Well friends, I am writing you just at the beginning of my annual retreat, so please   pardon the shortened nature of this week’s column. You are the only thing standing between me and several days of much needed silence.

Every year, by providence, my retreat seems to fall at exactly the time I need it. This year, I got to conclude the arduous process of  announcing priest assignments and big  changes by turning off my phone and turning to the Lord with nothing but fumes in the tank.
 
As you may already know, Fr. Jeff and I are staying here, which is an immense blessing for which I am grateful. That said, there is much to discern about our future as a family of parishes. We must discover who God is calling us to be while we also begin ministering alongside the staff and people of Our Lady of The Valley. There will be name changes, title changes, schedule changes; the whole nine yards.

With that in mind, I was able to shut myself off from the world and do two things: I prayed for you, and I prayed for me. I asked God to show me how I must change. What am I doing that I should stop? What am I not doing that I should start? What is holding me back from being the Pastor you need me to be? What can I do to balance my vocation of priesthood with my office of  pastor? Those two things should go hand in hand, but sometimes I inadvertently bracket them from each other. And, in a spare moment, I asked God to dull the sting of being a Bengals fan.

I asked God to bestow on you every grace you need to grow as His holy people. I asked Him to remove all fear and doubt, and to grant you a trust so full, so complete, that you almost can’t believe what you’re able to surrender into His hands.

God can change me, and He can change you. Together, let us become a parish fully alive in Christ.