Just when it started to get interesting

If you've been following along, you know that I've been taking an Adult Catholicism class, for reasons which I'll not get into yet again. I had been going for a month when I missed my first session last weekend due to being in Philadelphia. When I woke this morning I actually looked forward to catching up with what I missed, but I soon learned that the class was canceled. Permanently.

Turns out that the priest that has been putting on this class in various parts of Oklahoma City for years, Father Paul Mollan, had passed away on Thursday, at age 79. There's a picture of Father Mollan on my dad's wall, because he is the priest that baptized my little brother thirteen years ago. He was the pastor of the neighborhood Catholic church until 1994, so he knew pretty much all of my local family. My understanding is that he and my step-grandparents were particularly close. It's kind of a shame, his passing, cause he seemed in pretty good shape for a man his age.

But since I'm here talking about him, I'll tell my favorite Father Mollan story. While he was pastor of the church, he was famous for his sense of humor and for funny messages he'd put on the church marquee. Also, he was a baseball fan. So, in 1993, when the Phillies lost to the Blue Jays in the World Series, what did he put on the church marquee?

"Is Mitch Williams Toronto's Most Valuable Player?"

Yeah, that got to me. And I had to drive by it every day for a week before he changed it. It was darn funny, but I didn't like it for a good long while.


Father Mollan, I didn't know you as well as much of the rest of my family, but I always knew you to be a good man and a quality person. I never heard anyone ever have a bad thing to say about you. I'm sorry I didn't get to finish your class, and I suspect no one will do quite as well as you in that role should they try to start it up again. I hope you have found peace, and with it the grace of God. Knowing that the first thing out of your mouth in any situation was usually a wise-crack of some kind, I would love to have heard your first thoughts upon crossing over. I'm sure you've got them all ROTCL (rolling on the clouds laughing).