Deadline is 24 June. Price rises $100 after that. It's shaping up to be a great Pilgrimage . to Portugal (Lisbon, Santerem, Fatima), Spain (Alba de Tormes, Avila, Segovia, Burgos, Loyola, Pamplona & Javier) and France (Lourdes, Paris & Lisieux). Out farewell dinner will be in a restaurant in the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The brochure is now on-line, along with a map and links to our hotels! The very reasonable price includes transportation, luggage transfers, all admissions, guide, escort, all breakfasts and dinners and even a packed lunch for the 1st Class train ride from Lourdes to Paris. As always we'll celebrate daily Mass and pray the Rosary when we're traveling. For complete details, follow the link from: www.frpat.com F A T H E R ' S D A Y P A G E Visit our Father's Day Page for great links, some Father's Day pass-alongs, a Father's Day Blessing and much more. You can even create a tie for dad! Use the easy on-line referral form to recommend this page to family members and friends. Just follow the banner link from: www.frpat.com T E C H T I P F R O M F A T H E R P A T No "Phishing!" It's another scam, called Phishing. All these folks need is a bite or two and they can become very wealthy, at the expense of you, the "Phish!" They send a e-mail saying somebody has been trying to access your account or give another reason. They ask you to log into their Web Site and give bank information, Social Security numbers, passwords, etc. If you click on the link they send, which you SHOULDN'T do, you'll see that you're at a different Site altogether. It will look exactly like their site though. If you submit the information you've given them all the tools they'll need to steal your identity, wreck your credit rating and steal your money. Financial institutions don't use e-mail to get information from you. If you're in doubt, call them, or log into your account they way you normally do. But "don't" click on that link sent by the Phishers! __________________________________________________ T W O T R E A T S "A Father's Talk" "Pope Benedict XVI: The Consecrated Host is truly the Bread from Heaven" Forwarded by member Chris . . . A F A T H E R ' S T A L K People always say how mean kids can be, never how nice they can be. This story will either make you cry, give you cold chills or just leave you cold, but it puts life into perspective! At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves learning-disabled children, the father of one of the school's students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all that attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question... "Everything God does is done with perfection. Yet, my son Shay cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do. Where is God's plan reflected in my son?" The audience was stilled by the query. The father continued, "I believe," the father answered, "that when God brings a child like Shay into the world, an opportunity to realize the Divine Plan presents itself and it comes in the way people treat that child." Then, he told the following story: Shay and his father had walked past a park where some kids Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, "Do you think they will let me play?" Shay's father knew that the kids would not want him on their team. But the father understood that if his son were allowed to play, it would give him much-needed sense of belonging. Shay's father approached one of the boys on the field and asked if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance from his teammates. Getting none, he took matters into his own hands and said, "We are losing by six runs, and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him up to bat in the ninth inning." In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs, but was still behind by three. At the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the outfield. Although no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be on the field, grinning from ear to ear as his father waved to him from the stands. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again. Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base. Shay was scheduled to be the next at-bat. Would the team actually let Shay bat at this juncture, and give away their chance to win the game? Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball. However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher moved a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least be able to make contact. The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly toward Shay. As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball to the pitcher. The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could easily have thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shay would have been out and that would have ended the game. Instead, the pitcher took the ball and threw it on a high arc to right field, far beyond reach of the first base player. Everyone started yelling, "Shay, run to first, run to first." Never in his life had Shay ever made it to first base. He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled. Everyone yelled, "run to second, run to second!" By the time Shay was rounding first base, the right fielder had the ball. She could have thrown the ball to second base for a tag. But the right fielder understood what the pitcher's intentions had been, so she threw the ball high and far over the third base player's head. Shay ran towards second base as the runners ahead of him deliriously circled the bass toward home. As Shay reached second base, the opposing shortstop ran to him, turned him in the direction of third base, and shouted, "run to third!" As Shay rounded third, the kids from both teams were screaming, "Shay Run home!" Shay ran home, stepped on home plate and was cheered as the hero for hitting a "grand slam" and winning the game for his team. "That day," said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, "the kids from both teams helped bring a piece of God's plan into this world." We can all make a difference. We all have dozens of opportunities a day to help realize God's plan. So many seemingly trivial interactions between people present us with a choice; do we pass along a spark of the Divine love that God gives to us every day? .................................................. THE CONSECRATED HOST TRULY IS THE BREAD OF HEAVEN VATICAN CITY, JUN 15, 2006 (VIS) - At 7 p.m. today, Solemnity of Corpus Christi, Benedict XVI celebrated Mass on the square in front of Rome's Basilica of St. John Lateran, then presided at the Eucharistic procession to the Basilica of St. Mary Major. In his homily, the Pope affirmed that the consecrated Host is the "food of the poor," and the "fruit of the earth and of the labor of mankind." And yet, he added, "bread is not simply our own product, something made by us; it is a fruit of the earth and, hence, a gift. ... It requires the synergy of the forces of the earth and of the gifts of the heavens: sun and rain." "At a time in which we hear of desertification, and there is ever more talk of the danger of men and beasts dying of thirst in those regions without water, at such a time, we gain a renewed awareness of the greatness of the gift of water, and of how incapable we are of producing it alone. Then, looking closer, this little piece of white Host, this bread of the poor, appears as a synthesis of creation." "When, in adoration, we contemplate the consecrated Host, the mark of creation is speaking to us. Then we discover the greatness of this gift, but we also discover the Passion, the Cross of Jesus and His resurrection." The Holy Father went on: "In the feast of Corpus Christi we contemplate above all the sign of the bread. This also reminds us of the pilgrimage of Israel during the 40 years in the wilderness. The Host is our manna with which the Lord nourishes us; it truly is the bread of heaven, by which He gives Himself. In the procession, we follow this sign, and thus we follow Him." Benedict XVI then raised an appeal to the Lord: "Guide us along the roads of our history! Always show the Church and her pastors the right path! Look at suffering humanity, anxiously wandering among so many uncertainties; look at the physical and mental hunger afflicting them! Give men bread for the body and the soul! Give them work! Give them light! Give them Yourself! Purify and sanctify us all! "Bring us to understand" the Pope concluded, "that only by participating in Your Passion, by saying 'yes' to the cross, to sacrifice, to the purification you impose upon us, can our lives mature and reach their true fulfillment. Gather us from all the corners of the earth. Unite Your Church, unite lacerated humanity. Give us Your salvation!" Following Mass, the Pope presided at a Eucharistic procession that passed along Rome's Via Merulana to the Basilica of St. Mary Major. Along the way, thousands of faithful prayed and sang, accompanying the Blessed Sacrament. An open vehicle transported the Sacrament in a monstrance, before which the Holy Father knelt in prayer. HML/CORPUS CHRISTI/... VIS 060616 (500) __________________________________________________ May God Bless you and those you love, and keep you safe, Father Pat "Be still and know that I am God." ~Psalm 46:10 __________________________________________________ www.frpat.com www.cmonback.com www.frpat.com/fatima_interested.htm U S U A L S U S P E C T S These are called ?Usual Suspects? posts. In the movie ?Casablanca? when there was a problem the police chief said, ?Round up the usual suspects.? When forwarding inspiring e-mails I found I was sending them to the same people over and over again. The ?Casablanca? quote came to mind and the mail-list took on the name ?Usual Suspects.? The <US>Usual Suspects Group began as a separate e-mail list with.. A post or two are sent each week, consisting of inspirational and humorous Stories and anecdotes forwarded to me by our members. Posts to this group are not intended to offend, hurt or discriminate against anybody. They come from different theologies and points of view that aren't necessarily Father Pat's, Catholic, or that of Father Pat's Diocese or the parish he serves. Some are humorous, others inspirational, most are both. They are simply food for thought, prayer, enjoyment and good conversation. If you don't wish to receive them, please unsubscribe. It is not our intent to pass on copyrighted material. Many of the posts we receive don't quote a source, so we can't be absolutely sure. We ask our members *not* to submit copyrighted material. Stories for possible Usual Suspects inclusion should be submitted at our Web Site. http://frpat.com/stories.htm Please do not submit copyrighted material. Subscribe/Unsubscribe right here: www.frpat.com/morningprayer.htm#us You can also set Vacation Mode there. Forward this e-mail freely to family members and friends. Encourage them to subscribe as well! Why not join our Morning Prayer or This Weekend List. Full details are here: www.frpat.com/morningprayer.htm