Mike Casey is a praying man. The father of two believes in the power of prayer to change things. But it’s easy to believe in the power of prayer when you see how a little prayer can change so many things.
It all started simply. Mike Casey wanted to pray. As part of the nationwide “America Needs Fatima” movement, Mike wanted to hold a public rosary in the small Massachusetts town of Upton. It would be one of 7,515 Public Square Rosaries held across the United States on October 15th.
Last year, he and a group of others prayed the rosary outside the rectory of a local church but this year Mike, the owner of a hardwood floor company, asked the township if he and a group of others could pray the rosary in the town common. “Part of the rosary is penance and praying in public is part of that,” explained Mike when I spoke with him last night.
The town told him they’d consider his request. They also told him not to bother coming to the town meeting. They told him they’d email him their decision. Well, Mike didn’t exactly like the sound of that so he went anyway. And he couldn’t believe what happened.
“When my agenda item came up, all three of them unanimously denied my request,” he said. “They said they didn’t want to offend anyone in the town.”
Mike was shocked. He wasn’t asked to speak. He was denied and he left.
The Selectmen were reportedly “uncomfortable” with the idea public prayer. One even told a newspaper, “We weren’t sure if having a prayer service on the common would be in line with (the separation of church and state).”
Mike knew there was something wrong with their decision. But he wasn’t going to fight it. He didn’t want a battle. He didn’t want a media circus. He didn’t want lawyers. He wanted to pray the rosary. That’s all. But now, looking back, Mike thinks that Jesus wanted something more.
Mike scrambled around earlier this month and quickly received permission to hold the rosary at the entrance of their new church. And he was just happy that he was able to pray the rosary that night along with thousands of others nationwide.
But one of Mike’s friends told him that the town shouldn’t have denied his request. He told Mike he had constitutional rights. A friend of his, Rita, even sent a letter to the local Town Crier which boasts on its website of being “distributed biweekly to all 5,700 addresses in Mendon and Upton.” The paper also explains that there are a number of out of town subscribers as well.
Al Holman, the publisher, read the letter and was moved enough to write an editorial saying:
The response from the Selectmen was a simple “No” and the reason was given that they did not want to offend any taxpayers. I have read both the State Constitution and the Constitution of the United States and have yet to find where the right to assemble and free speech can be stopped by the possibility of offending taxpayers. The common is a public place and is owned by all the taxpayers and therefore is open to the public to assemble on. It should be noted that Upton has no by-law that requires a permit for public demonstrations or marches, and saying the Rosary would not seem to me an action that would incite a riot.
Well, it would seem that one of those out of town subscribers the paper boasts of is the Boston Herald. A reporter at the Boston Herald, Jessica Heslam read Holman’s piece and decided to write a story.
She called Casey who told me he wasn’t sure if he even wanted to talk to a reporter. So he prayed on it. “I didn’t know what they would do with it,” he worried. “I thought maybe they’d write something negative.”
But after praying on it he decided to do what he always does. He just told the truth. He said that if the newspaper wanted to do something negative with that, that was on them.
So he spoke with her and told her that he believed the town wasn’t within its rights to reject the public rosary. He told her everything that happened including his friend Rita writing the letter and every detail he could think of. It’s easy to remember details when you believe every word you’re saying. He even posed for a picture with his rosary.
And to everyone’s surprise, it was that picture that ran on the front page of yesterday’s edition of the Boston Herald with the caption “Let us Pray.” Mike didn’t know he was on the front page until his phone started ringing and friends began texting. And then the local radio stations began calling.
What did Mike do? He went to work.
On his way in he had to pull over on the side of the road to talk to one radio host who called him. All day at work, the requests started coming in from radio stations and then big television stations like Fox, CNN and CBS. And lawyers even started calling with offers to represent him.
“The calls kept coming in and coming in,” he said. “It was getting bigger and bigger.”
Mike was unsure what to do. So he did what he always does when he doesn’t know what to do. He prayed on it. “I told Jesus if you want this to keep going I will keep it going” he said. “But if what you needed to be done is done, I won’t.”
“I didn’t want to push it out of pride,” he explained. “Sometimes people turn something true, honest, and good and into something rotten and bad because of their pride.”
His prayer for humility was interrupted by a phone call from a lawyer who told him that the town had just told him they changed their mind and that next year he could hold the rosary on public property.
Mike saw that phone call from the lawyer as Jesus’ answer to him. (I couldn’t help but wonder if this was the first time Jesus had acted through legal counsel.) And then the reporter from the Herald called to say the town would be reversing its decision as well.
It was the Lord at work, said Mike.
“I never lifted a phone. I never called anyone,” he said. “This was the Lord’s work and justice was done.”
So what did Mike do about all the media requests? Mike had dinner with his son who’s heading off overseas with the Navy next month. “We had plans to go out to dinner tonight,” he said. “So I didn’t call anyone.”
When I called him last night he said he was willing to speak with me only because he often read the National Catholic Register and EWTN was his homepage on his computer. We talked a lot about faith and prayer. He said he’d be praying to the Virgin Mary and Fr. Vincent Capodanno (The Grunt Padre) for his son’s safety. We talked about the power of prayer and he told me about his son and we laughed about my nine year old daughter who’d recently seen a mouse run right by her in Church and she dropped her rosary as she was leading a decade of the rosary in front of hundreds of people.
In the end I told him I’d pray for him, and especially his son. Mike thanked me. Because he knows that prayers can be very effective.
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What a great example of Catholic manhood. Glad you picked up on this one, Matt. The “separation of church and state” has turned into petty tyranny in this case.
Wow. I grew up near Upton and my family is still there. I worry about Catholics in MA and it is good to know that there are some standing strong. This story turned out well, but it has to be tough to be Catholic in MA these days. Please pray for all the misguided and lost souls in the Church-those who should know better but have never been taught/formed properly in their faith. God bless.
Within his freedom of religion, speech and peaceable assembly, Mike, in courtesy (polical correctness) acknowledged the existence of the politicians and their commission by requesting their permission. By doing this, Mike’s sovereign personhood constituted the government body, informed the commission and acknowledged their sovereign personhood. They turned on Mike and repudiated their sovereign personhood and politcal office, and their citizenship. To deny another person his unalienable rights is to forfeit one’s own (now, alienated) rights. Every civil rights case in court is paid for by the taxpayers, ask the ACLU. Mike has struck for God, now let Mike strike for country. Christmas is coming.
Albert Einstein, knowing tyranny, having escaped from Hitler, lived in Princeton, N. J., that town which he called “a quaint little village inhabited by demi-gods on stilts” Upton, Mass. a quaint little village inhabited by demi-gods on stilts and one great man, Mike.
What a beautiful story! Praise God!
It takes courage.
My stomach turns whenever I read an excuse like this:
“When my agenda item came up, all three of them unanimously denied my request,” he said. “They said they didn’t want to offend anyone in the town.”
Aren’t they offending the person/people making the request? Praise God for taking hold of this situation for good. What an inspiring story!
I needed a story like that today. Thanks.
God bless you, Mike! This is a wonderful story of how mysterious and awesome are the ways of the Lord.
As for this bullpuckey of “not offending anyone,” here’s the thing: if you hem and haw way too much about never offending anybody, you will ultimately offend EVERYBODY.
When you’re on the right side of an issue you can go up against anyone. Thank you, Mike, for holding firm in your convictions. Thanks to the Boston Herald for having the spine to publish it. More people need to do this and the world will be a better place. Religion is not the enemy. People of faith have constitutional rights too.
If is unfortunate that “America Needs Fatima” is NOT a legitimate part of the Roman Catholic Church (the same as Fr. Grunner’s cult) as they oppose Vatican II and this is just another money-making cult misusing Fatima for their own personal gain. This man was part of what used to be called the Blue Army (acknowledged by the Vatican) and he was told to leave because of his non-catholic views. Here in Fitchburg, Mass. someone mistakenly told the organizers to use Church property instead of the public park. The devil is alive & he will do everything he can to mislead us. +JMJ+
JMJ, the America Needs Fatima are Catholics in good standing and have nothing to do with Fr. Gruner. But you are right about the devil being alive and working to mislead us.
This is a great story! Kudos to National Catholic Register and Matthew Archbold for great Catholic journalism.
Tears of happiness…need a “happy ending story” today. Will definitely pray for this man and his family. Thank you for sharing.
Beautiful.
Will pray for his son.
God Bless Mike, thanks to him, I’m less ashamed of my Commonwealth. BTW, either my eyes need more attention, or I simply read the article too fast ... but where oh where was there any mention about any sign of support from the rest of Upton’s churches and religious establishments?
Thanks be to God that the Boston Herald realized that to deny any man his Creator endowed, unalienable rights to speech is only one computer stroke away from denying the media freedom of the press.
Citizens are free to thank God for our Creator endowed, unalienable rights. A man is free to practice his religion, which is the worship of God and an acknowledgment of the Gift of Faith from God as he sees fit. All public places belong in part and in whole to each and every man, woman and child in joint and common tenancy. Each and every sovereign person endowed by our Creator with Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness, his destiny, is endowed with the sovereign authority to constitute government.
Any government who denies these unalienable rights by removing the National Day of Prayer, or ignoring Thanksgiving Day in thanksgiving to almighty God for these endowed, unalienable rights does treason. Freedom.
Thanks be to God.
Thanks for writing this article, Matt. What an inspiration Mr. Casey is!
God bless Mike, and thanks for this story, Matthew!
Well, duh! If you could win battles through prayer in the fifteenth century, you can win them now. Heartwarming.
JMJ: Where did you get your information that America Needs Fatima was the same as Fr. Gruner’s apostate group, or that Gruner was ever a part of the Blue Army of Our Lady of Fatima,now the World Apostolate of Fatima? Do you have him confused with Francis Shuckhart who led a Blue Army group in Idaho that was discredited by Blue Army National Headquarters. To my knowledge as an active member of the Blue Army for over 30 years,starting in the late Sixties, Gruner was always a thorn in the side of our organization. I once received five huge mail bags full of his literature that were promptly returned to double the shipping costs. What a shame you compared America Needs Fatima to Gruner, without information to confirm it. I have seen nothing from Church leaders to condemn it. I have supported their Rosary campaign. More power to Mike Casey.
Now REALLY! What did you expect from MA? We live in a PC culture of HATE Christians - especially those “E V I L Papists! Yet all is well for “Mooselums!!”
Although in the XXIth century, Mr. Casey` story should be included in the “Fioretti” of St. Francis of Assisi, where the action of God pervading every details of the saint`s life is explained. And it is also a strong example of the important role of the prayer in our lives.
Reminds me of Hebrews 12:1-2: ” ...persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and protector of faith.”
Beautiful. I can see God’s work in this story.
A perfect example of God fighting our battles for us if we would only get out of his way and let him do it! Mike your example is worthy of praise and worth following. Pray and trust God.
How timely in the face of the Occupy protests taking hold across the nation..
Are we now taking this story as an opportunity to bash followers of Fatima and Fr. Gruner? Fr. Gruner is a priest in good standing, and is fully within his rights to protest the facts that the Vatican has dropped the ball on handling the 3rd Secret of Fatima and failed in its duty to consecrate Russia. And having criticisms of how Vatican II was implemented doesn’t make one anti-Vatican II. The current state of the Church rigged with scandals from monetary to sex abuse to apostasy and disobedience to Rome, the sorry state of Church attendance, the facts that 80% of Catholics polled don’t believe in the Real Presence of the Eucharist, the global financial crisis, the propogation of secularism, homosexuality, and now even pedophilia, the attacks on marriage from a State level and from the UN, population control, the spread of contraceptives and abortion,the rise of socialism and communist principles that are freely being exercised in Western democracies under new forms and ideologies… all of which Our Lady of Fatima warned about, have come to pass and are continuing to happen and get worse…
The Vatican and even pope John Paul II and even now Benedict XVI are admitting that Fatima’s message is still relevant, and speak about evils within the Church that are trying to demolish it from within. However it seems that the current Church heirarchy is too rationalist to obey God and place their hopes in a miraculous consecration. They are still obstinate in preferring human efforts and working with a world that has no interest in working with them. That was the issue with Vatican II. It sought a human solution when the world required a divine one. The Church greatly underestimated their enemies and the Devil. Recent moves by Pope Benedict to allow priests to freely celebrate the extraordinary form of the Latin Rite and the new Mass translation are all stemming from efforts that failed to e implemented correctly following Vatican II which was hijacked by liberal and heretical people and priests to serve their own agendas.
I recommend everyone watch the recent Fatima conference videos that you can find on their official site to learn about the issues with regard to the third secret and the consecration.
Back on topic, this is a wonderful story of the power of prayer and that God indeed does work when we put our faith wholly in Him. Let us pray that the Church will soon perform the consecration of Russia so that our Lord will demonstrate to the world that He exists and the state will no longer persecute Christianity. Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!
Pope Benedict did say “pray more, work less” referring to the work of evangelization. Proof that it works.
Actually, “America Needs Fatima” is not recognized by the Church. It is actually the United States fundraising arm of a Brazilian organization called “The Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family and Property,” or “TFP.” One can find more about it at www.unitypublishing.com, www.angelusonline.org, & www.kelebekler.com.
Jeanne, America Needs Fatima is as recognized by the Church as you are. It is simply an association of lay Catholics, as I assume you are.
As regards the other misinformation you cite, please read this:
http://www.tfp.org/ref/Unity.pdf
It should clear up any misunderstanding.
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