Galileo Galilei is the old Galileo that we know and love.  Genowefa Kurzynski is my mother who a few of us know and love.  They have something in common which is very important to me.

On Father’s Day I wrote a post about my dad.  And I had started this blog after Mom’s Day.  So I have been feeling like I have been neglecting my mom on this one.  So, I will attempt to catch up at this point before Spain and all that.  For without her influence maybe the Camino wouldn’t have occurred for me at all.  I must pay my dues.

GG’s story we should be familiar with.  He through his scientific studies figures out that our solar system works in a certain way and this information is revolutionary.  So new and different that the Church gets on his case big time.  But he persists and they persist and things reach a state where he is under house arrest and told to cease and desist with his teachings.  This is really the short story and I am sorry for that but it will due for practical purposes.

I am getting my information from Dava Sobel’s book entitled “Galileo’s Daughter”.  Dava Sobel wrote the book “Longitude”  which was a real winner.  Somehow this one is not so well known but still excellent.  The basic idea is that this is a collection of letters that were written from his daughter who was in a convent and it was their only means of communication.  Her letters survived and his didn’t so we get only one side of the conversation but it is enjoyable and his ideas come through.

What I see in this is a man that remains loyal to his Church in spite of the trouble that it gives him.  He remains loyal to it in spite of being on the receiving end of a good dose of friendly fire.  How does that work?  How does a man maintain his course in spite of the actions of an organization that he is loyal to?   Here is one little story from the book that illustrates his ability to do this.  In the town where he was under house arrest there was a new church being built nearby.  The new building required a new bell.  Because of the poor means of transport it was easier to cast the bronze bell on site rather than in a foundry at some distance.  The locals were having trouble with the process and finally approached GG to help.  He did not hesitate and leant his scientific expertise.  And the project was completed and the church had it’s new bell.  Bravo GG!

In this snarky world we don’t seem to see this nowadays.  Or does it happen and we don’t seem to notice.  But I think that GG’s faith was so strong that he really didn’t have a choice.  In other words, he steered his course to do what he thought was right and still gave his respect to the Church.  He took the friendly fire and went through it because I believe that he believed that in the end God would sort it out in his favor.  Nice!  And what courage.

On to GK, my mom.  One of my spiritual advisers, Connie, helped me understand something about her that freed me to join this same Church.  This all goes back to an understanding that was held between my Mom and my Dad.  Because my Dad was a devoted Lutheran and she a devoted Catholic it never occurred to them that one could change and the understanding was that boys would go with their Dad and girls would go with their Mom to Church.  And because of the circumstances of their married life I was the only child.  So because I was brought up outside of the Catholic Church she was punished by not being able to receive Communion in the Church that she knew and loved.   Does this sound familiar?  Is this another case of friendly fire?

But, just like GG, GK persisted and I think now as I look at it with the help of Connie she was the same kind of rock.  She was the same kind of person that went forward with that faith that says that I am going to do what is right and God will sort it out in the end.  Excellent, A plus!

Mom, I am leaving out all the horsepower, drive, love and care that you brought to the family in the hundreds of things that you did every single day.  I am leaving out so much that it is ridiculous but what to do.  Really what is important at this point is to realize the great role model that you were to me and too others.  Thanks Genowefa Kurzynski, my Mom.  Bravo GK!