One Year

Sacred Heart Church hosted the one-year anniversary mass for Fr. Michael last week on March 13th, 2010. The mass was celebrated by Fr. Anthony Sorgie, long time family friend and classmate of my brother. My family announced the commencement of the Father Michael Memorial Scholarship which will be offered to one student from Sacred Heart School or Sacred Heart's CCD program to attend a Catholic high school in New York City. We will award $1,000 toward the secondary education of a student who has a good academic record and who is actively involved in the parish. An essay along with academic records and a letter of recommendation from a parishoner will be required for the application. More information will be available here and in the Sacred Heart bulletin as it becomes available.

Several hundred family members, SH parishioners as well as parishioners of Michael's former parishes, were in attendance. After the mass, fellowship was held in the school gymnasium where a video of Michael's last years was screened for the attendees.

Of note: There was a very nice booklet handed out at the end of the mass which included pictures of Michael along with some quotes from the prayer journal he kept during his cancer treatments. The family is somewhat concerned that some private information that is out of context might give those who do not know my mother, the impression that she is obsessed with money. This is not the case. My mother has been battling dementia for some time now and this is something that weighed hard on Michael's heart in his dying days, as it does on the hearts of all of her family. He was praying that her mind would become clearer. One consequence of my mother's dementia is a great confusion about numbers and an obsession with the mail. This has lead to a focus on bank statements which confuse her greatly. Though this is a perfectly common situation in the lives of persons fighting brain disease, taken out of context, it may make some think that my mother is greedy or sinfully obsessed with money, which is exactly the opposite of her nature. My mother has always been extraordinarily generous despite growing up poor and being of modest means - much like Michael - and she is neither greedy, nor immorally obsessed with money. I know that anyone who is familiar with my mother knows what a wonderful person she is. We apologize if this quote caused anyone any confusion.