Just Ask

This past weekend I served mass with Fr. Ryan at St. Theresa Catholic Church in Panhandle, Texas. This was my homily.

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time August 16, 2026

Is 56:1, 6-7; Ps 67; Rom 11:13-15, 29-32; Matt 15: 21-28

“...for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all people.” (Is 56:7)

In St. Pope John Paul II’s encyclical On the Eucharist and Its Relationship to the Church, he says, 

“I have been able to celebrate Holy Mass in chapels built along mountain paths, on lakeshores and seacoasts; I have celebrated it on altars built in stadiums and in city squares... This varied scenario of celebrations of the Eucharist has given me a powerful experience of its universal and, so to speak, cosmic character. Yes, cosmic! Because even when it is celebrated on the humble altar of a country church, the Eucharist is always in some way celebrated on the altar of the world. It unites heaven and earth. It embraces and permeates all creation” (Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 8) 

When St. John Paul II talks about celebrating mass “on the humble altar of a country church” I imagine country churches like Cristo Redentor in Gruver, Sacred Heart in Spearman, and St. Teresa’s in Panhandle.

Wherever the Eucharist is celebrated, “it unites heaven and earth.” 
Indeed this is a “house of prayer for all people.” 

“For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable” (Rom 11)
I remember this verse from today’s second reading from a Deacon retreat I attended about 11 years ago
It convicted me
I cannot give back the gifts I have received from God.
I can either share them or leave them idle
Are you sharing your gifts? 

In today’s Gospel, we see the Canaanite woman calling out to Jesus
Begging Jesus to heal her daughter
She is relentless
She is persistent
She continues to ask Jesus
Even when she is ignored


I used to work at Panhandle State University in Goodwell, Oklahoma
One day a colleague came to my office, she looked distraught, confused, frightened
She was a scientist
And I would classify her and her husband as Atheist/Agnostic

She shared with me that she had cancer
And she was in for a fight
She explained that she was assembling a team to help her fight
And she wanted me to be on her team

My role she said would involve the spiritual… and also humor
I met with her
Listened to her
Prayed with her
Laughed with her 
And cried with her

She had many spiritual experiences
She had a miraculous healing
The cancer was gone
We both gloried in the goodness of God
Her and her husband became believers in Jesus

She still texts me every so often
When she goes back for her yearly checkup
She asks for my prayers

One day we got together for lunch
I noticed how much different she looked 
Her hair was back, but different
Her skin color was healthy
There was joy and excitement for life with her family in her voice

At the end of our conversation, she explained that she was going back for her yearly check up
And she asked again for my prayers
I told her that I would pray for her
But I also told her that she didn’t need to ask, because she was in my prayers

She paused and then explained to me that one thing that she had learned during this journey was how important it was to ask…

As I drove down the road, I thought about what she said…
It is important to ask
It is important to ask our friends for help, for prayer
It is important for us to ask and petition the Lord
He wants us to ask
He wants to talk to us
He wants to be with us in our struggles and our blessings

Sometimes we have to be persistent like the Canaanite woman
Sometimes our prayers might not be answered in our time
Or they might be answered in a way we don’t know 

I decided that my friend had a profound thought about how important asking was
And then I thought of her name
Her first name is Deborah
Her last name is Ask…

Deborah Ask

“Then Jesus said to her in reply,
"O woman, great is your faith! 
Let it be done for you as you wish." 
And the woman's daughter was healed from that hour.” (Matt 15)

A Moment of Grace

© José Luiz Bernardes Ribeiro

18th Sunday in Ordinary Time August 2, 2026

Is 55:1-3; Ps 145; Rom 8:35, 37-39; Mt 14:13-21

Years ago, I help host a college retreat team 
One of the young men was asking me about being a farmer
I was telling him about driving a tractor. and that I had a lot of time to think
I shared that sometimes I would think of things that I shouldn’t have been thinking about

But a thought would come into my mind, “I shouldn’t think of that”
And I would try and pray or think of something else
The young man gasped and said, “That was a moment of grace!”
“That was a grace from God!”

I have thought about that quite often
How God is always drawing us to Him

The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us
“Grace is participation in the life of God.’ (CCC 1997)
The Church describes grace in a number of ways: sanctifying grace, habitual grace, actual graces, special graces and sacramental graces. (CCC 1999-2003)

Grace is this gift that God is continuously offering us to help us in our call to become children of God (CCC 1996)

Today we hear of the feeding of the five thousand
Jesus has just heard of the death of John the Baptist, his cousin, the one who baptized him
I can only imagine how sad Jesus was
He wanted to be alone
He got on a boat

“But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns” (Matt 14:13)
As Jesus is coming into the shore, he sees the crowds, it was a big crowd
Jesus was touched
He had pity for them
He had compassion on them
And he begins to heal the sick


But they are in a deserted place and there is no way to get food
The disciples are being practical
They are encouraging Jesus to send the people home to get them something to eat
But Jesus loves these people
They were there for Him in His time of sorrow

He is going to feed them
He has the people sit on the grass
He takes the bread and fish
He looks to heaven 
Blesses the bread
He gives thanks 

The disciples give the food to the people
The people are fed 
And there is more left over 

A moment of Grace…

Listen again to this invitation to grace from the first reading

“Thus says the LORD:
All you who are thirsty,
come to the water!
You who have no money,
come, receive grain and eat;
Come, without paying and without cost,
drink wine and milk!...
…Heed me, and you shall eat well,
you shall delight in rich fare.
Come to me heedfully,
listen, that you may have life.” (Is 55)

“Listen, that you may have life.”
“The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.” (Ps 145)

We are nourished on the Word of God and the life of the Church
The Lord feeds us spiritually 
When we come to mass
When we pray
When we go to Confession
When we participate in the Sacraments
When we are a part of the life of the Church like the Jamaica
And the One Hundredth Anniversary Mass at Amarillo
In all these things, we are experiencing God’s Grace

In the second reading from Romans
Paul asks the question

“What will separate us from the love of Christ? 
Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine,
or nakedness, or peril, or the sword?”

The answer is nothing can separate us from His love
“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life,
nor angels, nor principalities,
nor present things, nor future things,
nor powers, nor height, nor depth,
nor any other creature will be able to separate us
from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom 8)

Jesus is still multiplying the bread
He is still feeding His people
He loves us
He loves you
He is constantly calling to us to come closer to Him

His Grace is here
His Grace is with us in many forms
Are you watching? 
Are you listening? 
Are  you participating?

Do you hear His call?
His invitation

To this moment of Grace…

Are you wise?

NYC – Metropolitan Museum of Art – Death of Socrates

The Death of Socrates
Jacques-Louis David (French, 1748-1825)
1787

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time July 5, 2026
Zec 9:9-10; Ps 14: Rom 8:9,10-13; Mt 11:25-30

They called him a gadfly, a trouble maker
He went around the town asking questions and embarrassing others
He was getting the attention of the youth
And they were listening to him

Socrates lived in Athens, Greece
His friend had asked the Oracle at the Temple Delphi if there was anyone wiser than Socrates
The Oracle said no one in Athens was as wise as Socrates

Socrates was surprised
Because he knew he wasn’t wise
So, he began to question the poets, politicians, and scholars to find someone wiser than he
He discovered these men were not wise, even though some of them thought they were wise

So, Socrates concluded that the reason the Oracle proclaimed him wise was because he knew that he wasn’t wise

Today, Jesus exclaims, “I give you praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to little ones.” (Matt 11:25)

“Jesus is heartened by those who accept him-- simple, humble people who do not trust in their own wisdom, and do not consider themselves to be wise and understanding.” (The Navarre Bible, 86)

He promises to give us rest
But how can we rest when he calls us to carry the cross? 


The fourth Sorrowful Mystery of the Rosary 
The carrying of the Cross
Simon of Cyrene is made to carry the cross of Jesus
Jesus couldn’t carry the cross alone
Simon of Cyrene was there to help him

I don’t have to carry my cross alone
I have Jesus and His Church to help me

A yoke is designed to help the oxen shoulder the load easier
A cross is not designed to be carried 
It is bulky and hard to drag
The yoke of Christ makes our burden light

Jesus is calling us all to come to him
He will give us rest
So let us all take up His yoke and lighten our load
“For [his] yoke is easy, and [his] burden is light” (Matt 11: 30)

The Humility List

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time
2 Kings 4:8-11; Ps 89; Rom 6:3-4, 8-11; Mt 10:37-42

“Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me,
and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me;
and whoever does not take up his cross
and follow after me is not worthy of me.
Whoever finds his life will lose it,
and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matt 10)

Jesus doesn’t mince any words
He tells it like it is
Being a follower of Jesus is a radical commitment 
Jesus is calling us to love him more than our families 

He is asking us to take up his cross and follow him
To lose our life
To die to ourself

How do we do that? 
How do I die to myself? 
When Jesus says our discipleship involves the Cross, what does this mean for you and me? 

St. Paul encourages the disciples at Philippi to:
“Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves,
each looking out not for his own interests, but [also] everyone for those of others.
Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus,*

Who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God something to be grasped.

Rather, he emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
coming in human likeness;
and found human in appearance,

he humbled himself,
becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.” (Phil 2:3-8)

Have the same attitude as Christ Jesus
Who humbled himself 


So how do we become like Jesus? 
How do we become humble? 

The other day I was on my walk around town
And I came upon a woman working in her yard
I stopped and said hi and we visited a little 

She shared we me that she was teaching a Bible class at her church
She shared with me that she really liked Mother Teresa’s prayer of humility 

Although, I had heard of the Litany of Humility
I had not heard of this prayer of humility by Mother Teresa

So, I googled it….
I didn’t find a prayer, but I found a list
Saint Mother Teresa’s Humility List

Here it is:
1. Speak as little as possible about yourself.

2. Keep busy with your own affairs and not those of others.

3. Avoid curiosity.

4. Do not interfere with the affairs of others.

5. Accept small irritations with good humor.

6. Do not dwell on the faults of others.

7. Accept censures even if unmerited.

8. Give into the will of others.

9. Accept insults and injuries.

10. Accept contempt, being forgotten and disregarded.

11. Be courteous and delicate even when provoked by someone.

12. Do not seek to be admired and loved.

13. Do not protect yourself behind your own dignity.

14. Give in, in discussions, even when you are right.

15. Choose always the most difficult task.

When we are humble, we put ourself last
We put Jesus Christ first
And we love our neighbor

We use our gifts for the Glory of God
We take up the Cross of Christ
And follow him…

Counter-cultural

Cropped and straightened by JD; original photograph by Fennec., CC BY-SA 2.0 DE https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/de/deed.en, via Wikimedia Commons

Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ June, 7, 2026
Corpus Christi

Dt 8;2-3, 14b-16a; Ps 147; 1 Cor 10:16-17; Jn 6: 51-58

Today, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ also known as Corpus Christi

A few years ago, Teague and I were touring Germany about this time of year
One Thursday, our tour guide told us that it was a national holiday in Germany, and that many of the stores would be closed
The holiday was Corpus Christi

The feast of Corpus Christi is normally celebrated on Thursday following Trinity Sunday
I found it interesting that Corpus Christi was still being celebrated as a national holiday in Germany
The nation of Germany has become secular
The majority of the nation doesn’t practice any type of religion
So, I found it interesting that Germany still observed a Catholic solemnity as a holiday

It shows how strong and lasting culture can be
At one time Germany was a very Catholic nation
Catholic feast days were observed by the entire nation
In fact, the feast days were observed all over Europe
Today, many Europeans are Catholic in name only 
And do not practice their faith.

The United States is not a Catholic nation
The Feast of Corpus Christi is transferred to Sunday in the United States so more people can participate
The American culture is not Catholic
Christmas is the only Catholic feast I can think of that the American culture recognizes

It is hard to be Catholic in the American culture
The American culture conflicts with Catholic culture often

Here are some examples:
Catholics are expected to work on Holy Days
School lunchrooms only have a meat option on Fridays during Lent
Track meets are run on Good Friday
To be Catholic in the United States is to be counter cultural

We can’t change the culture of America overnight
But we can influence our own culture
We have our own culture here at Sacred Heart and Cristo Redentor

We have fish frys during Lent
We sing traditional hymns in our masses
We pray the rosary before funerals
We celebrate Our Lady of Guadalupe
We have the the Mexican dance groups, Guadalupanas, Men’s group, Charismatic group, and have had other organizations throughout the years
We have the Jamaica fundraiser
This church building and the art and decorations are part of our culture

These help us remember
Remember where we came from
It’s important for us to remember our ancestors
Those who came before us
Those who built this church

The Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is coming in one week
This is the feast day of our church
We should come together and celebrate this day

For over twenty years, I have seen priests try to bring the parish together and celebrate this day
But not many people come
I want to encourage you all to come to the feast
Come to the mass 
Come to the dinner after, and celebrate the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ
Celebrate the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Spearman

Cristo Redentor is a part of Sacred Heart of Jesus in Spearman 
Cristo Redentor is a fruit of the Sacred Heart of Jesus
I encourage Cristo Redentor to come and celebrate the Sacred Heart of Jesus

As we celebrate today the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ
We remember Jesus
We remember that Jesus is always present 
We can see His presence in the Eucharist 
We remember that Jesus is present in the most Holy Body and Blood
“Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life,” (Jn 6)

To believe in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist is to be counter cultural
To believe that Jesus is present Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Eucharist is Catholic

We remember, we celebrate, we believe… 

Be Thou My Vision

Carl is an old friend from college. I still remember him telling me my favorite joke about the three legged dog that walked into the bar. The dog looked at the bartender and said, “Barkeep, all I want to know is who shot my Pa?

Carl called me last fall. He had been going to the Catholic Church. Carl was Catholic, but hadn’t really been to church in quite some time. Anyway, he and his wife had been attending his local church, and his wife was going to OCIA, which stands for the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults. His wife was Confirmed and came into the Church this past Easter Vigil.

During these past few months, Carl has called or texted a few times to tell me about their journey and all the things he has learned. It is always a blessing to hear from him, and how God is working in his life.

Towards the end of Easter, Carl called me and said, “Winger, I’ve got a story.” It began with him riding around in his pickup listening to Catholic radio. I asked him to write it down, so I’ll let him tell it….

As I recall, I was in the ranch truck heading to Fredericksburg to get feed, most likely coming from our ranch in Harper. I always listen to EWTN, the Catholic station, during the 12:00–2:00 p.m. hour. It has filled the void left by Rush Limbaugh.

A children’s story came over the airwaves — a story about Saint Bega. It ran for several minutes and told of her devotion to God and her interaction with angels. In the background, there was a melody playing softly, almost indistinctly: a violin and harp playing a haunting tune.

It struck me as beautiful.

Several times, I tried to identify the instrumental using the Shazam app on my iPhone, which can recognize songs by listening to them. At least five times it came back as “undiscernible,” perhaps because the music was so faint. Finally, it caught the tune: “Be Thou My Vision.”

I was delighted. I had never heard that hymn before.

I looked it up on my Amazon Music subscription and listened to various artists until I found the version I recognized — the instrumental by the Webb Family.

At the end of the day, back home, I told my wife, Rhesa, about the song. She, a former Baptist, had never heard it either. I told her how beautiful and haunting it sounded to me and said, “I would like that played at my funeral.”

Of course, she looked at me a little sideways.

I then asked her, “Do you think Amy Vorhees, the music director at Saint Mary’s, would know and play this song at a Mass if requested?”

She replied, “You can only ask.”

The week went by. One day I even tried to play it on our piano. I have no musical training, but I managed to bang out a few notes from the opening riff.

Sunday came, and we were headed to the 9:00 a.m. Mass — running a little behind, but still manageable.

We arrived at our front gate, where we can either go left or right toward Fredericksburg. Going left is a bit longer but fully paved. Going right is paved for a while and then turns into a dirt county road. Rhesa had just gotten a new car, and it was spotless.

We sat at the gate briefly discussing which way to go. Finally, I said, “We’re running a little late. Let’s go right. It’s a little dusty, but not bad since we recently had rain.”

So we headed right.

About a mile up the road, we saw a large whitetail buck tangled in our fence, completely suspended off the ground by his antlers, which were caught through the wire. We stopped, and I tried briefly to help him. He was very much alive — struggling and kicking.

Our ranch hand lives nearby, so I contacted him, explained the situation, and asked him to bring a rope.

At first, we decided to continue on to Fredericksburg. But another half mile down the road, I had the feeling he would need help getting the buck free. I told Rhesa, “I need to go back and help.”

We turned around. Rhesa dropped me off and headed back to the house to get another rope.

Shortly thereafter, help arrived. After a brief struggle, we managed to free the buck. He was fine — his antlers a little messed up — but he ran off.

A few minutes later, Rhesa returned, and I got back in the car. By then, though, it was too late to make Mass in Fredericksburg.

We discussed what to do. Rhesa suggested, “Let’s just go to the 11:00 Mass.”

I replied, “That’ll take up most of the day.”

Then she said, “Why don’t we just go to Saint Anthony’s in Harper? It’s closer, and we can still make the 9:00.”

Agreed.

We headed to Harper.

When we arrived, a friendly parishioner greeted us and mentioned that, because it was Mother’s Day, they were having a fish supper and Mass had been moved to 9:30.

We took our seats in the pews and waited. The Rosary was prayed, and then Mass began at 9:30.

The entrance procession began with a hymn. But the very next hymn played in that little church in Harper, Texas, was “Be Thou My Vision.”

I sat there in total amazement, looking over at Rhesa and thinking about how the Holy Spirit works.

When I heard Carl’s story, I just laughed. I told him a similar story that Teague had with a song that she had been thinking about. Carl wondered what the odds were of all these things happening like they did. I told him that I had heard once that there were no coincidences, only God-incidences, and this wasn’t a coincidence. He asked me if he should tell his priest, and I told him for sure he should tell him.

Carl called a few days ago, and I asked him if he had told his priest the story yet. He said, “No, he hadn’t been to see him,” “but he said, “I know what he’s going to say.”

I asked, “What?”

Carl replied that his priest would say, “The Holy Spirit was with you that day!”

Discerning the Priesthood

This is my son Ryan, and how he discerned the priesthood. I am very proud of him.

The Seventh Word

Steve Evans from Citizen of the World, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Gruver Community Good Friday Service April 3, 2026
The Last Words of Christ - The Seventh Word

“It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, while the sun’s light failed, and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” Having said this, he breathed his last.” (LK 23:44-46 NRSVUE)

The last and perfect prayer from the pulpit of the cross (Fulton Sheen)
Man had tried to kill Jesus
But he couldn’t be killed

He is the God-Man
He has given His all 
“[Jesus], fully aware that the Father had put everything into his power
and that he had come from God and was returning to God,” (Jn 13)
Is allowing Himself to die -- 
“He is giving the last drop of His precious blood for the redemption of the world.” (Sheen)
Jesus is bringing about “the death of Death” (Sheen)

Jesus is gives Himself to the Father

“Father, into your hands I commend my spirit” (Lk 23:46)

“Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus,

Who, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God
something to be grasped.

Rather, he emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
coming in human likeness;
and found in human appearance,
he humbled himself,
becoming obedient to death,
	even death on a cross.

Because of this, God greatly 
exalted him
 and bestowed on him the name
that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
of those in heaven and on earth
	and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that 
Jesus Christ is Lord
to the glory of God the Father” (Phil 2:5-11)

I’m sorry, I was wrong, Please forgive me

I used to referee basketball. I loved reffing. I loved the game, being around the students, the coaches and the fans. Officiating basketball is one of the most competitive things that I have ever done. Referees are a competitive bunch. They want to be in the best games, and want to be the best ref on the court, and I was no different. I worked hard at refereeing. I studied the rulebook, went to officiating camps, and attended referee meetings.

It was at least 20 years ago. I had a “big game”. It was the last district game of the year for the Hereford and Palo Duro girls. They were both still in the running for the playoffs. The winner of the game made the playoffs and the loser went home.

The game was good. It was a tight and back and forth the entire game. In the final seconds, the game was tied, and I found myself in the “C” position on the court as the official. I would be responsible for counting or not counting any last second shot. I was standing at about the half court line when there was a loose ball near me. A Palo Duro girl was going for the ball, and a Hereford girl also was going for it and ran into the Palo Duro girl. I blew my whistle and called a foul on the Hereford girl just as the end of the game buzzer was sounding. I pointed for the Palo Duro girl to go to the free throw line.

Immediately, my co-official came to me and asked if the foul happened before the buzzer. I said yes, and he asked if I was sure because if it hadn’t we could just go into overtime. I held my ground, and said yes, I was sure. The Palo Duro girl went to the free throw line and made the free throw to win the game. Me and my co-officials ran off the floor to the dressing room.

While we were in the dressing room, my co-official said, “You realize you will never referee for Hereford ever again. I just sat there, and we discussed the play again.

When we went back on the floor for the boys game, the Hereford coach was waiting in the hallway. He hollered at me. I just kept walking.

On by drive home, I couldn’t get the last play out of my mind. I called the secretary for the Referee Association and told him what happened. I told him he might get a call from the Hereford coach to complain about me. He told me not to worry about it.

I didn’t sleep very well that night, and I couldn’t quit thinking about that last play and whether I had made the right call or not. The next morning I got up, and went to my computer and wrote a letter to the Hereford coach. I told him how I saw the play, and that “technically” the call was correct. But in basketball officiating there is the rule of Advantage/Disadvantage. When using advantage/disadvantage to call a game an official would let a bump go and not call a foul if neither player gained an advantage or disadvantage. I explained in my letter that where the play happened on the floor and as the buzzer was sounding there was no advantage or disadvantage, and I should have made a “no call” and let the game go into overtime.

And then I wrote him, “I was wrong, I’m sorry, Please forgive me.” And I mailed the letter and never heard anything.

The next season when I got my refereeing schedule, I couldn’t believe it when I saw the last regular season game on my schedule was Hereford versus Palo Duro. I couldn’t believe the coach hadn’t scratched me from the game. In fact, all season long I was expecting to get taken out of the game. But when the game came around, I was still in it. There was only one thing different. I was the “R”. I was the head referee. As the “R”, I was responsible for checking the official books before the game to make sure everything was good to go. I walked across the court to get the book, and took it over to the Hereford coach. I handed him the book and said, “Thanks for having us coach.”

The coach was looking at his book checking his line up. He never looked up. But he said, “I’ve never received a letter like that before. I didn’t know how to respond. I told him that me just being in this game was response enough.

The scenario was the exact same as the year before. The winner would make the playoffs and the loser went home. It was a close back and forth game all night long. In the final seconds of the game, Palo Duro was leading, and Hereford had the ball to shoot the last shot to win. And yes, I was in the “C” position again, and I would be responsible for deciding if the shot would count or not. A Hereford player dribbled down the court, and she shot just as the buzzer was sounding… but she missed the shot. The game was over and Palo Duro won.

I used to always tell this story to my college classes when they pointed out a mistake that I made in class. It’s always good to admit when you are wrong, be sorry, and ask forgiveness.

Confession is good for the soul.

Our education is never finished…

Gruver Junior High School

One of the blessings of retirement is that I have the opportunity to substitute at the school. I grew up in that school, and I have fond memories of my teachers, classmates, and all the adventures I had.

I was subbing in the Jr. High one day, and I was telling the principal that my mom told me that when they built the Jr. High the pinnacle on one of the columns was purposely left unfinished. It symbolized that one’s education is never finished. The prinicipal said that she had heard that too, but had also heard that there was another reason for it being unfinished, but couldn’t remember the exact details. I told her that I would ask my Mom again to see if I could find out more about the story.

Last week, I was driving home from Mass. It was about 7:00 a.m., and the rosy fingers of dawn were embracing our little town. As I drove east down Broadway, I could see a silhouette of the Jr. High with the sunrise behind it. I noticed the unfinished pinnacle on the column at the entrance, and I thought about my Mom’s story. That it was left that way on purpose because “Our education is never finished…”

I remembered my conversation with the principal, and I thought that I had never remembered to ask Mom. I turned down the street to my house, and I thought to myself. “Well… I can’t ask her now.”

A tinge of sadness struck at my heart, and I drove home on a cold January morning.