Read the Instructions: As I mentioned a few weeks ago, there has been a concerted effort in doing a deepdive on some “spring cleaning” around the parish campus. With the deepdive spring cleaning tasks, a few have been wandering around to now vacant offices to “pilfer” items that got left behind from former occupants. Unfortunately, however, I’ve spread my work to some of the now unoccupied offices. Sister Carol’s old office, for example, which is across from my office, is now my computer support room. This is where I’ll take apart a computer, do what I need to do and then put it back together. As a result, there are piles of old hard drives, memory sticks and computer tools all over the place. Some have their woodshops; I have my “techshop.” Now some on staff (truth be told one of the newest members of the staff) have wandered into occupied domains looking for things to trash or clean up. If I had the time, my places would be impeccably clean. Since I don’t have time, things pile up. Such is life!
Earlier this week, I discovered my techshop was once again the focus of attention. It’s a mess and will always be a mess. That’s the way it works. Now granted, someone came and swiped an old lamp and a filing cabinet but seriously, just let my mess stay a mess! I know where everything is. On this one particular day last week when my rooms were again the focus of attention, I happened to be in one of those mischievous moods. As a result, I went looking for some yellow “crime scene” or caution tape I thought I had sitting around. My goal was to mark off my end of the hallway with the tape as a joke. Since I couldn’t find my roll of caution tape, I found some evidence tape I had sitting on my desk. One of the investigators I work with downtown gave me this roll of evidence tape. It’s been sitting on my desk for eons and I’ve never touched it. So I decided that day was the day to bring out the evidence tape to mark off my end of the building. In essence, I wanted to create a “do not enter” part of my office wing. It was going to be the equivalent of posting a huge “DO NOT ENTER” sign on my door like I did when I was a kid in the hopes that my sisters would stay out of my room (which never worked). Originally, I thought about cutting off several pieces of this evidence tape and creating a vertical line of it down the wall. I’m glad I didn’t! After applying the first section of tape, I went and proudly showed off my work to others in the office. I called people down to my end of the hall and jokingly informed them that anything beyond the evidence tape marking was my area and there was no need to enter or attempt to rummage through stuff.
We had our laughs and it was now time to take the tape off the wall; the game was done and it was time to get back to work When I tried to scrape off the tape, my heart sank. I found out that evidence tape doesn’t peel off things too easily. That’s why it’s evidence tape! Now the laugh was clearly on me! As I tried to peel the tape off the wall, it disintegrated into pieces and the red dye on the label was now marking up the painted wall. UGH! I quickly retrieved a razor blade, a putty knife, some Goo-Gone and finally a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser to help me undo what I did. This was now a major mess. I was scrubbing and scrapping away, all the while making a mess of things. Eventually, I noticed the paint was coming off the wall. Oh my! One staff member stopped by and said I should have taken the easy way out and simply move the picture that was next to the spot that was now the center of attention. But I was bound and determined to get this tape off the wall. After about a half hour of work, I did what I could; but it was only about a C- job! I guess I should have read the instructions before playing around with this tape. The instructions read: “SIRCHMARK Evidence Tape is a multipurpose integrity assurance tape that may be applied to virtually any surface. Attempts to remove SIRCHMARK from nonporous surfaces will result in the tape’s shredding into pieces. When applied to porous surfaces such as paper products, removal results in damage or destruction of this type of surface.” Yikes! Well, the mark on the wall will always remind me of my evidence tape escapade. A canon lawyer I might be but an evidence technician I’m not!
Asleep at the Switch: Recently, I went to the home page of a parish in northern Michigan to look up something. In the process of doing my research, I noticed the parish was highlighting an upcoming Sacrament of the Sick Anointing Mass. The news item was front and center on their home page. But I had a good laugh because the picture associated with the event was a picture of a priest blessing a casket. After enjoying a good laugh, I called the parish and encouraged them to change the picture if they wanted anyone to show up at the anointing mass!
Respect Life Sunday: This weekend, Catholics nationwide celebrate Respect Life Sunday with the theme: “Every Life: Cherished, Chosen, Sent.” The Respect Life Program, sponsored by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, started in 1972 and begins anew each October – the month set aside by the U.S. bishops as “Respect Life Month.” The Respect Life Program is a year-round, nationwide effort to help Catholics understand, value and become more engaged in building a culture that cherishes every human life. In offering a short reflection on this year’s Respect Life Program theme, the U.S. bishops note: “The essence of our identity is that we are created in God’s image and likeness and loved by Him. Nothing can diminish the priceless worth of any human life. Every person is cherished! God creates every person for eternal union with Himself and continually invites us to embrace a loving relationship with Him. Every person is chosen. We are called to be messengers of God’s love, treating one another as cherished and chosen by Him. In doing so, we help build a culture that respects all human life. Every person is sent.” May we see the value of every human life and understand that every person is cherished, chosen and sent by God. When we embrace this understanding of life we help build a culture that cherishes all human life!