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!”