Let's Go Mets!

This is a glorious day for all those who have any connection with New York. Since I spent 22 years in various parishes on Long Island and Upstate New York, I had more than a simple fan connection with the New York Mets, who today start the World Series against the Kansas City Royals. Ever since I arrived in New York, I was a great fan of baseball and especially of the New York Mets. Then in 1986, just before the team went to Spring Training, they had a big banquet for the players, the staff and many of their fans, and they asked me to give the Invocation and Benediction. There was I sitting on the dais next to Jesse Orosco, Bobby Ojeda, Darryl Strawberry, Gary Carter (RIP), David Cone and all the other big names. And sure enough, I prayed on that day for timely home-runs in the bottom of the ninth inning, timely hits with men on base, and I prayed that maybe they are ready to win the whole thing, the first time since 1969. And sure enough, everything I prayed for that day, both in the beginning of the banquet, and at the end during the Benediction, happened, as the Mets won the World Series in 1986. They asked me again to do the same blessing in 1988, and that year they won the pennant, but not the World Series. Now they're on the verge of winning it again, with some young arms and timely hitting. Let's pray again that they will give a great performance as they did against the Chicago Cubs, and win the World Series this year. Let's go Mets!