http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/abbott/060630

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thank you.

The Rosary:
The Rosary will be at Santa Cruz Catholic Church in Buda, TX at 7:30 PM on Monday, May 29th, Msgr. Charles Elmer and Fr. Patrick Serna, presiding.

Donations, Condolences and Flowers:
In lieu of flowers people are encouraged to send donations to the Father Todd Memorial Fund. In addition to defraying the costs of the funeral and burial Fr. Todd’s family hopes to donate the funds to a charity that Father Todd supported. You may send donations to the following address:

Father Todd Reitmeyer Memorial Fund
Wells Fargo Bank
505 Round Rock Ave.
Round Rock, TX 78664
512-344-8304

If anyone chooses to send flowers they can be sent to the Funeral home at:
Cook-Walden / Capital Parks Funeral Home
14501 North IH 35
Pflugerville, TX 78660
512-251-4118

You may send cards and condolences for his family to:

c/o Bill Reitmeyer
107 Lakemont
Hutto, TX 78634

Fr. Todd’s family and friends appreciate all the comments so far and your outpouring of love. Thank you.

If you have any photos or videos with Father Todd, please send them as attachments to memorial4frtodd@mac.com for a slideshow we are preparing for the funeral reception.

Travel to Austin:
For those of you traveling to Austin, we have arranged a special rate of $79 (+tax) at The Fairfield Inn & Suites for the evening of the 29th. Call the hotel to make the reservation and mention that Mesh approved this bereavement rate. This Hotel has free Airport Shuttle.

Obituary:
If you click “continue reading…” below you can read Fr. Todd’s obituary from the Sioux Falls Diocesan Website which contains information about his family.

Priest of the Sioux Falls Catholic Diocese killed in Texas water accident
(http://www.sfcatholic.org/reitmeyer.html)

Father Todd Reitmeyer, a priest of the Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls serving in Faulkton, Seneca and Orient, SD was killed in a jet ski accident while vacationing in Texas on May 24.

Father Reitmeyer is a native of the Austin, Texas area who was ordained a priest here in 2003. He was currently home to visit family and friends during his vacation. The accident occurred on Lake Travis near Austin.

Father Reitmeyer was born on May 13, 1969 to David and Phyllis Reitmeyer in Virginia. His father was in the military so the family moved some, but eventually settled in the Austin, Texas area. His father suffered a stroke and died in 1992. He graduated from Texas A&M, and earned a Masters degree in counseling from Northwest Missouri State. His discernment of his vocation led him to meet Bishop Robert Carlson, and eventually Todd moved to South Dakota, living in Faulkton with then pastor Father Terry Anderson for several months before entering the seminary. He attended St. John Vianney Seminary in St. Paul, MN before studying Theology at North American College in Rome.

He was ordained on June 13, 2003 at St. Joseph Cathedral by Bishop Robert Carlson. His first assignment was as associate pastor at St. Michael, Sioux Falls. He then became administrator of St. Michael, Herreid, St. Anthony, Selby and St. Joseph, Eureka where he served from January of 2004 until June of 2005. For the past year he has served as administrator at St. Thomas, Faulkton and St. Boniface, Seneca, as well as sacramental minister for St. Joseph, Orient. He served as spiritual director for St. Margaret Fellowship, the association of Catholic home school families since August 2003.

Father Todd is survived by his mother Phyllis Steiger of Rochester, MN; two brothers, William of Austin, TX and Thomas of College Station, TX; his sister, Christina Sheely of Coldwater, MI, and many friends. The Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at the Church of Santa Cruz, Buda, TX on Tuesday, May 30, 10:00 a.m. A Scripture service will be held at the Church Monday evening at 7:30. He will be buried at Assumption Cemetery, Austin, TX.

A Memorial Mass will be held at St. Joseph Cathedral, Sioux Falls, at noon on Wednesday, May 31, celebrated by Bishop Samuel Aquila, apostolic administrator for the Diocese of Sioux Falls.

His death occured as the result of a boating accident while Fr. Todd was vacationing in Austin, TX.

His family and friends request your prayers.

“We know that in everything God works for good for those who love Him.” -Romans 8:28

Arrangements:
The Rosary will be at Santa Cruz Catholic Church in Buda, TX at 7:30 PM on Monday, May 29th, Msgr. Charles Elmer presiding.

The Funeral Mass will be celebrated by Bishop Robert Carlson at Santa Cruz Catholic Church at 10:00 AM on Tuesday, May 30th.

Fr. Todd’s Family welcomes any comments from those who have supported Fr. Todd in his ministry or have been a part of his blogging community. They’ll be reading the comments on the blog.

On Tuesday I ran around and got things I needed for the trip. I mostly was in search of present for my Godson’s sister and her first communion. She is a devout and holy young lady for 6 years of age. On monday night we were discussing her upcoming first communion and she just sighed and said “I wish it could be tomorrow.” It was so clear the hunger she had for the Eucharist. It was beautiful.

So what did I get her? Well I do have some medals blessed for her by Pope John Paul II. A miraculous medal and one of Therese who is her favorite saint (sorry don’t know how to do the french accent mark here). But she is growing her hair long (she wants it down to her feet) and I suggested she learn how to braid it. She said only her aunt knew how. I remembered seeing a braiding kit for kids put out by klutz press a while back, so I went in search. It turns out that they didn’t have one so I got her this book. She liked it when I gave it to her. I can’t wait to see her in one of them. She is truly adorable.

Tuesday evening we had a good dinner at Rudy’s Texas Barbecue.


Wednesday

Wednesday I visited a friend who I like to talk technology with. He also is a very devout Catholic so it is a rather interesting mix of conversation. It switches between the nuances of the latest gadets and predictions of where were going to theological discussion points. I just kind of chuckle when I imagine what it might sound like to someone who would be listening to what we were saying.

We agreed to meet for mass at one of the local parishes. I showed up 1/2 hour early in order to introduce myself to the priest and ask him to allow me to concelebrate. Well, the pastor and his associate were not there and there was a visiting priest who would be saying mass. So I got to talk with the business manager and “pastoral associate”. (I will try not to rant about that title and the mess it has created for the church). But anyway they informed me that it is the Diocesen policy to require permission from the chancellor to concelebrate Mass. I said I think you must have misunderstood him. I said I was sure that was for a mass where I would be the principal celebrant. I was not preaching, my participation in no way could affect the validity of the mass etc. They said it is required for the celebration of any sacrament… baptisms, funerals etc. Now I know the funeral isn’t a sacrament, although the funeral mass would be, so I let that go. I said I wouldn’t be celebrating a sacrament because the priest celebrant would. They responded yes but the distribution of Holy Communion… At this point I was a bit stunned and maybe looking a little frazzled… and trying hard not to lose my patience. I said the distribution of Holy Communion isn’t a sacrament. You have lay people do it every week at this parish. The priest can give temporary verbal delegation to someone to do it. But to make things very simply I will just not do it. I just want to celebrate mass as a priest. Look me up in the Kennedy Directory. I offered 10 priests of their diocese they could call to vouch for me and still they weren’t comfortable (man I hate that word). I said I think I can solve this for you. I asked for their fax number. I called my chancery and had them fax a celebret over. If you read the link carefully you will see that it is wholly unnecessary for the celebration of the Mass, and certainly not for concelebration. But now I am just carrying it in my pocket in case I run into any other pastoral associates. They called their chancelor and he said it wasn’t a problem so I got to concelebrate mass. Whew.

Wednesday Night I went to one of my favorite places to eat in Austin and had dinner with a friend and a priest friend from this diocese. They have 25 cent wings. It would be a perfect place for Theology on Tap in this diocese if they ever decided to have it.

Thursday

Thursday I slept quite late. I really am catching up on a lot of sleep. My friend that I am staying with took his car to work (Normally I drop him off so I can have use of the vehicle… very kind of him). So I was waiting for him to come home at lunch so I could get the car and go to Walmart and get some things I needed (Jeans and shorts etc) for our River trip. Well things got tied up and he didn’t get back until later in the day. So I dropped him off at work and went shopping for the trip. I got the food, plastic plates, etc. I got back and got it packed just in time to pick my friend up from work and head down to Concan Texas. I really love going to the Rio Frio. If I had gotten married I am sure this would have become an annual vacation for my family. We stayed at Neals Lodge and will probably do business with them for quite a while to come. It is a great place in the hill country.

We hooked up with my good buddy Fr. Patrick Serna. We ended up at the same gas station in Hondo or Castroville at the same time. We both said it was Divine providence but were not sure what it meant. Anyway I spotted a guy ahead of me wearing a t-shirt designed by Fr. Bryce Sibley. I thought I would introduce myself. When I tapped him on the shoulder it was Fr. Patrick. It was pretty funny. Fr. Patrick is a great friend and priest. I wish I could see him more often than I do, but I will take what I can get. He is a Texas Good Ole Boy who loves to Hunt. You might have run across an article by him in Catholic Men’s Quarterly.

I introduced my two friends and we headed deep into the hill country and got our cabin. We grilled burgers and stayed up late talking. It was a good evening.

Friday

Friday morning we got up and had a nice traditional Texas breakfast of breakfast tacos. Then we got suited up and headed for the river. I was very disappointed to learn that the river was very low and that much of the tubing trip would be spent walking. I love tubing and I only get one shot at it a year since I began the seminary. Unfortunately this was the first year I missed it. We decided that we would just swim in the swimming hole rather than walk our tubes for long portions of the trip. It turns out it was a great decision because the river was very low and people were saying they walked a large portion of the way. The swimming hole at Neal’s is deep and there is a rope swing etc. It was a good time. We spent about 3 or 4 hours there and then cleaned up for dinner. I had catfish at the cafe… another staple from my youth. I need to see if the VFD in my hometown still has All you can Eat Catfish and free bluegrass on friday nights. If so I will make a trip back there sometime. I love fried catfish. Friday evening we talked again and slept. We got a lot of naps and it was very relaxing. I think my lay friend thought it was funny that we slept so much. But both priests were zonked out a lot and we both said “this is what vacation is supposed to be like”. We lose a lot of sleep during the year. The night before I was supposed to leave I was called to the nursing home for someone who was passing away. I got the call at 11pm and I am pretty sure I didnt get to sleep until 3:30am only to be up at 6:30 for the regular Sunday schedule. Sleep is a welcome part of vacation.

Saturday

Saturday we woke up a bit early because I had to get back for the first communion. We said our goodbyes to Fr. Patrick and headed out. They wanted me there at 4:30pm for a 5pm Mass. I needed to get cleaned up and pick up a few things at Walmart. Upon coming back into cell phone range we found that we both had a few messages on our phone. And then we found out why.. It turns out that I was scheduled to be the celebrant (not the concelebrant) at the first communion Mass and I needed to make sure I had the homily ready. Talk about an eye opener with only a few hours to go. I thought I would just show up… give first communion to Mary Rachel and head out. Well it definitely woke me up and made me a little tense. I wasn’t expecting it but since I had just done 3 first communions and had the readings in the car with me I wasn’t too worried. I mostly thought it strange that I would be giving first communion to kids I didn’t know. Anyway it went fairly well and and after a marathon of pictures… I got back to my friends house for the celebration. That was a lot of fun. Although, once again, I somehow got pegged as Darth Vader. This time was a lot more dangerous because there were about 4 homeschooling families present. That means a lot of kids. And with only 3 real lightsabers around… there were a lot of creative substitutions… some hurt worse than others. I finally was able to convince them to play hide and seek and I would come find them…. boy was it difficult to find them.. I must have sat many minutes thinking about where they might be. During that time the 2 year old who was afraid of me until today, thought it might be neat to touch the ceiling. I obliged him….. evidently once wasn’t enough… How do you say no to a two year old as cute as this. Well the whole kitten kaboodle (sp?) came around the corner to see why I hadn’t found them… and all decided that they needed to touch the ceiling as well…. At about 10:30 the kids were finally going down and I congratulated Mary Rachel again. She said I can’t believe I received Jesus… it still seems like a dream. Beautiful… and fully explains Matt 18:3. Next we went to do our Catholic duty and participate in the othercott.

Sunday

Sunday is a work in progress… As you might have guessed there was some blessed sleep involved. I have mostly done some reading… Soon I will head out to Barnes and Noble for some reading and tonight a dinner with some priest friends. I am so thankful this is my vacation where I have two weekends in a row. It really makes the second week that much more relaxing because you don’t have to start ramping up in the middle of your vacation.

I will have plenty to do when I get back and will share some of that with you a bit later… until then… time to relax a bit more.

I am hoping to get a desktop system for my desk and send my laptop back to it’s original purpose which is to do work while I am traveling. We shall see how it works. I hope it can keep working for a couple more years because I really don’t have the money to buy one and I don’t want to finance one.

Anyway, I am on vacation for two weeks in Texas. It is been great being home. The trip was very tense. I think people tend to be at their worst in airports and my temper tends to rise at some of the blatantly rude bahavior. Well that was Yesterday. I got to get beat up by my godson and his 3 siblings. I never knew I looked so much like a jungle gym but I had kids jumping all over me, hanging off of me and kicking and punching me (evidently I am Darth Vader because I wear black and they are all Jedi.) I am just glad their lightsabers are made out of plastic. The problem is the littlest one doesn’t have his own so you have to keep an eye on what he uses as a lightsaber.

As soon as I arrived I learned I left my medicine at home and so I made a trip to Walgreens where there was a nice young lady with a killer southern accent. I miss hearing that.

Now I have two weeks of food to indulge in as well beginning with breakfast tacos this morning. We shall be having BBQ very soon and a Whataburger of course.

I will be floating on the Rio Frio on Friday which is my favorite way to relax.

I have the first communion of my Godson’s sister on Saturday and will be catching up with all my priest friends as well.

It will be a great vacation and well needed to because when I get back I have to hit the ground running again.

More on that later.

Thanks for bearing with my absence… please keep my in your prayers.

The first one would be a cause for you to consider. That is helping disadvantaged youth get a chance to experience a Steubenville conference.

The Steubenville Youth conferences have a powerful effect on a lot of youth. I have witnessed it countless times in my history with them and it is one of the reasons I push/sell/suggest/recommend them as much as I do to my youth.

I was introduced to them by my friend Mario Dance. He is a Vetrinarian who loves sharing the Gospel with others but in a special way youth. In fact I would say he works his job as a vet in order to support his youth ministry. I met him through one of his youth who came to Texas A&M and became one of my best friends. He has had a powerful effect on a lot of youth and he introduced me to the conferences.

Until recently he worked in a fairly affluent parish in Virginia where the youth could easily afford such things. Since then he has moved to working with two parishes that are mostly minority and not affluent.

I was telling him how I was promoting the Stuebenville conference and asking him which one he was going to this year. He said he was unsure if he would be able to take any youth due to their financial challenges. I needled him a bit that they could really afford it and he felt that it truly was a barrier and he couldn’t afford to take pay for them all himself. So I told him to write up something and I would post it to my blog because people had been very generous in helping me get a monstrance for Children’s Adoration.

So I am presenting the cause to my readers because I know some would be interested in helping. I know some people have contacted me and asked for suggestions for tithing because they didn’t feel it would be well used in their parish. I told them of course that we have an obligation to support our local parish but what my diocese recommends is 1% to the Diocese; 4% to the local parish; and 5% to other charities. That being said maybe some of you would like to consider this cause as part of your other charities portion.

What I can tell you is that Mario is a good steward and won’t just give handouts to kids but make them work for the opportunity to go. I also told him that money came from my readers then I would expect the youth to let me post a testimony or a thank you and he said he would expect the same.

So it is without reservation that I recommend this cause to you because I know the power of the Steubenville conferences and the ability of Mario to follow up on that impact with great catechesis and ministry to the youth. In business terms your dollar would go a very long way.

So with that I am going to leave you with his info he gave me including and address for the donation. Because the checks are made out to the Church itself your donations would of course be tax deductible. No donation is too small because every dollar puts the youth that much closer to a potentially life changing experience. If you need a receipt from them simply put that request with the check. And now I hand it off to Mario:

Fr Todd, Here is the little blurb that you can use for your web page for my youth and their trip to Steubenville

First I want to thank you Fr Todd for allowing me to post this request on your web space, it means a lot that you would be willing to help the young people that I serve. For those who feel led to help, I thank you in advance. Those who are not able to help, I ask that you pray for me and my young people. My name is Mario Dance, I am a long time friend of Fr Todd’s and I also happen to be the vol youth minister at two very small parishes in Richmond VA. One parish (Holy Rosary) is in the heart of a very poor section of the city and the other (St. John’s) is about 10 mins from Holy Rosary in a blue collar section of the city. Combined the parishes are a beautiful (and just about equal) mixture of Hispanic, Anglo and African American families. Both parishes have never had anyone committed to building it’s youth ministry program and because they both struggle financially, the resources available to do so are very limited. If anyone has ever worked in youth ministry you will know instantly how important youth retreats and conventions are in the conversion and evangelization of young people. We struggle greatly to make the local retreats available for our young people and the need to subsidize these experiences tends to deplete our budget. With this in mind I make an appeal to anyone reading this who feels inclined to help me to send my young people on a Steubenville Summer Conference weekend in Atlanta GA. In my previous parish these conventions were very powerful opportunities for conversion and I’d like to try and get some of my teens to one this summer. We hope to take 8 teens (4 per parish) and the cost to send one youth is $125 plus the cost of travel and lodging. (Potentially adding $75 more per child). If any of you would be interested in trying to help me to send 8 of my young people on the trip I would be greatly appreciated. To help you would need to send the check to Attn: Mario Dance c/o St. John Catholic Church, 813 West Nine Mile Road, Highland Springs, VA 23075-1124. Make Checks payable to St John’s Church (donations are tax deductible). In all humility I am begging on behalf of the young people that I love so dearly. Thanks for considering this request. JMJ Mario

Mario E. Dance…in the humble service of the King Soli Deo Gloria!

The good news is I have a lot of deductions. The bad news is I need to organize them all and get my receipts in order.

Far too much time and money is wasted on this process ever year. It is one of the big reasons I support the Fair Tax Bill. If you would like to hear more about it check it out at www.fairtax.org

Better yet check out the book The Fair Tax Book by Neal Boortz. You can find it at your local library or pick up a copy at the bookstore.

Then if you think it is a good system please call your reps and ask them to support the FairTax legislation, HR 25.

Back to the paperwork.