"Faith"fully Yours

Last week a friend and mentor went home to God.   Somehow, Fr. Jerry Appelby’s sickness and death has truly been an integral part of my journey of faith these last few weeks.   I know that I am a better minister of God’s Word because I knew Jerry. I know that some of my leadership skills are more finely tuned because I worked side by side with him.  Fr. Jerry served as Sacramental Minister in the parish where I served as the Pastoral Administrator.   He was devoted to his ministry of presiding, preaching and sharing the sacraments of healing; reconciliation and anointing.   He faithfully celebrated funerals, baptisms and weddings whenever we needed him.   This ministry was one he took up in his retirement and he wanted to be grounded in one community where he could be a part of the life of that community as much as he was able.   I had never been a Pastoral Administrator before and I wanted this relationship between us to work out.   ...

One of my “resolutions” for these Lenten days is to slow down enough to truly see and appreciate the wonders of God all around us.   As I have said before, I can get so busy or preoccupied with the details of life that I forget to pick my head up, open my eyes and ears and truly take in the awesome power of God. One morning last week as I began my day in a corner of my room designated for prayer and reflection; I looked up and out the window facing southwest and saw the most beautiful midnight blue sky illumined only by the three quarter moon making its descent.   When I turned to face the other window, facing east, I saw lighter blues and hues of turquoise as the sun began to rise.   Still later in the morning while swimming at the “Y”, I looked up from my laps and out the many windows to a sky so blue it was almost white.   In the course of about 1 ½ hours, I witnessed more hues of blue than Crayola ever imagined.   In these colors I see the waning...