25th Anniversary Mass

Today (14 November here and 15 November in Oz) I celebrated my 25th Jubilee Mass in the parish of St Michael the Archangel, Dunedin, Florida. This parish is Robin and Brian's local and they had arranged this opportunity for me. So with Drew, Rhys and Brooke as 'family', we had a very personal celebration with the 11.00am parish community.

The Gospel of the 33rd Sunday Year C focused on the hardships that may be encountered by those who work in Christ's name. It was a good reference point for to reflect on the 25 years of my priesthood.

I delivered my homily by answering the questions that are most often asked of me about the priesthood: Did I always want to be a priest? How did I know the priesthood was for me? What has been or are the greatest challenges for me as a priest? and, What have been the highlights for me as a priest over the last 25 years?

My answers to these questions covered my non-Catholic background, the fact that we grow continually into our vocation by being faithful to answering the call, the great scandal of clergy abuse in the last thirty years, and finally my years in the Navy, the Parish of Young where I have pastoral responsibility and the long service leave experience I have been having.

After a warm reception in the parish centre (The Cenacle), complete with an Aussie coloured cake, the family and I headed for a lunch near the seaside at the infamous 'Crab Shack'.  We laughed and fought crabs for the next two hours. Brilliant.

This page is dedicated to the Parishes of St Mary's, Young and St Michael's at Dunedin, and to all those who I have baptised and confirmed, married, reconciled, anointed, buried and fed at the Lord's Table over the last 25 years.

Pace e bene.

Last Day in New Orleans

Today I did a history walk through the old city of New Orleans with a very local historian. While I discovered some things yesterday, today I found out the real 'dirt' on the characters who made New Orleans.

Most people would be aware that New Orleans is famous for its Mardi Gras festival, so it is natural therefore to see lots of accoutrements for sale. I knew the bead throwing was part of the festivities, but the sale of alligator heads threw me a bit. Double click the pic above.

I found it interesting to note that seven of the New Orleans trams come from Brisbane, Australia. Also, much of the wrought iron around the old town balconies also comes from Brisbane, and much of it was used also as ballast on ships prior to finding its way here.

I had to do a cemetery tour while I was here because NO is famous for its above ground cemeteries. The pic on the right proves that some are buried below ground as the cemeteries sink into the alluvial soil. There is no bedrock here.

The other pic shows the beautiful Italian mausoleum in the background to the right with the the prepared pyramidal grave site for Nicholas Cage (the actor) in the foreground. Interesting....and Nicholas Cage now lives in the author Anne Rice's house. Rice is the author of the Vampire Chronicles which created the famous Brad Pitt, Kirstan Dunst and Tom Cruise movie "Interview With a Vampire", which was partly filmed at the Lafayette Cemetery here.

At the end of the day, New Orleans is about the music, no matter how one listens, how one plays. It is about the music.

This page is dedicated to musicians...everywhere.

Walking New Orleans

Today was spent on our feet. Lots of walking and taking in the history and the old houses and historical district of New Orleans.

The famous French Quarter hosts an amazing array of fun, food, music and beautiful architecture. The older buildings are famous for their wrought iron balconies. Even the Jesuit Church of the Immaculate Conception has pews made of wrought iron, just like the old train seats we used to have.

Bourbon Street comes alive at night but never really closes down. In fact most of the hotels and bars never close. There is a different feel to the downtown during the day therefore.

There are street musicians on most major corners

and a wide display of talent and potential talent. They put their heart and soul into their music and most people just wandering around do do while tapping and beating to the tunes.

There does not seem to be any reference to Hurricane Katrina in the downtown area. The major damage  and rebuild is in the outer suburbs and it is good to see so many tourists breathing life into this colourful city.

The Cathedral here is the oldest in the United States and was also home to the first African-American Catholic bishop last century.

Today is Veteran;s Day in the USA, so this page is dedicated to all Veterans, and especially those from Australia.

New Oleans

New Orleans is a city of survivors, and thrivers, that is for sure.



We arrived in the evening and began almost straight away to take in the vibe of this iconic musical and gastronomical southern American landmark.   Pic left is the Stadium where survivors of Hurricane Katrina were housed.

Some of the icons include the famous Pat O'Brien's where the Piano Bar houses two copper plated dueling pianos. I had them play "I Still Call Australia Home". Pat O'Brien's is also famous for its "Hurricane", a white rum based cocktail that is served in a huge vase of a glass. Robin and I arranged to meet up with Chip, an old US Navy buddy of ours whom we last saw 14 years ago. He happened to be in New Orleans at the same time. A great night. This pic of us shows Hurricanes in hand.

Two other icons are the famous Acme Oyster House and of course Bourbon Street.  Bourbon Street is a world of its own, and many, but not all of the sights are not for this Blog. An example is in the green neon.

This page is dedicated firstly to Dan, a friend of mine from the Navy. Dan has just survived a 10 storey fall from a balcony in Sydney. He is out of the danger zone. And secondly, this page is dedicated to those who fall and are struggling to get out of the danger zone.

Sail Away, Sail Away, Sail Away

Our port visit on the cruise was to Cozumel off the east coast of Mexico in the western Caribbean. The only livelihood there is tourism as it is a flat island based on a coral bed with about half a metre of soil on top of the coral bed. It is very tropical and the locals were amazingly friendly. I had to experience a margarita in the size of a fish bowl, so I did.

We hired ourselves out to go rampaging through the jungle on All Terrain Vehicles (ATV's). This lasted the better part of three hours and we were completely transformed from Gilligan and Ginger into dusty , messy wrecks. We were able to visit Old Mayan ruins and have the ancient Mayan culture explained to us. What a fun day.

I loved the cruise and met some fun people, including the lady pictured. She asked me about my travels and the Blog dedications I do. This was over lunch! She asked had I dedicated a Blog to breast cancer survivors. I said not yet! This was still over lunch! Next minute she pulls from her shirt a chicken fillet looking thing and waived it about and said,  "Make sure you do dedicate a page to breast cancer survivors". That was the end of lunch!

This page IS dedicated to the survivors of breast cancer...and prostate cancer.

...and so the sun sets over the Caribbean.

Sailing the Caribbean Mexico

This was only a short cruise but was very healing because of the stress of the holidays I am now enjoying. For Robin, it is a break from her domestic routine. Brian is a having his time managing the household on his own for a while. This is an unflattering pic of our ship from the rear, Radiance of the Seas, as well as one of the Welcome On board platters.

We sailed from Tampa in the late afternoon and the weather was a little damp and glum. We were not glum though, and eventually aimed at wetting the inside. Some pics at the seven storey main atrium with glass lifts and balconies. Brilliant, and so different from my Navy days.

It did not take us long to find our away around and get the ship routine down. We survived our Emergency Stations drill, and like all good survivors, we went to the bar. No  Titanic stuff for us.

Our days were filled with great dining and lots of very professional entertainment. I had the chance to say Mass for the ship, but of course I did not have any of the right gear. On my run ashore to Cozumel in Mexico I managed to scurry around and buy a table runner which I could fold and use as a stole. So much has changed over the last 25 years huh!

This page is dedicated to Fr Phil Buckley from Page in Canberra who died tragically 5 November, while I was on the high seas in the Caribbean.

Post Halloween

I survived Halloween in the US for the first time. I have decided that someone makes a lot of money out of this time of year, mainly the costume and candy people. Incidentally, the all the pumpkins are thrown away as they are not the edible kind...apparently.

Above left is Brooke the Devil with friends. Above right is Rhys, Drew and Lady Gaga.

Lady Gaga with The Burglar, and then some pregnant White Trailer Trash who was 'Trick or Treating'. Apparently this neighbour is one of the quietest and most timid people in the neighbourhood. Very funny.

My vote for best costume went to these two. I think it was a mother and son, but either way, they were way too old for the trick or treating thing. They came along at the end of the night cleaning up all the left over candy. Interesting place the USA.

Despite the costumes and candy, this page is dedicated to the souls of all the Faithful Departed. May they rest in peace.