Lineage

While I was working in Florida this winter, people at church would ask me, "Where are you from?"  They did not mean where I lived now, but rather where I began my life and grew up in formative years.  "I am from the Bronx," I told them.  When I was born I got a name, Terrence.  This is part of my Irish Bronx lineage.  But I also have a spiritual lineage.  It began with my Baptism.  I got the name Patrick for Baptism.  Both the Bronx and being Catholic in the Bronx have informed me for my whole life.  I have good memories of those years.  I never made a conscious decision to live in the Bronx or be Catholic.  I was given both circumstances.  When I grew up I made a lot of stupid decisions, as do many people.  But I learned from them and my roots helped me to find my way.  Today, I celebrate Easter.  There is something uplifting and hopeful about Easter joy triumphing over Good Friday misery.  It is really the story of my life. My Good Friday misery was not to be my end.  I first learned it at St. Frances of Rome church in the Bronx.  If you are from Brooklyn, is it always Good Friday for you?  Oops!  My Bronx bias.