RAFFERTY'S MONDAY

INTRODUCTION

There are many old-timers who will rejoice that Rafferty's Monday has been reinstated in the church calendar. That it had gone the way of many suspect & imaginary saints doesn't imply anything either suspect or, heaven forbid, imaginary about the day itself, or even more so, about Rafferty! Its restoration to its former position between Palm Sunday and Shrove Tuesday, is not only a vote of confidence in Rafferty himself, may the saints preserve him, but also a timely reminder we are dealing with a lunar tradition. Even if those who worked for its exclusion from the calendar constantly poke fun at the joint derivation of lunar and lunatic.

For those who wish to resume, or maybe even begin observing this old tradition, let it be re-stated here that thecentral and endearing feature of Rafferty's Monday is that this is a day when no rules apply. On this Monday, any and all rules may be made, changed, or broken. One obvious consequence is that the day itself doesn't necessarily fall on a Monday any more than on any particulathemnday. Any old day of the week will do as well as another. Consequentially, it has long been a popular day for taking / not taking the bishop seriously, retrieving his / her letters from the waste paper basket (or consigning them to it!), even writing to ask for a visitation, or telling them they can cross you off their visiting list. It is also the most / least likely day on which to receive a letter from said bishop praising the work Rafferty & his brothers & sisters do in God's Name among God's people. (It may also follow on this day, that every priest is a Rafferty, and Rafferty is every priest.)

The postings that follow offer glimpses of some of the things that have happened to a variety of Raffertys on their Mondays; a wish list of might-have-happeneds; an occasional sermon, or idea for one; a more or less theological reflection; & so on & so forth.

May God bless you, and the good Rafferty himself be a blessing to you as you read on.P.S. Names, places, and identifying features have been lied about, or at least altered to protect the guilty, the innocent, and the simply bewildered.