The Rev. Ed Cipot at his Holy Child parish on Staten Island, where he watched the Mets’ playoff games.
Posted on 10/22/2006 2:14:23 PM PDT by NYer
Ed Cipot was eating and drinking his way through the New York Mets 1977 Christmas party at a restaurant in Shea Stadium when a priest began walking toward him from across the room.
Mr. Cipot immediately wondered what he had done wrong. Instead, the priest, the Rev. Joseph C. DiSpenza, simply asked, “You’re a Catholic, aren’t you?”
As a matter of fact, that was true. As a matter of consequence, Mr. Cipot’s Roman Catholicism seemed not particularly relevant, at least to him. He had been invited to the Diamond Club on that day solely as a power-hitting outfielder in the minor leagues. The Mets already had plans to put him on the major league roster for spring training in 1978 and to bring him up that September for his first taste of the big show.
Everything in Mr. Cipot’s life had pointed this way, from the spring twilight when he tried out for Little League in his hometown, Highland Park, N.J., a 9-year-old tornado with the bat. He went on to set slugging records for his high school team, was drafted by the Mets in 1974 and played his way up from the Appalachian League to the Tidewater Tides in AAA.
He was “22 years old and 190 pounds of pure hostility,” as Mr. Cipot put it in a recent interview, and “certainly not living my faith, more like la vida loca.”
By August 1978, the month before he was supposed to be called up to the majors, Mr. Cipot was mired in an 0-for-25 slump.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
God can be very insistent :-)
Replace "Mr. Cipot's? with "John Kerry's" and it fits nicely as well. Although Mr. Kerry still mocks his Catholic faith.
Fr. Cipot does, though.
Out of fairness, baseball and faith aren't mutually exclusive.
True but oftentimes, the one gets in the way of the other. If we are focused on the physical world, we tend to forget about the hereafter. Perhaps, some figure they can deal with it when they reach that time in life when it is rapidly approaching. Unfortunately, we don't know when that day will arrive. Like the virgins with the oil lamps who have gone out to meet the bridegroom, we must approach each day as if it were the last one, prepared to meet Him.
I was fortunate to attend Father Ed's 8am. mass at Holy Child parish this Sunday. Father Ed. has been a great addition to our parish.He says a wonderful mass and gives very lively sermons.At times he has also been a moderator of our Monday morning Bible study group[about 35 members.We are so fortunate at Holy Child to hane 4 great priests,active lay people and 24/7 perpetual adoration.
**“a sense of the meaning and importance of a priest, the sense of God being with us.”**
God was certainly knocking at his door.
**24/7 perpetual adoration.**
This will bring your parish even more blessings!
You are so right.The 24/7 adoration has brought great blessings to our parish.I highly reccommend it.
Have you seen the movie?
He tried hard, but I sat through too many Atlanta Crackers and R-Braves games to be convinced.
Ed Cipot was ordained as a priest at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in May 2000.
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What a wonderful, inspiring story.
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