my name is michael
i was raised a strict catholic, by a irish catholic father,
born days off the boat, and a quaker mother, whose family
on both sides were best freinds with willaim penn
john middleton, and john armor,
i married a jewish girl, like all 6 of my younger brothers and sisters
my father was a maryknoll missionary to china for 3 years,
and later a trappist monk for 4 years , and was taught by thomas merton in kentucky as a young brother.
only to leave and marry at 35 to my mother 10 years his younger,
when my father retired 20 years ago at 62 , he joined mother treasa s group the brothers of charity in Los Angeles, for 5 years, ,. he took the nazirite vow 40 years ago, and has been sober and sigle ever since.
he started 2 half way houses in phila pa, 30 years ago, one is called the mother of perpeptual help house and there is always
20 to 25 men living there for 25$ a week ,
he also started a 3rd order -the brothers of our lady of mount carmel. – it has many members and 1 dozen chapters
they say the rosary in his house twice a week and talk about lifes challanges after reading out of the new tesament.
i remember when i was 12 i went to live with my father,1972
and he took me to a caramlilte monestery, descesaed(silence)
where i 1st met sister pia, a young nun who recently came from
italy, where she was getting masters in art in turin , she was a non practicing protastant from a very very wealthy philadephia
famliy, she was walking down the street in turin, when she bumped into an old preist, (PADRIO PIO) who proceded to convert her on the spot to the catholic church in a matter of minutes,
and withen the hour to also join the decealed carmalite order, back in philadephhia
where she took a vow of silence and poverty and chasity.
ive been seeing and talking with sister pia since i was 12,
and ive done a lot of construction work at the monastary
pretty much every year or so for 33 years
and sister would always say to me when i was leaving at the end of the day" MICHAEL WE ALL JEWISH"
for years i just let it go over my head with little thought,
"i thought she said it because i had a jewish wife , jewisjhchilderen and jewish grandchildren,
then i recalled when i was 16 my fathers mother from ireland
died, and they called a rabbi, because she wore a star of david
all her life around her neck, of course they finally called a preist
but it was a mystery.
in catholic school and high school i was taught that the old testament was dead, and that i should always be reading the new tesament,
and not untill i was 35 years old did i begin a to study the old testament, with the aid of a mesiannic rabbi who grew up orthodox in the bronx, he had a masters in theology and a masters in pharmacolagy
he also had a great mentor and it shined in all he did and said,
all the while i was studing jesus,s- preaching of the KINGDOM for 10 years, with no revealation or undrstanding what so ever,.
i too had taken the nazirite vow, and have not had a drink in 24 years
but it was not untill my father, practically begged me , to take a bus ride with him to place outside of clevland
a 9 hour bus ride from phila,
it was a farm house on a farm in the middle of no where,
it was a place where my father said , jesus and his mother mary
were talking to some unknown woman there
i had seen enough miricles in my life time, that i did not need to ride o bus for nine hours to see a miricle, i beleived already,
i when to honer my father( my very good father)
i met a guy on the bus from the old neiborhood, he was 4 years older, then be we talked all the way there , and then off the bus,
out to the field to the place where there was a statue of our lady
on top of a 20 foot trelles, as we stopped walking and talking , we both looked up at the statue, and i asked michael debello,
does that statue have a bright bright blue shawl wraped around a white stond statue, he looked at me and said , no, it all white stone.
i looked at him, and just said “time to go” as i walked back to get my gym bag, a number of people wanted to know waht i saw,
how did they even know i saw anything, , there was a group leader lady who kept up with me while i walked pestering me about what did you see, i told her " i diden’t see anything"
i got my bag and left the farm, and got a cab down the road and went to the airport, i had to pay 800 dolarrs for a 1 way flight home to phila, , it normally cost 150.00
they searched me good, they though someone spending 800 for a ticket was odd.
six monts later , michael debello , died of a heart attack
during a kidney transplant ,donated by his sister,
and as far as i went , something happened on fathers day that year, it was like a thousand doors opened in my mind.
i love history, know more then most about religion,
i been reading at least a book a week for 35 years,
the study on the jesus’s preaching hit me all at once when those
doors seemed to open
i told my father who is 82, about it, ive been taking care of him now for 2 years, he can not walk, so its a lot of work.
but he is sharp as a tack and always joyfull.
anyway he told me something after i explained my spirtual experence in the car on fathers day.
" he said " i was give a gift ,one of the gifts , promised at the farm in ohio"by our lady and jesus - it - is called
“ILUMANATION OF CONSCIENCE”
and that i was not the only one it happened to .
i just shook my head. , and went on living the best i can.
michael
was something
