On Fathers Day Sunday (June 19, 2011) at St. Therese of Lisieux Catholic Church in Montauk, New York the Rev. Michael Rieder held his first ever surfboard blessing ceremony, according to a story on a Wall Street Journal Blog.
Rieder, better known as Father Mike, led a group of about 30 town residents, some fresh from the beach in wetsuits, in prayer over boards of all kinds, from regular longboards to boogie boards, snowboards and skateboards. One man even brought over a two-by-four, saying that he planned to use it to build a new home. . . “Dear God, your son walked on water but we know it would have been a lot more fun if he had a surf board or boogie board,” Rieder said as he splashed holy water onto the boards and their owners. “Let’s ask his blessing as we play in the waves.”
If we would have said something like that as kids we would’ve hauled out of church by our ears. Nice to see the Catholics loosening up a little. Praise the board!
[Link: Wall Street Journal via CNN]
