My mom was not a mean person at all, but she had a few phrases that she would use whenever she saw something in this world that really irritated her, and what often irritated her was people who put themselves forward in what she thought was a big-headed or pushy way. And when that happened, the phrase you’d hear was, “Who does he (or she) think he is?” I grew up in the Midwest, where traditionally people who put on airs are regarded with great suspicion, but I don’t think this is just a midwestern thing. I suspect that many of us have grown up with this phrase or something…
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Today’s readings put me in mind of a story, about a priest I knew once, and he wasn’t from around here, so don’t bother trying to figure out who he was. He was a very, very sincere person. Very sincere. So sincere, sometimes it’s fair to say that it was a little difficult to process, if you know what I mean. And it happened that one night I wound up sitting next to him at a table at a parish supper and I asked what I thought was an innocent question. He’d been away for a couple of weeks, and I said, “How was your trip?” And he looked me…