The Marquee

Between 1991 and 1996, I was stationed at St. Anthony of Padua, in Rocky Point, New York. Next to the church, right on the main road, they had a Marquee which was hardly used before I got there. But during the time I spent at St. Anthony’s, it became quite an attraction as I took care of it religiously, changing the message every week. It had only 4 lines, so my messages and quotes had to be brief and covering only 4 lines with a maximum of 15 letters on each line. Besides any major announcements we had to make for upcoming events, celebrations, etc, I made sure to have a captivating quote which people, drivers and walkers could think about and reflect on as they go by the famous Marquee. Among the signs which were quite a hit were these: ‘Love your enemies, and you’ll drive them nuts!’ ‘Do your best, and God will do the rest,’ ‘A great man does small things in life – with a big heart,’ ‘3 marks of a good Christian – giving, loving and forgiving,’ and on Christmas Day, ‘It’s a Boy! And His name is Jesus.’

I made sure to keep them short and sweet, so that we won’t have any traffic accidents, as usually many drivers slow down to read the message. Since it was on the main road, and also lit up at night, thousands of people would read the message as they pass by, and frequently I used to get calls from parishioners, thanking me for a particular message, especially those who tell me ‘that quote hit home today....I was very depressed and it cheered me up....’ ‘great quote today – it was meant for me – it’s quite an eye-opener,’ ‘good message Father today....if all of us listen to them and act on them!’ It was a labor of love for me as I enjoyed coming up with interesting quotes, and since it has two sides, I always did two different sayings, one on each side. Who knows how many blessings a simple idea like that gave to parishioners, as well as drivers who may not be Catholic, but read them with a smile nonetheless.