Posted on 03/19/2018 6:13:13 PM PDT by marshmallow
Two weeks before Easter, it wasn’t the return of Jesus this parish was looking for.
But after a mysterious package that showed up at Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church in Hoboken, New Jersey, turned out to contain a statue that was stolen from a Nativity scene outside the church nine decades ago, the Rev. Alex Santora is doing the only thing a Christian can under the circumstances:
He’s counting his blessings.
In a feel-good story that’s generated coverage on local television stations and been picked up by The Associated Press and The Christian Post, the world is learning how a sin committed generations ago can be redeemed by a person determined to make things right.
It happened on Wednesday, when Santora received a package at the church that made him suspicious at first.
There was no return address on the parcel, and it appeared to have been wrapped somewhat amateurishly, Santora told NBC 4.
So, considering the times, when even churches have been the targets of the politically motivated or emotionally disturbed, he did what any cautious person would do.
He went to the authorities.
“The post office said, ‘It’s just from Crystal Springs, Florida, no name,'” Santora told the station. “I was still more concerned. So … I called the police.”
What they found inside contained some answers.
Amid a welter of packaging paper there was a statue of a baby Jesus and a typewritten letter from whoever had sent it:
“To Whom it may concern, My mom told me that the Baby Jesus had been stolen from the church Nativity display at Our Lady of Grace when she was a young girl of about 12 years of age in the early 1930s.
(Excerpt) Read more at conservativetribune.com ...
Whycha’ do it? C’mon, talk, we know ya did it. Oh so... ya won’t talk , eh? We got way’s of makin’ mugs like you talk, get me? :-)
“Who the heck uses a typewriter these days?”
They stole it from the library 75 years ago.
LOL!
I still repair typewriters. IBM Selectrics, old manual typewriters, antique stuff. Yes, ribbons are available. Parts, not so much. Sometimes I have to make parts. High usage IBM stuff is made by a company in Texas and are available. Some parts are not available...that’s when you toss the machine. I’m an IT guy now, but I fix a typewriter or three monthly. It’s more of a hobby now that pays.
I remember the traveling gnomes. The St. Francis thing was on an episode of “Unsolved Mysteries, IIRC. LONG ago — back when it first started. It tickled me so much that I never forgot it. It fould be a fun and harmless joke to play on somebody.
Some of the old ones are really beautiful. I think my Remington must have been from the 1940s:
http://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/rem-portables.htm#compact
It would be fun to receive the pics and postcards from the item’s travels.
Geocaching looks like fun, too:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geocaching
I still have 4 of them but I don’t use them much now.
LOL! With four old typewriters, you have a fitting screen name ;-)
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