"We Got Cake!" Father's Day Lunch at Fairport Harbor

"We got cake!"

The boys practically exploded on the scene--a picnic pavilion at Fairport Harbor Beach. "We got cake!" said Robby. A brownie cake for Father's Day. The boys, Colin and Robby, always greet you with energy and excitement. It makes you so happy and so alive.

It was a wonderful Father's Day. Linda and I went to mass at Our Lady of Lourdes Shrine in Euclid; afterwards we picked up some donuts at Buettner's Bakery on East 185th Street in Cleveland, then ate them at Sims Park, on the lake in Euclid. The lake was beautiful and calm this morning. Then, in early afternoon, we met Julia, Ed, and the boys at Fairport Harbor.

I was so grateful for being a father and grandfather today. It would have been nice to see my daughter Carolan and my daughter Emily, but gee whiz, you can't have everything.

I thought a lot about my father and my grandfather, and how much they gave to me. My grandfather, Cornelius Francis Coughlin, was the son of an Irish immigrant (his own father Cornelius) and a German immigrant, his mother Lizzie Ierg Coughlin. He was a great athlete--a very fast sprinter (the fastest runner in Cleveland, he claimed) and a terrific baseball player--in the Cleveland sandlots and in the Three-I minor league. I was his first grandchild. He was funny and fun and I really loved him. And what can I say about my Dad. He helped me in two big areas. He helped me become a good reader and student. He drilled me in arithmetic and spelling, he took me to libraries all the time, he modeled reading for me. My father also is probably the primary source of my religious sensibilities (of course my mother was important in this regard too). We thought of our Dad as a hero--a World War II hero for his four years at war in the US Navy. But more important than that was his lessons about family, work, and love.

So today I thought a lot about my father, my grandfather, my daughters, my wife, my sons-in-law, and my grandsons. Thank you God for my family.

Happy Father's Day!

St. Paul Says It Clearly: We Must Not Exclude Women from the Priesthood!

This morning I attended mass at Our Lady of Lourdes Shrine in Euclid. It was a beautiful Sunday morning, Father's Day, outside mass in one of Euclid/Cleveland's most beautiful and holy places. Hundreds of people were present, including lots of children--it was wonderful. During the mass I was deeply struck by the second reading. How do you exclude women from the priesthood if you believe in the truth of St. Paul's epistle:

Reading 2GAL 3:26-29

Brothers and sisters:
Through faith you are all children of God in Christ Jesus.
For all of you who were baptized into Christ
have clothed yourselves with Christ.
There is neither Jew nor Greek,
there is neither slave nor free person,
there is not male and female;
for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
And if you belong to Christ,
then you are Abraham’s children,
heirs according to the promise.

*          *          *

After Mass at Euclid's Lourdes Shrine

Whenever I go to the Shrine, I think of my Dad, who took me there when I was a little kid and throughout my childhood. Thank you, Dad, for this and for all that you gave your children and family!

Happy Father's Day!

The greatest privilege I have had in my life is to be married to Linda and to be the father of Julia, Carolan, and Emily. I truly thank the Lord for my marriage and my children (they will never truly know the depths of my gratitude and my sense of being blessed). I am very very proud of them and thankful for their Father's Day wishes and presents.

I would like to honor my own Father. Dad has been gone for 12 years now--hard to believe! He was my hero. He lived his life for my Mom and for his five children. The indelible image in memory is playing catch with Dad in front of our Euclid house. We did it almost every day during the warm season. It was such a simple thing, hardly a word being exchanged. But it meant a lot to me in my growing-up years, and it still means a lot to me today. I also remember all the early mornings we would sit silently at the dining room table over coffee--he getting ready to go to work at Fisher Body, me getting ready to deliver the Plain Dealer.

I also think today of my Father-in-Law, Art Sanders. A sweet, kindly man, who with his wife Ruth, raised five of the most extraordinary children. We miss Art and Ruth terribly (we said a prayer at their graves this past Friday).

I also don't want to forget my wonderful grandfather, Connie Coughlin--a wonderful Irishman, full of humor and blarney, a great baseball player, and great father, who, with my Gramma Cora Coughlin, raised four boys and a girl, and saw all their boys fight during World War II. Thanks to our Grandparents and the big extended family that cared for us.

Finally, I want to thank the Uncles and Godfathers, Priests and Brothers, who might not have been biological fathers, but gave me and my family (and those beyond my family) so much of a Father's love. Thanks to the Marianist and Holy Cross bothers and priests, and the priests of the Diocese of Cleveland. Blessings and deepest thanks.

Happy Father's Day!