100 Thanks 2024
1. The altar of sacrifice where I bring my people closer to the heaven
2. The confessional where I get to free my people from the chains of sin
3. Those sacred 10 minutes or so every week where I preach the Sunday homily
4. The nerves I still get before every Mass after 22 years of priesthood
5. When the choir lifts our souls to heaven
6. When the people actually sing
7. A church full of people and full of children and young families
8. The joyful chaos of the children’s collection as Christ’s little ones approach his altar
9. The sound the children make
10. The stillness and quiet of an empty church
11. The dozens of “good morning” greetings that I get walking to school
12. First graders holding up THE U sign
13. 8th grade Thanksgiving lists
14. Reading all of them and compiling a collective list
15. 20 years of doing this divine exercise with my kids
16. Teachers and the sacrifices they make every day
17. Teacher Appreciation Week
18. Room Moms
19. Full School Open Houses (more like bursting at the seams)
20. The happy problem of having too many families wanting to enter our school
21. That Mass attendance has shot up
22. That our gym was finally approved by the Board of Architects (I think…)
23. That the Carmelite Sisters pray for me every single day
24. Their Mother House in Alhambra, California
25. Visiting Los Angeles for the first time
26. That I don’t get what the big deal is about In N Out Burger (It’s like my Lil Sebastian)
27. The majestic Pacific Ocean which always leaves me speechless
28. Waking up to a 61-degree morning in August with no humidity
29. Air Conditioners that work
30. Snow during the March for Life in D.C.
31. Snowball fights with my favorite people after the March
32. The crab cakes at Clyde’s
33. That Amendment 4 was defeated
34. Using a sledgehammer to demolish something (both therapeutic and an incredible workout)
35. City of Miami Fire Rescue
36. Being their chaplain
37. Washing feet
38. The Holy Thursday Altar of Repose and all its visitors
39. When my kids start having kids (and there were a whole lot of them this year)
40. When I get to baptize them
41. When their kids start receiving their First Communion
42. “Mass should be your excuse for missing everything else.”
43. 8th grade reunions
44. Finally walking across the top of the arched breezeway (shhh)
45. Granada golf course
46. That crazy birdie on the 3rd and later in the year on the 4th
47. The Wizard of Oz
48. “There’s No Place Like Home.”
49. The Wicked Movie
50. “Everyone deserves a chance to fly”
51. Those last 15 minutes
52. Karaoke Nights
53. “Oh that voice…”
54. Diamond Dog movie nights
55. That Ted Lasso is coming back (maybe?)
56. “Be a goldfish”
57. "Guys have underestimated me my entire life. And for years, I never understood why. It used to really bother me. But then one day, I was driving my little boy to school, and I saw this quote by Walt Whitman, and it was painted on the wall there. It said, 'Be curious, not judgmental.' I like that."
58. “Don’t you dare settle for `fine’. You deserve someone who makes you feel like you’ve been struck by lightning,”
59. The West Wing Thanksgiving episodes
60. Pilgrim detectives!
61. “I'm just sayin', we've been working hard and we'd prefer to watch football rather than listen to a history of the yam in Latin.”
62. “Butterball has a hotline? God I’m sorry, I love my country.”
63. Friends Thanksgiving Episodes
64. “Custard? Good. Jam? Good. Meat? Good."
65. "My Two Greatest Enemies: Rachel Green And Complex Carbohydrates."
66. Reggie’s redemption! 🫡
67. That my oldest nephew graduated from Belen Jesuit
68. That he got to go away to college
69. Rediscovering the joys of going on a cruise
70. Sitting on the balcony of your stateroom with the moon perfectly reflecting off a calm sea
71. Praying the Divine Office on that balcony
72. Seeing the coast of Cuba on the horizon and hoping, praying
73. Finding that beautiful little church in Curacao right near the beach and kneeling before the Blessed Sacrament
74. Off roading in Aruba
75. Jumping off a cliff!
76. Driving around Bonaire in an ATV with very precious cargo
77. Silent disco
78. That one martini bar
79. Traveling with extended family and enriching our friendship
80. Sunsets in the Florida Keys
81. Breakfast in hole in the wall diners in the Florida Keys
82. The unexpected gathering of my home parish for a funeral Mass…a flashback to the 90s
83. Going to the World Series in the Bronx
84. Roll call in the right field bleachers and getting drenched by beer after an Aaron Judge home run
85. Any sandwich in any deli in New York City
86. The Florida Panthers hoisting the Stanley Cup
87. The Miami Dolphins frustrating me to no end, but what else is new?
88. Cam Ward and the 2024 Canes
89. Satisfied reunions when everyone is there
90. Family happy hours
91. Negative cancer diagnoses
92. Kids that know me way too well and aren’t afraid to get in my face
93. For the gift of my family spiritual director who was called home to God this year. Well done, good and faithful servant
94. Old friendships that endure time and distance
95. Random, out of the blue phone calls I receive to share good news
96. The lists I make specifically for others
97. My parish family that challenges me everyday to be holy priest
98. My actual family that love me unconditionally (mom, dad, sister, brother in-law, nephews)
99. That I get to spend Thanksgiving with them
100. That I get to wake up every morning and be the pastor of the Church of the Little Flower and share my priesthood with the people of God
