October 31, 2018 We appreciate our priests. In fact, I think “appreciate” is an understatement. Inside this week’s edition, you’ll read stories of priests who have made a difference: priests who help women find healing after abortions, priests who are engaging youth and helping them find faith and love, priests who have helped their parishioners grow in their relationship with our loving God, and priests who continue to sacrifice for both God and the people they serve. And these are just the stories that were offered up by our staff reporters or submitted by readers to fill the limited space we have available. Across the diocese, we have amazing priests doing amazing things. In addition to their duties celebrating Masses and administering the sacraments – pretty substantial duties in themselves, our priests are supporting events and organizations; serving at parish events; teaching faith formation; ministering to the imprisoned, addicted, infirm and struggling; working at food pantries and charities that help those in need; writing columns for this newspaper (thank you, Father Bill Muench and Msgr. Paul Whitmore); providing chaplain services for local law enforcement and emergency responders; attending meetings and serving on committees; and working in roles that support the diocese. That list is not nearly exhaustive, and it doesn’t even begin to include the administrative duties involved in running a parish or multiple parishes. And they do all these things with love, kindness, compassion and humor, often sacrificing what little downtime they have. I’m blessed to be in a position that gives me opportunities to interact with priests across the diocese and watch them interact with the people around them. I can say with certainty that our priests are making a difference. They’re reflecting Christ, and they’re bringing people to Him. Like I said, we appreciate our priests. We also love them. I will note, despite our love for our priests, and I believe all our priests are loved, there are some who aren’t mentioned in these pages. Despite best intentions, people forget to submit their ads or stories, and people miss the deadline. These priests are loved nonetheless. |
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