Good afternoon. When Mary Gallagher asked me to share my thoughts on what the "Church" means to me I was quick to answer yes. I thought that with the "church" being such an important part of my life this would be a simple task. Instead, what I soon realized is that this is a very personal subject, and not easy to put into words.

Let me give you a very brief summary of my background. Actually today my wife Judee and I are celebrating our 33rd wedding anniversary. We have two wonderful sons, Gregory and Patrick. We also have Emily, and to quote her, our almost six year old granddaughter. I am a townie, which means other than being away for college I have lived my life in Middleboro.

My religious background is probably quite different than most of yours. I was not born into a Catholic family. In fact my mother is a Methodist and my dad came from a strict Baptist home. My only early connections to Sacred Heart were playing basketball against them in the Church League and going to Midnight Mass with my friends on Christmas Eve.

When Judee and I got married I agreed to bring our children up in the Catholic Church. But I made it clear to her that I was happy as I was and not to push church on me. I used to drop Judee off at Mass and I would sit outside (that door) in the car and read the Sunday newspaper. When Greg came along I started to go to Mass with my family. Without realizing it I started to help Judee as she participated in events at Sacred Heart. Most parishioners probably thought that I was already a Catholic.

In 1985 one of the co-pastors, named father Bob Terrell, stopped me one Sunday as we were leaving church. He wanted to know if I would be interested in attending classes on becoming a Catholic. I said that I would be interested, and on March 24th 1986 I was both baptized and confirmed by father Bob. As you can see I am not well educated about our church. Most of you probably attended religious education classes for as many as 10 to 12 years. What I am about to share with you about what church means to me comes from the heart, not from years of study.

Before I relate some of the things that church is to me I would like to share with you one thing that church is not to me. It isn't about buildings. I have had the opportunity to attend wonderful masses on the top of a mountain, at the side of a swimming pool in New Hampshire (by the way that was on a CYO Ski Trip), at a Hawaiian restaurant in Disney World and in the forest at the Cathedral of the Pines to name a few. You see, to me Church is about what is being said, not where it is said.

Now here are some of the things that church is to me:

• Church is seeing your children become altar servers.
• Church is celebrating your children being baptized and confirmed.
• Church is the wonderful celebrations at Easter and Christmas.
• Church is the giving tree during the Christmas holiday.
• Church is a community coming together to pray for a friend that was gravely injured, and having your prayers answered.
• Church is attending mass with your family and friends.
• Church is having an entire parish participate in removing the pews and refinishing the floor of the church.
• Church is having game nights for the children.
• Church is a source of comfort when we sorrow. When my dad died I remember thinking that there was no way that I could have handled his death without the support that I felt from the church. (As a matter of fact I remember saying that I could not imagine dealing with the death of a loved one if you didn't believe in God.)
• The church is attending a confirmation retreat and watching young adults transform from unhappy participants to participants that are eager to be involved.
• Church is the wonderful music that is provided here at Sacred Heart.
• Church is a Christmas Fair in the Parish Hall.

My list could go on and on, but I would like to close with one last meaning of what church is to me. I would ask that you simply look around you this afternoon. You will see what church means most to me:

It is about the young and the old.
Church is a giving and caring community.
Church is about us.

May God Bless You.