ON BEING
INTERVIEWED
INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily for today’s St. Mary’s Lawn Mass is, “On Being
Interviewed.”
ON BECOMING
A REPORTER
About 15 years
ago I was at a Mass for our confirmation class at St. Gerard’s Parish, Lima,
Ohio.
Bishop Hoffman,
the Bishop of Toledo, was speaking to our young people.
He stood there in
front of the Confirmation Class and asked, “Does anyone here want to become a
newspaper reporter when you grow up?”
He said he was
reading a newspaper the other day and the reporting was poor – terrible – and
he thought to himself, “We need some good Christian reporters, some good
Catholic newspaper writers.”
So he said that’s
why he was asking the question: “Does anyone here want to be to a newspaper
reporter when you grow up?”
Nobody raised
their hand!
So he said,
“Think about it?”
It’s now 15 years
later. I’ve often wondered if anyone in that group that day became a newspaper
reporter as a result of that question.
I’ve wondered at
times if there is any mention here at both St. Mary’s Elementary School or St.
Mary’s High School – about becoming a reporter. Does anyone teach kids how to
interview people and how to be interviewed.
Two times in the
past 12 years kids from our high school called me up and interviewed me for a
school project or what have you.
They asked some
basic interview questions:
- ·
“Where
are you from?”
- ·
“Where
did you go to school?”
- “When did you decide to become a priest?”
- “Why in the world did you become a priest?”
- ·
“Where
have you been as a priest?”
- ·
“What’s
the most interesting experience you’ve had as a priest?”
- ·
“How do
you come up with your sermon ideas?”
I would like to
add that every one of us will be interviewed and we will interview others all
through our life.
10, 15, 20, 30,
40, 50 years from now, we will be on a plane, a train, a bus, or in a bar, or
at the beach, or at a boring basketball game and we’re sitting next to a
stranger. And they will ask us the regular life questions:
·
“Where
are you from?”
·
“Do you
have any brothers and sisters?”
·
“Where
have you lived in your life?”
“Where did you go to school?”
·
“What
job do you have?”
“Where did you go to college or trade school or what have you?”
·
“Do you
have a family?”
·
“Were
you in the military?”
·
“What
teams do you go for?”
·
“Have
you ever met anyone famous?”
·
“What
was your best vacation?”
·
“What
was the best moment in your life so far?
·
“Are
your mom and dad still living?”
Those are some
regular interview questions.
We don’t call
them that. We just call them talking with another – usually one to one – at a
picnic or a ballgame or on a plane – a bus – or a train.
If we’re
interested in life, if we’re nosey, if we’re inquisitive, if we’re alive, if
we’re social, we interview and we like to be interviewed.
IN MY POCKET
I have here in my
pocket the 3 tools of a reporter. Father Tizio loves to have something to show
when he preaches. Show and Tell.
Here is a
ballpoint pen. If you want to be a reporter – or catch on paper – some of
life’s great stuff, always have a pen handy – in your pocket or purse.
Here is a small
spiral pad. I have well over 100 of these tiny notebook pads in my desk. They
contain all kinds of information that I picked up from reading – but especially
meeting people – going to talks – what have you.
Most of you can’t
see the leather protector for my small spiral pad. A gal in a wheelchair – in a
church near Rochester, New York – her initials were M.G. handed this to me once
as a gift. All I remember was the smile
on her face, the handing me the gift, and the wheelchair.
I have put over
100 of these small 3 inch by 5 inch pads in this homemade leather cover. They
stay there till they are filled up. Then in goes a new clean pad. I can pick up
anyone of these pads and find interesting stuff from way back – comments,
interviews, talks I’ve heard, neat bumper sticker quotes, etc. etc. etc.
This morning I
just opened this up and at random spotted this quote: “Babies diapers and
politics must be change frequently and both for the same reason.” George
Bernard Shaw
I wonder where I
spotted that quote.
I also noticed in
front about 20 tiny pages of notes from the commencement address of James
Patterson that I went to a few years back in New Jersey. He’s the guy who has the most written books
in the United States right now. He said in his talk that he went to Catholic
school in Newburgh, New York, was an altar boy, went to Manhattan College in
New York, went to Vanderbilt, and somewhere along the line, some teacher
reading his writing said, “Mr. Patterson, don’t ever try to make a living as a
writer.” So he went into the advertising business and in the meanwhile became a
writer.
And the last
thing in my pocket is this small tape recorder. It’s one more reporter’s
necessary tool. You’ve seen reporters interviewing Buck Showalter after an
Oriole game or an athlete after a game – and they have tape recorder in hand –
as they interview an athlete or a coach.
HERE’S A JOB FOR YOU
The title of my
homily is, “On Being Interviewed.”
Here’s a job for
you.
Interview your
mom and dad. Ask they how they met – what was it like growing up – their
favorite dessert – their favorite moment growing up?
If your
grandparents are alive still and they are not that far away, interview your
grandparents.
Get a tape
recorder. Get a ballpoint pen. Get a pad.
Interview. Interview. Interview them.
It’s magic. It
makes them feel that their life has been worthwhile, bringing you into the
world – and someone is interested in how they spent the time of their life.
Line up your
questions – ask them – clarify them – ask follow up questions.
Write their life.
I recently did a
funeral – and one of you kids is here today – and your grandpa loved it when
you interviewed him. He told me this
just before he died.
MY MOM AND MY DAD
Way back in 1969
– for some reason – I sat down with my dad – and at that time I had a big
Yellow Legal pad. My dad was very quiet. He didn’t say that much. That evening
at the dining room table, I jotted down about 45 pages of notes.
I asked him about
what it was like growing up in County Galway, Ireland – in a small town named
Ballynahown. I asked him about his mom and dad. I asked him about school. I
asked him about coming to America. He told me he took a boat from Ireland to Boston. He said
he had a 5 dollar bill in his pocket. He had a clean set of underwear in a bag.
He said he was told to arrive in America with a clean set of underwear. He said
the tossed the bag with his dirty underwear off the boat before they landed. He
was polluting the Boston Harbor. He told
me about working and looking for work in Boston, Portland, Maine, Philadelphia,
and then New York City. He told me about
writing love letters to my mom in Boston for 10 years – till she finally said,
“Yes!” They knew each other as teenagers
in Ireland. Those notes are precious writings. My dad died in 1970.
In 1987 – for
some reason – I decided one evening to interview my mother. She was very
healthy – still working – being a caretaker for a woman who was younger than
she was. This time I had a small tape recorder – with this tiny cassette – and
I tape recorded my mom’s story – where she was from – just a stone’s throw from
where my dad was from – right on the water at the edge of Galway Bay. I asked
her about school – there were just 2 rooms in their schoolhouse – one side for
boys, the other side for girls. First grade in Row 1, Second Grade in Row 2 and
up to Grade 5. She came to America – to
Boston – worked as a maid at the Adam’s House Hotel. She also worked for a lady
named Mrs. Brandt – whose daughter was a classmate of Anne Morrow in college –
so my mom met Charles Lindbergh – the pilot who made the first solo flight from
the United States to France.
After about 45
minutes of being interviewed, my mom said to me, “The moo is out of me.” Translation: I’m tired. I’ve said enough.
Then she said, “The next time you come home, we’ll get the rest of the story.”
Sad to say, two
weeks later, my mother was killed crossing the street in a hit and run
accident. She was still working at the age of 82.
This little tape
is precious to me. Yesterday was Mother’s Day and I sat there and listened to
some of her story again.
It is a very
powerful reminder to me of the importance and the power of interviewing people.
CONCLUSION
The title of my
homily is, “On Being Interviewed.” Go for it.
And we have over
1500 kids right here, right now – in this great big beautiful outdoor Mass.
What would it be
like, say 20 or 30 years from now, you’re on a plane or a train or in Pensacola
Florida and you’re talking with a stranger. And one of you says to the other,
“Hey, where are you from?” And the other answers, “Annapolis, Maryland.” And
the other says, “That’s funny. Me too.”
“Well,” the next
question is asked, “What school did you go to?” “St. Mary’s” comes the answer. “Well,
what years were you there?” And the other says, “Way back around 2014.” And the
other person says, “Me too.”
And you both
laugh, because you both were at this Mass way back on May 9, 2014 – and you didn’t
know it.
And one of you
says, “Yeah, remember the ducks. Quack. Quack! They landed right on the lawn next to the altar right in the middle of the
Mass and everyone laughed!”
