From Our Pastor: What A Whirlwind

What a whirlwind. This last week, we had our convocation of priests this last week. It’s our annual meeting of the priests of the diocese. We have a presenter to continue to help us grow in our priesthood. The speaker topic was on the Dead Sea Scrolls this year, and it was fascinating and informative.

COVID canceled an event last year I was to participate in. Being rescheduled for this year it was back-to-back to convocation. I hated doing this, but it wasn’t possible to avoid. I was inducted as a priest Knight in the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem. It is an honor to be a part of this group. When I was in the Holy Land in seminary for ten weeks, everywhere you looked the Knights of the Holy Sepulcher (as sometimes known) were doing something amazing. I will tell you there would not be Christians and would not be Christian sites in the Holy Land without the work of the Knights of the Holy Sepulcher. I decided then that I desired to be a part of the order someday. As a priest you must be asked by the Bishop. Thank you Bishop Paprocki for this honor. As a lay person, another member and priest can nominate someone. It truly is a spectacular group that does amazing work. I can’t wait to tell you more about this group soon.

This last Thursday as I traveled to Cincinnati for the induction weekend, my dad called and made me aware of my mother who fell and was being taken to the hospital in an ambulance. My parents went to Orlando for a week for their 53rd wedding anniversary. My mother has a small brain bleed and a concussion and some minor injuries as well. Praise God her bleed didn’t continue to grow, which would require surgery, but she has a long recovery from all of this. This last Monday as I returned home from Cincinnati, my dad sent me a picture of a new bruise that appeared on mom’s head, and I had just talked to them and was concerned about some of her symptoms. She went back to the ER, so I switched out some clothes and drove to St. Louis and got to the airport very late that night. I spent the night at the airport and flew out Tuesday morning. Mom was released, as praise God the bruise was not the sign of continued brain bleeding it could have been. She is in a lot of pain and my parents needed help. I am down here helping my dad with her care, and the plan of how to get them both home. I am sorry to be gone, but I hope you will be understanding. Please also pray for my mother’s continued recovery.

Please keep Sue and Mike Holbrook in your prayers. Sue’s dad died this week. So, pray for the repose of his soul and for Sue and family. Also, please be patient if you need anything from her for some time.

When it rains it pours! This week Krista in our office will need to begin quarantine. We do not have a great deal of details as of typing this article. I am glad that I could find help covering days with our staff and Pat Holbrook who is helping us out! Thank you so much to Pat. Even with everyone stepping up there may be some days we have to close the office early, or all together. We will post notes on the door and send out updates on those days via the website, Facebook, and the parish app as they come up.

Also, we continue to cover Beardstown Spanish Masses in the midst of all of this. Whew, I am exhausted just filling you in! I apologize if I haven’t gotten back to you. I am so sorry to miss so many things right now. I also thank Fr. David, Fr. Rafal, Fr. Bob and Fr. Edgar for their coverage help. Thank you to Yukari Shindo, part of our staff, for her care of Bella, as many have asked about who is watching her. Bella may not want to come back she has it so good! I thank all the staff for their work in all this. I hope to see everyone soon! Thank you for your prayers!