Once a year in the month of May when you and I are together, I read children’s letters to God and I heard not long ago that one member of this Parish whose name was not divulged to me said, "It’s May again and Dibble again will trot out those kids’ letters to God again. I don’t know his name yet. (Laughter) Or maybe it was a she? I understand the slur, so that’s why in the past year the kids over in the Christ the King School have been sending me letters, a whole pile of them, mostly from the 2nd and 3rd grades. So they are new. The ones you hear today are new except for three are repeats because I love three of them especially. I have a timer here, okay, set for ten minutes. And then when it beeps it means I’ve got two minutes to go. (Laughter)

"Why is Sunday School on Sunday? I thought Sunday was supposed to be a day of rest. Sincerely, Tom."

Little kid, "Dear God, it rained for one whole vacation and is my Father mad. He said some things about you that people are not suppose to say, but I hope you will not hurt him. Your Friend, but I’m not going to tell you who I am."

This is one I identify with. I mean when I was a kid. "Dear God, Please send Dennis Clark to a different summer camp this year." That boy’s name was Peter. Okay.

Now there is a gentleman, a good friend, best friend of mine who drives me hither and dither during the week. I don’t have a car. And I mentioned to this gentleman – by the way he was not educated a Roman Catholic, but he is alert and alive to the words and the personality of Christ as few others I have ever met in my life; and I’m a Priest on the alter so I’m not exaggerating. He is alive to Christ’s words. Anyhow I said to him in the car, I said "Oh, I’m going to be giving children’s’ letters to God" and then he mused his driving as best I can remember he said, "Let’s see, what would I ask God in a letter?" said he. "I would ask God why do you wait until the 11th hour before I get an answer to my prayer." I remained discreetly silent. And then he said, "God would answer, I don’t know times." And in theology we studied that for a month, that God does not approach the spatial temporal dimensions of earth. I don’t know time in the sense that he knows it or in the word now. So don’t get impatient, and this guy didn’t.

Next one. "How come people don’t believe that Jesus is your Son? How come the moon is our sister and the sun is our brother?" I don’t know the theology of that statement. "How come we weren’t there to see Jesus with our own eyes?" Wow! People want to see Jesus with their own eyes. Amen.

Okay, this kid is Michael Murphy. "Questions: Is it always sunny in Heaven? Do you eat? Do you sleep? Is there colors? Is there houses? Can I bring my dog when I die?" Now, I hope none of you stops when a little kid talks about domestic pets going to Heaven. Don’t stop. Thomas Aquinas, brilliant Theologian; C.S. Lewis, brilliant Theologian, both believe on scriptural basis that domestic pets that meant a great deal to us will share our B-attitude. So it’s not just a little kid.

"Maybe Cain and Abel, Dear Jesus, would not have killed each other so much if they’d had their own rooms. (Laughter) It works with my brothers."

"I have many questions…", and the teacher over there had the kids write these all on the same type of sheets. "My first question is: Have you met my cat? Or Charlie, or Sunny, or my Auntie Heather. They are with you now up there. I hope you’ve met them. Are they angels? Do pets become angels?"

This is a repeat. "Dear God: My father can never get a fire started and could you maybe make a burning bush in our backyard?" (Laughter)

Now the theme of pets is many, many thematic strains in these letters. I’m just reading a few. This was Emily. She signs her letter Love, Emily with little stars. "I miss my cat, and I miss Sunny and Charlie and Auntie Heather (she wrote earlier). I wish they were here. I will pray to you when I can." Refreshingly honest.

"Dear God: Okay this is my prayer. Okay I kept my half of the deal, where’s the bike?" (Laughter)

Now maybe some of you may remember your First Confession. When I was a kid it was kind of a scary thing, although all the priests were very kind, but it was kind of scary. It was dark and all. The kids when they come to confession now they walk right up here, there are lots of us priests around and the kids make their confession grinning. Many of the kids pat me on the shoulder as they leave. As if to say you’ll be okay. Now this old kid named Russell maybe something scary happened to him or something, but he said "Please help me through my First Holy Communion." I’m sure it worked out okay.

In 1965 there was a kid in grammar school (1965 he was in the 8th grade) and I later taught him in high school and he’s very sanguine, happy go lucky by nature, and evidently in the 8th grade at Sunday Mass – he went to a Catholic School upstate New York – he was sitting there as he always did even through high school smiling and a teacher came up to him before Mass started on a Sunday "What are you doing? Wipe the grin off your face this is Church." Noooo.

Okay, now this is a repeat. It was a big cartoon when I got it many years ago. Big cartoon poster of this little kid and at the top is a picture of a smiley face with a beard and a halo and the face was smiling and at the bottom of the cartoon poster there was an arrow leading up to the face at the top. And it’s falling to pieces so I have it on an index card. Written October 10, 1971. I still hear from this kid. "Dear God: I am drawing a picture of you on my top of my letter. I don’t see pictures of Jesus smiling. Did Jesus smile? Our priest always looks like his head hurts. He never smiles. Kids love Jesus so I’m wondering if he smiled." Theologically, of course. Christ was completely human and the twelve clowns he used to hang out with must have made him laugh a lot. But anyhow, kids love Jesus so I’m wondering if Jesus smiled. "Anyway, dear God, you smile in this letter. Follow the arrow to the top." The kid’s name is Mark.

"What year was Jesus born? How is my pet fish doing in Heaven? Take care of grandfather. He is with you now and he is very weak and tired." And the kid repeats it, "take care of grandfather."

"I want to know who draws the lines around all the countries." Geography major. Okay. Now in theology we spend seven weeks on this in the seminary. The title of the course and all the vocabulary in the course followed this particular linear line of semantics. The Eschatology as Paradigmatic in the Eucharistic Banquet As Perceived in the Parasia . Now this kid is writing about the same thing. "What’s Heaven like? Is Jesus going to come back here before we all go to Heaven? Will we be happy there and laugh? Can I bring my dog?" What’s Heaven like, it won’t be boring. Our Lord never bored anybody on this planet. They loved him, they hated him but nobody yawned when Christ was around. We won’t be bored in Heaven. We’ll explore the universe together.

Anyhow, "God, I want to be just like my Daddy when I get big but now with so much hair all over." A complaint I will never make.

Okay, now its ten minutes so that means I got two minutes to go. And we only have three left.

"How many people have you made? Have you met my neighbors? How did you make the universe? Was it hard? How did you do it? Seven days? By yourself?" What a healthy spitnik.

Okay, Leticia put this one in pink but it’s in the kid’s writing. "I bet, Dear Jesus, that it’s very hard for you to love everybody in the whole world. Love all of them. There are four people in our family and I can never do it."

Okay and this is the last one. And it may express how some of us, not some of you, some of us may feel many Sundays. "Dear God: I’m doing the best I can." Okay, you and I can be quiet now for a minute and in the silence would you join me in thinking about some kid that you were close to when you were a kid. Some kid when you were very young that was a pal and from whom you haven’t heard or maybe even thought about in a long time. Would you think of some kid you liked and liked you back and maybe just quietly say a prayer as we are quiet for a minute. Amen.

rjs