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The Late Shift
A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR DEACON TOM SULLIVAN
Gospel of John 14:15-16 Pg:1
“The Late Shift”
The 6th Sunday of Easter
Gospel: John 14:15–16
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever.”
The soft click of rubber soles on polished tile echoed through the dim corridor as Angela made her way toward the nurse’s station. It was just past midnight, and the floor had settled into that peculiar kind of hush that only hospitals know—a reverent stillness broken only by the occasional beeping monitor or the distant rumble of a supply cart.
Angela had worked the overnight shift for twelve years at Saint Michael’s Medical Center in downtown Newark. The schedule wasn’t for everyone—long hours, often thankless—but she had found a strange kind of peace in the rhythm of it.
The world slowed down at night. Patients weren’t rushed in and out, phones didn’t ring as often, and there was time—time to be present, time to really care.
Most of her coworkers came and went, fresh out of nursing school and eager for daytime roles or quieter clinics. Angela stayed. Not because she had to. Not because she had nowhere else to go. But because something in her heart told her this was where she was needed most.
That night, her assignment was unusually light. Four patients—manageable. But one name on the list made her stomach drop slightly: Holloway, Marcus. Room 308.
She knew the name. Everyone did.
Mr. Holloway had been admitted a week earlier following major abdominal surgery. The procedure had gone well, but his recovery had been anything but smooth. He was combative, refused his medications, snapped at the aides, and rejected visits from the hospital chaplain. More than once, he had been overheard muttering, “Why don’t you all just leave me alone?”
Most nurses had learned to tread lightly around him—get in, do what was necessary, and get out. Angela had avoided him so far, but tonight, he was hers.
She gathered her charts, stethoscope, and a thermos of chamomile tea she’d brought from home. As she walked toward Room 308, her steps slowed just a little. The hallway stretched out ahead of her, dim and still, and she felt the weight
Pg:2
of what lay behind the door she was approaching.
Quietly, almost instinctively, she bowed her head as she walked and whispered a prayer—not rehearsed or lofty, but real:
“Lord, I don’t know what pain this man is carrying, but You do. I don’t have the right words, and I don’t know if I’ll even get through to him tonight. But I’m willing to try. Help me to be patient, to listen, and to love him like You would. Let Your Spirit speak through whatever kindness I can offer. Not for my sake, but because You never stop showing up for us. Even when we’ve given up. Even when we’re angry. Help me love him well. Amen.”
This prayer was not for herself, but for Mr. Holloway. She didn’t know his story, but she could sense it was a heavy one.
She knocked softly and pushed open the door.
The room was dim, lit only by the blue glow of the heart monitor. Mr. Holloway was awake, staring at the ceiling, his face set in that same hard scowl she’d heard about.
“Good evening, Mr. Holloway,” she said gently, her voice warm but unobtrusive. “I’m Angela. I’ll be your nurse tonight.”
He didn’t look at her. “Of course you are. You’re the next one in line, aren’t you?”
She didn’t respond to the bitterness. Instead, she stepped inside and set her things down.
“I brought you some tea,” she said. “Chamomile. Helps with rest.”
He turned his head just enough to look at her. “What makes you think I want that?”
Angela smiled faintly. “I don’t. But I thought I’d offer.”
He grunted but didn’t object when she placed the cup on his tray. He didn’t reach for it either. She checked his vitals, made small adjustments to his IV, and recorded the readings. All the while, she could feel the weight of his gaze—mistrustful, guarded.
“Why are you doing this?” he asked abruptly.
Angela paused. “It’s my job.”
“No,” he snapped. “That’s not what I mean. You’re… not like the others.”
Angela studied his face. There was anger there, yes—but beneath it, something
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older. Woundedness. Weariness.
“I suppose I believe people deserve kindness,” she said. “Even when they don’t ask for it. Especially then.”
He laughed, but it was bitter. “Kindness? In this place? That’s a joke.”
Angela didn’t defend the hospital. She didn’t argue. She just nodded slowly. “I get it. You’ve been through a lot.”
“You have no idea,” he muttered.
“You’re right,” she said. “I don’t. But I’m willing to listen—if you want to talk.”
Silence fell again. The kind that wasn’t awkward, just unresolved.
Angela didn’t press. She sat down in the chair beside his bed and pulled out a small notepad. She began jotting notes for her other patients, giving him space. Minutes passed. Then he spoke.
“My wife died three months ago,” he said quietly. “Forty-eight years together. Cancer.”
Angela looked up. He wasn’t looking at her—his eyes were fixed on the ceiling.
“I was angry with her for dying,” he continued. “Can you believe that? Angry at her for leaving me.”
Angela said nothing, but her heart ached.
“She used to drink that tea,” he added. “Chamomile. Every night before bed. I hated the smell of it. Now I keep thinking I’d give anything to smell it again.”
Angela glanced at the untouched cup on the tray. Gently, she moved it closer to him. He looked at it, then picked it up with trembling hands.
“I don’t know why I’m telling you this,” he said. “I’ve been so angry. At the doctors. At God. At everyone.”
“Maybe,” Angela said quietly, “it’s because someone finally stayed long enough to listen.”
He sipped the tea. “Do you believe in all that?” he asked. “God. Heaven. Any of it?”
“I do,” she replied. “Not just in theory. I believe He walks with us. Even in the worst of times.”
He shook his head. “I stopped believing the day they told me she was terminal.”
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Angela didn’t try to convince him otherwise. Instead, she said, “I think sometimes faith isn’t about pretending everything’s okay. Sometimes it’s just about showing up. Loving people anyway.”
That night, Angela sat with Mr. Holloway for nearly an hour. They talked. They didn’t talk. He wept once. She didn’t offer platitudes. Just presence. Quiet, steady love.
When her shift ended at 7 a.m., she checked on him one last time before leaving. He was asleep, the tea cup empty beside him.
The following evening, when she returned, he asked for her by name.
Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” That commandment, above all, is to love one another as He loved us. Angela could have walked in, done her duty, and left. But she didn’t. She chose to stay, to listen, to offer kindness—not because it was easy, but because she loved Jesus. And that love needed proof.
It was proof that didn’t shout. It didn’t come with a spotlight. It came quietly, in a paper cup filled with chamomile tea, in a willingness to sit with someone’s sorrow without needing to fix it.
And the power behind her ability to do that? The Holy Spirit—the Advocate Jesus promised. The Spirit that nudges us to respond with grace when we’re tempted to walk away. The Spirit that whispers, “Love him anyway.”
We all have our own Room 308. The place we’d rather avoid. The person who makes it hard to care. But Jesus didn’t say, “If you love me, feel something.” He said, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” And He didn’t leave us to do it alone—He sent the Holy Spirit to walk with us.
So let us live our love—not just with words, but with cups of tea, with listening ears, with compassion that costs something.
Because in the end, the clearest proof of our love for Christ is not how loudly we sing or how often we attend church. It’s how we love the least, the lost, and yes, even the bitter.
It’s in the proof we leave behind, one quiet night at a time.
Written by: Deacon Thomas M. Sullivan
THE COMMENTS SECTION
“The Comments Section”
The Gospel of John 8:1-11 The Fifth Sunday of Lent 2015
A story for today, based on a truth that never ages.
It all started with a post.
Not even her post. Someone else had posted private messages between Lily and a married coworker.
It was Cropped just right. No context. Just enough to make her look like the villain.
By noon, the comments were flooding in. By five, her name was on every group chat in the company. By nightfall, people from high school—people she hadn’t spoken to in years—were weighing in like they knew who she was.
They called her all kinds of names, Homewrecker. Trash.
She couldn’t look away. The sting of every comment was like a punch in the stomach. She tried explaining to a few people—saying it wasn’t physical, that she had pulled away before anything went too far—but nobody wanted nuance.
They wanted someone to throw stones at. And the internet served up Lily.
She shut off her phone, then turned it back on five minutes later. She couldn’t stop checking. Couldn’t stop hoping it would all just… go away.
The next morning, her boss emailed. Short. Direct.
“Please come into the office. HR at 9:30.”
She barely slept. Barely ate. She walked into the building like it was a courthouse. Some coworkers avoided her eyes. Some didn’t bother. A few actually smirked.
She sat stiffly in the office chair. Martin from HR tried to play neutral, flipping through papers and using words like “reputation” and “standards.” Her body buzzed with shame.
Then in walked Jacob.
A Senior manager. Sharp. Respected. The kind of guy who never got pulled into gossip because he lived above it.
She braced herself for more humiliation. But Jacob didn’t come to the meeting to condemn her. He brought calmness, clarity, and Humanity.
“Lily,” he said, “we’re not here to ruin you. We’re here to deal with the truth.”
She expected a scolding. Instead, she got a pause.
“I’ve read the posts. I've also read the comments. What I saw online wasn’t accountability—it was a public stoning.”
Lily’s jaw clenched. She didn’t trust herself to speak.
“People forget there’s a person on the other end of all that outrage,” Jacob said. “Have I made mistakes? Sure.
But what matters now is what you do next.”
He slid a paper toward her. “You can step away. Or you can stay. Own what happened. Grow from it. And we’ll all support that.”
She blinked. “Why are you giving me that option?”
He shrugged, gently. “Because I’ve needed grace before too. And someone gave it to me.”
Lily stayed.
It wasn’t easy. Every meeting felt like walking into a room with her past written on her forehead. But she stayed. She showed up. She worked. She didn’t post a performative apology.
She apologized directly—to the people who mattered. Even to the coworker’s wife. A letter, handwritten. No excuses. Just the truth.
Weeks passed. The internet moved on. But she didn’t. Something inside her was being rebuilt, brick by brick, in silence.
She stopped checking her mentions. Stopped needing people to believe her. Instead, she started becoming someone that she could believe in again.
Three months later, Lily sat in a quiet coffee shop across from a young girl.
Shay was barely twenty. She had been publicly outed by someone in her group chat. Screenshots, exposure, the works. Just like Lily, she had made some messy choices. Just like Lily, the internet wanted her hung.
“They say I deserved it,” Shay said, eyes on the floor.
Lily stirred her tea.
“I used to think the same thing,” she said.
Shay looked up.
“I thought if I messed up, I had to wear it forever. I felt I was done.
Then someone reminded me that making a wrong choice is not the end.
Shay swallowed and said. “People just don’t forgive anymore.”
“They do,” Lily said softly. “But it doesn’t start with them. It starts with you deciding that your story isn’t over yet.”
Lily didn’t preach. She just showed up. Sat with other women like Shay.
She Spoke at women groups.
She Listened, she Shared. Lily reminded people that failure didn’t mean you’re finished.
She still remembered what it felt like to be dragged into the digital square, humiliated, surrounded by a crowd that just wanted someone to blame.
And she still remembered Jacob’s voice in that HR room—not defending her, not excusing her—but giving her a way forward.
This is what the Gospel teaches us.
Not just in ink on a page, but in lives like Lily’s.
Today's Gospel says
A woman is caught. Not rumored—caught. They throw her down in front of Jesus, demanding blood. The law is on their side. The stones are in their hands. And Jesus does what?
He kneels in the dust.
He says. “Let the person without sin cast the first stone.”
One by one, they leave.
Not because they stopped believing in right and wrong—
but because they remembered they were human too.
And when it’s just the woman and Jesus left, he doesn’t say she was right. He says something better:
“Neither do I condemn you. Go, and sin no more.”
He gives her what the world won’t: A way back, a new beginning.
A second chance without denial or shame.
That’s what Lily received.
That’s what Jacob gave.
That’s what Shay needed.
And maybe, just maybe that’s what we all need too.
Not a blank check.
Not a pass.
Just a hand in the dirt, writing...
Lily didn’t become a saint overnight. She still had moments where shame crept in—when she’d bump into someone from the office who remembered, or when her own memory replayed the worst days like a bad song on loop. But she no longer let those moments define her.
What changed was this: Lily no longer lived like someone who had to earn her way back into being worthy. She stopped apologizing for simply being human. She showed up for others the way someone once showed up for her—with truth, with grace, with no stone in her hand.
And over time, something quiet and sacred began to grow within her, not perfection, but purpose. Not a reputation, but true resilience.
She had been dragged into the dirt. But she walked out of it.
Not because the crowd approved. Not because the internet forgot. But because mercy found her, stood beside her, and said:
“This doesn’t have to be the end.”
So, she lived like that was true. And so, it was.
Written By: Deacon Thomas M. Sullivan
Hail Mary Campaign - Preservation Of Our Constitution and Freedoms
The Don Bosco Columbiettes are continuing their annual "Hail Mary" campaign. The new Hail Mary Campaign is based on the "PRESERVATION OF OUR CONSTITUTION AND FREEDOMS". We seek our Blessed Mother's intercession to help our nation. We need to prayerfully reflect on the origins of our country and the original framework of a legal system that ensures fairness, equality, and due process. This has been threatened by the abolishment in the belief of one nation under God. The Declaration's proclamation of "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness" has been marred by private interests. We need to pray for the return of Christian moral values and the protection of citizens' rights, domestic tranquility and freedoms.
The campaign will run from June 1, 2024 until May 31, 2025. A dedicated e-mail address has been st up at:hailmarysfor PCF@gmail.com to receive tallies from anyone at anytime. Please ask family members, friends, neighbors, church groups, etc. to pray Hail Marys to help in obtaining this goal.
The cumulative tally of all Hail Marys prayed will be updated as responses are received at: www.donboscocolumbiettes.weebly.com. The rosary is essential. It is a powerful weapon. Our Lady came from heaven at Fatima to ask us to pray the rasry every day. We should have no excuse to not honor her request.
Standing for Life: A Call to Courage and Faith
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A Message from our Spiritual Director, Deacon Tom Sullivan Standing for Life: A Call to Courage and Faith
As Catholics and members of the Knights of Columbus, we are called to be defenders of life — not merely in word, but in conviction, in compassion, and in courage. In this season of Thanksgiving, we give thanks not only for the blessings we can see, but for the sacred trust God has placed in our hands: the defense of the most vulnerable, and the protection of the dignity of every human person.
Our faith teaches us that life is not a privilege to be granted by governments or courts; it is a gift — sacred, irreplaceable, and bestowed by the Creator Himself. From the moment of conception to natural death, each human soul bears the divine imprint. When society begins to define who is worthy of life, it loses sight of the true Author of life.
Recent headlines remind us that the struggle for life is far from over. The approval of new chemical abortion drugs and the opening of facilities performing late-term procedures are stark reminders of how far our culture has drifted from its moral center. Yet we do not respond with anger, but with prayer. We do not answer darkness with despair, but with the radiant light of faith, reason, and love.
The Knights of Columbus were founded on the principle of charity, but that charity is inseparable from truth. To be pro-life is not merely to be “against abortion”; it’s to affirm the profound truth that every person — mother, child, and father alike — is loved by God and worthy of hope. Our mission is not only to protect the unborn, but also to walk with women in crisis, to support fathers seeking to do right, and to help rebuild a culture where life is cherished again.
Saint John Paul II called it “a culture of life.” Pope Francis reminds us that every child is “a face of Christ.” And Christ Himself told us, “Whatever you do for the least of these, you do for Me.” That truth must anchor us when we see the growing hostility toward life. It must strengthen us when we pray outside clinics, when we counsel a mother choosing between fear and faith, and when we advocate for laws that uphold life and conscience.
To be pro-life is to believe that peace begins in the womb. When we restore reverence for life, we begin to heal families, communities, and nations. Our movement is not political — it is spiritual. It’s the work of the Gospel made visible: mercy meeting need, truth overcoming deception, light conquering darkness.
Let us, then, as Knights and as men of faith, continue to pray without ceasing, to act with courage, and to speak with love. Let’s give thanks for the sacred work entrusted to us — to defend life, to serve families, and to remind the world that every heartbeat matters because every heartbeat was made by God.
Vivat Jesus!!
Deacon Thomas M. Sullivan
Spiritual Director Don Bosco Council #7784
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| SK Rev. Mr. Thomas M Sullivan Asst. Chaplain |
HOW TO SIGN UP FOR EVENTS/VOLUNTEERING
HOW TO SIGN UP FOR EVENTS/VOLUNTEERING
- Go to website -kofc7784.org
- On left side of menu click on Event Calendar
- Choose the date that you are interested in signing up/volunteering
- Screen will appear that elaborates on the event and pertinent information
- Look for the CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP
- Follow the direction for either member/nonmember. Do not worry about filling out the number of hours for volunteering etc. The idea is to get your name to the Event Chairman to know you are interested. If you are worried, call or email the Event Chairman, either by finding his information on the members list or in the narrative of the event. Once you have completed that and sent it you should receive a confirmation email that you are signed up.
- Hopefully, the Event Chairman will use this information to create a list of volunteers who will receive directed emails keeping them informed of the event. That is, IF the Event Chairman provides it.
- If all else fails, contact the Event Chairman.
How to get to the minutes and other council information
1. Click on the members only tab on the left side of the screen.
2. Sign in using your member number and password.
3. Click on the item you want to see from the list.
How to Update Your Email/Other Information
How to Update Your Email/Other Information
- Go to the website: www.kofc7784.org and click on Member List.
- Sign in using your membership number and date of birth.
- Find your name on the Member List and click on the UPDATE box.
- Update the information and click on the SUBMIT YOUR CORRECTIONS.
- This will get your changes to the Financial Secretary for action.
METHOD #2
TO UPDATE YOUR INFORMATION FROM THE SUPREME WEBSITE
- Go to website: www.kofc.org and click on For Members.
- Scroll down to Update Contact Information and click on it.
- Fill in the necessary information. Check the boxes that you are a Knight of Columbus and are updating Membership/Columbia information.
- Click Submit. This will update the National database and save some work for the Financial Secretary.
OR
- Go to our website: www.kofc7784.org and click on SUPREME COUNCIL SITE.
- Click on For Members and follow steps 3 and 4 above.
Equal Rights for Babies in the Womb
EQUAL RIGHTS FOR BABIES IN THE WOMB
At the March council meeting, a presentation was made by Ms Christine Flaherty, Executive Director of LIFENET asking for our support for "Protections of Babies in the Womb and their Families. Here is the link for more information.
For more information about LIFENET, click here.
Please call (973) 497-4500 or email BabyFeetStuff@gmail.com to order any of the following:
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20/20 Car Magnets (5-3/4″)
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Phone Stickers (2”)
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Bumper Stickers
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Prayer Cards
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Equal Rights Signs
- Lapel Pins
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Blue Ties/Scarves
Mailing address: LIFENET
P. O. Box 1800
Montclair, NJ 07042
