Page 60 - With Fr. John Angus Rankin, Glendale

ISSUE : Issue 45

Published by Ronald Caplan on 1987/6/1

(When you went into Arts, did you know you were going to be a priest?) Well, it started. It was in the haunting me. It was a possibility. You'll laugh at this. When I graduated and went to see the bishop (about becoming a priest), the war was on. We had taken (of? ficers ' training) at college, so we could go into the army and just be first lieuten? ants right away. So I graduated in May and I came home, started working. And there was a 30-day prayer you said; you were sup? posed to get any intention you wanted. And I went faithfully every day for 30 days. The prayer took a half an hour to say, I said it faithfully every day, hoping to God that my army call would come before I'd get a word from the bishop. Since I had made a commitment, I wouldn't back out of it. But the army call would give me a gentleman's way of getting out of it, see. (What did God think of that?) God didn't think anything of it. It didn't come. I got the call from the bishop, I was told what seminary to go to. I went to the sem.inary. There are certain people that are blessed in certain ways. Some have second sight, some haven't got it. Some have a greater degree of mental telepathy than other peo? ple have. So, does it depend upon the phase of the moon that you were born in, or what is the thing? There has been no scientific explanation, (I guess scien? tists haven't taken it seriously enough to go after it.) That's right, see. (It's interesting how many people I meet who have had that experience, who have seen something, or had some awareness of something, before it happened,,,.) It's the same as what I tell people about ghost stories. Maybe 707o of them you can charge up to a person's emotional make-up at the time. But there are too many, that there's no way in God's earth that you can refute it. And when you know that person, and know that they're truthful, and--as a mat? ter of fact, they'd be afraid to make it up--what is their gain, except to tell the thing as they experienced it? See, I remember, oh, in 1945, my last year in seminary, I was collecting for The Cas? ket paper. And I did it by bike, starting in Hawkesbury right down through to the end of Inverness County. And this particu? lar night I landed at a certain place, I knew the woman--she was a great friend of my mother's, although my mother lived in Inverness and she lived in this end of the county. So I spent the night there. And it happened to be a kind of a rainy day. I landed in the afternoon. So she made me slip my clothes and go to bed for awhile, and dry my clothes. And in the eve? ning the neighbours knew The Casket agent was around--that's what'they called you at that time. So here was kind of a curious being--he was going to be ordained next year, and people wanted to meet this young man, find out what was going on in the county--because you travelled the whole county. And of course ghost stories would come in from time to time. So at that time, I didn't believe in a - 40 YEARS OF SERVICE TO CAPE BRETON - ?l|c • i|Uiircn*0 Klh 'orictu of CSIajic Breton '' "A UNITED WAY SERVICE AGENCY" THESE ARE SOME COMMUNITY SERVICES: INTAKE infonnation, problem identification, & appropriate referral for service PROTECTION home visits, support services, & crisis intervention to maintain adequate child'care HOME STUDIES custody reports, social histories for other agencies, private adoption reports SINGLE MOTHERS infonnation, counselling, support, & assistance in decision-making during pregnancy ADOPTION placement of children of all ages in permanent homes FOSTER HOMES selection & support of temporary & long-term homes for children in care of the agency CHILDREN IN CARE individual counselling & support services for children in care of the agency Suite 7, Provincial Building 360 Prince Street Sydney, Nova Scotia BIP 5L1 THE COMMUNITY'S RESPONSIBILITY IS TO PROTECT OUR CHILDREN President: Mrs. Marlene Lovett Executive Director: Mr. Sandy Bowes Stores To Serve You CAPE BRETON SHOPPING PLAZA SYDNEY RIVER Um' Featuring AW?? MPANTMENT STORES The Crossroads of Cape Breton' Sobeys & Shopper's Drug Mart "''''''' ' '"' ' (60) Open Daily "'??10 p.m. Opei 'fill Plenty Of Fr*?

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