Motorcycles blessed at Mass

By Don Shilling

A motorcycle-riding priest blessed bikes after Mass.

YOUNGSTOWN — In heaven there is no beer, but there are polkas and motorcycles at church.

Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church combined both in a joyous celebration Saturday.

“You need to play, and you need to be joyful,” said the Rev. Joseph Rudjak after celebrating a polka Mass and then blessing motorcycles in the parking lot of the Covington Street church.

Father Rudjak, the church pastor, holds four Masses a year that feature the unmistakable beat of polka music. The six-member John Lapinski Band led the congregation in a series of upbeat songs at the 4 p.m. Mass.

That’s the point of the polka, Father Rudjak said in his homily.

The Croatian people who founded Sts. Peter and Paul in 1911 came to this country and worked hard and dangerous jobs in mines and steel mills, he said. Many were seriously injured or killed.

“They danced the polka and trampled death into the ground,” Father Rudjak said.

He noted that motorcyclists have the same attitude. They know that their hobby is dangerous and that they could be killed each time they go out on the road, he said.

“You have to have hope or you don’t play well. If you believe in a God that isn’t intimidated by death, then you have some leeway,” he said.

Play is important for people, he said.

“The time when you play is when you’re most like God,” he said.

God didn’t have to create people, but he did it in a spirit of play, he said. He encouraged the congregation to use their talents to be creative, whether it is crocheting, playing music or riding a bike.

“If you can, get yourself a Harley-Davidson and make it as shiny as you can,” he said.

Father Rudjak, who has been riding for more than 30 years, owns a Harley Heritage Softail.

Normally, he blesses 35 to 40 motorcycles in the annual event, but this year only four were on hand.

“It rained until right before it was time to leave,” said Randy Gasper, 55, of Boardman.

He showed up with his new Harley after hearing about the blessing from his sister, Paula Frommelt of Boardman, who is a friend of Father Rudjak’s.

“A blessing can’t hurt,” Gasper said, adding that he has a friend who has been in the hospital for four weeks after a motorcycle crash.

Father Rudjak said riding is dangerous, but it is also joyful and exhilarating. Plus, it provides a closeness to nature and a sense of camaraderie with other bikers, he said.

“The blessing raises all of that up and celebrates the goodness of it,” he said.

shilling@vindy.com