Did the heavy snow on Mother's Day in 2014 help the brightness of the trees in October of that year because of the extra moisture?
Looking at the old photos is slowing down my cleaning process again!
October 9, 2014 October 12, 2015 October 10, 2016 October 6, 2017
Did the heavy snow on Mother's Day in 2014 help the brightness of the trees in October of that year because of the extra moisture? Looking at the old photos is slowing down my cleaning process again!
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In my role as Director of Pastoral Ministries for the Diocese of Cheyenne, I have had the pleasure to work cooperatively with the Knights of Columbus in providing ultrasound machines for the pregnancy care centers across the state. If I remember correctly, I think we are now up to eight machines that have been purchased.
The latest community to get a new ultrasound machine is Cheyenne. I have the distinct privilege of going to LifeChoice Pregnancy Care Center tomorrow to bless and dedicate their new machine. May these endeavors continue to help us build a culture of life! I think this was the first time I met Archbishop Chaput. There is a slight difference between his height and mine and he made a point of that. I had the pleasure of being with Archbishop Chaput on a few occasions while he was still Archbishop of Denver. I always enjoyed his humor and admired his intellect and his leadership. Assisting Archbishop Broglio at F.E. Warren Air Force Base for the annual celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation was a true privilege. This was something I never even considered prior to moving to Cheyenne. However, as I came to know more and more of the military families I was truly grateful to be part of this annual celebration. It was a pleasure getting to know Archbishop Broglio. His biography is quite a story. Cardinal O'Brien was a presenter at the September Institute. I had the opportunity to assist at Mass with him as the celebrant. And to think--I knew him when he was "just a bishop." Working with Bishop Etienne for seven years was a true gift. As he became the Archbishop of Anchorage I felt a sense of happiness for his "promotion," but also a sense of loss. As he showed the congregation his official appointment as Archbishop of Anchorage at his Mass of Installation, I knew that a chapter had indeed ended.
During the last year I have had the opportunity to work with Bishop Steven Biegler. I can only imagine what it must have been like for him to arrive in Cheyenne and hear things such as, "We want to buy that building across the street. What do you think?" Who would want to walk into that type of conversation upon one's arrival in a new place? Congratulations bishop on "surviving" your first year as a bishop. Only 16 more years to go! Other bishops have passed through Cheyenne during my time here as well. Unfortunately, I do not have pictures of all those encounters. However, I would be remiss not to mention Bishop Ricken. I have had the pleasure of visiting with him on a few occasions when he has returned to the diocese for special events. I wish I would have been in Cheyenne a few years earlier so I could have also worked with him. Since the timing did not match up accordingly, I will be grateful for the brief times we have been able to visit at these other occasions. The blessings of my time in Wyoming are immense. All of the photos are a reminder of just how magnificent these years have been. I am grateful that I have been blogging for five years and will be able to return to these memories from time to time at the click of a mouse. God is good! Deacon Mike Leman (far right) used the above photo in his blog posting for today. His thoughts on saying good-bye touched me immensely. (I read it all the way to the end waiting for the punch line. There wasn't one. Wow!) Since Deacon Mike said some nice things about me, I thought I should share the post so others could see it. I now have written proof.
In all sincerity, I share Deacon Mike's sentiments. It is not always an easy task to do the job that is set before us, but it is great to have others shoulder some of the burden when the load becomes too heavy. We have been able to be that extra hand for each other when the load has been particularly difficult. Deacon Mike, I will indeed miss the friendship and the laughter that we have shared. Thank you for the good times, and thank you for the kind words in your blog post of today. What a blessing you have given me today! legislative.dioceseofcheyenne.org/2018/06/11/457/ It is hard to believe that two months have passed since I first visited the parish of St. Francis by the Sea. We were fresh into the Easter season as noted by the outside decorations on the church. It has been a bit of a whirlwind since that visit, but I am now just three weeks away from beginning a new adventure as the Director of Religious Education with this wonderful faith community. The church campus is beautiful, but the deeper beauty I encountered was in all of the people I met while visiting there. In today's bulletin (June 10, 2018), I was formally introduced to the parish. You can read that introduction on the bottom of page 2 of the bulletin. Click on the link below to get to the home page. Then scroll down just a little and click on the June 10 bulletin. www.stfrancishhi.org/ I am extremely grateful to the pastor, Fr. Mike, for giving me this opportunity to minister in this vibrant faith community. I am excited to begin meeting the parishioners and start building relationships. I congratulate Mitzi on her retirement. After all your years of dedicated service to the parish, it is my intent to continue building on the good work you have done. Thank you for your hospitality to my family while we were in town. Your kindness and generosity is truly appreciated. To the parishioners--I know some of you have started reading my blog already. Welcome! It is good to have you here. Please know that I come to your parish with zeal, energy, and hope. A vibrant faith community is a tremendous blessing to us all. I assure you that I will do my part to be a positive influence on all that we do in the parish and the school to maintain and build upon all of the good work already in place. I look forward to working side by side with you as we strive to build the Kingdom of God. To my Wyoming connections--I had the pleasure to see many of you at the priest ordinations on Friday. Thank you for your many kind words and expressions of gratitude for my work during these almost nine years. It has been a blessing for me to minister all across the beautiful state of Wyoming. The people of this vast diocese have touched my heart immensely. You have made me a better person and a better deacon. I thank you for your prayers and for everything you have done to help me during all these years. May God bless you for your faithfulness in building up the Kingdom. Finally, there is still some work to be done here, and plenty of packing to do. In the midst of it all I am eagerly anticipating my arrival in Hilton Head. If all goes as planned, I am scheduled to preach at the weekend Masses on June 30 and July 1 at St. Francis by the Sea. I am always excited at the opportunity to proclaim God's Word at Mass through both the reading of the Gospel and preaching the homily. This will be the 35th church where I have had the privilege of preaching. I never imagined what God had in store for my ministry when I was ordained a deacon back in 1999. It has been an amazing adventure, and I am thrilled at the new chapter about to begin. St. Francis--pray for us! For my readers in Wyoming, Colorado, and Missouri--have I mentioned how close to the beach I will be?
The social media and editorial team for the Wyoming Catholic Register met this morning. We decided it was a good time to take a photo and mark the occasion as I am now nearing my departure date from the diocese.
Working on the diocesan newspaper and all of our social media venues is just another hat we each wear in addition to our "real" jobs. However, it has truly been a blast working with these folks. This group of people knows how to work hard and have fun while doing it. Furthermore, I believe that we have been producing some excellent work in regard to the diocesan newspaper. I will admit that working for the Church does teach one how to be versatile. The Diocese of Cheyenne was not on social media when I arrived here eight and a half years ago. I was asked to get us started. With very little knowledge about social media at the time, I waded into unknown territories. My inexperience showed, but eventually I started gaining a little more knowledge and confidence about what I was doing. However, we really began to flourish when more people came on board with greater knowledge of the trends. Creating a team of people has greatly enhanced our endeavors. It has taken a while for us to grow, but we are making progress and increasing our outreach all across the diocese and beyond. Matt, Maria, Denise, and Deacon Mike--thank you for sharing your gifts with the diocese. Thanks for the camaraderie while doing it. The priests of the Diocese of Cheyenne have been on retreat this week. It has been my privilege to lead a Word and Communion Service at 6:45 A.M. each day at the cathedral in their absence. This opportunity to gather with the faithful for prayer and reflection has been a tremendous blessing. I am deeply touched and inspired by the fervor of these good and holy people. The Church is indeed blessed because of their faith.
Following this morning's service, I was invited to attend a weekly Bible study in which the group looks at the readings for the upcoming Sunday. This was good in and of itself, but there was also breakfast. It doesn't get much better than that. We were fed physically and spiritually. Today's Scripture readings remind us that we are called to be saints. Love God. Love your neighbor. Let's get out there and do just that! I am still cleaning up files on my computer. Looking at pictures has been slowing down the process. Seeing this photo from February 23, 2016 really made me stop for a while.
Each year the chancery staff goes on a one day retreat during Lent to the Abbey of St. Walburga in Virginia Dale, Colorado. In 2016 I had the privilege of leading the retreat for my colleagues. I remember that event producing a little more anxiety than what I typically experience at other speaking engagements. I even wrote in a blog post on February 22, 2016 that I was concerned about the Scripture verse related to a "prophet in his own hometown." Thankfully, my co-workers were very kind to me and showed up for each of the sessions. (I know the gift shop was calling a couple of them pretty intensely, but they resisted the urge to skip the sessions for more shopping.) As I look at the photo (above) taken at the end of the retreat, I am struck by a couple of things. First of all, we accomplish a lot of work with a very small staff. Secondly, the one constant seems to be change. After I depart my position at the end of the month, I will be the sixth person from that group of 14 who are no longer at the chancery. That is a lot of change in just over a two year period. Transitions can be a challenge. Please pray for all who are facing transitions. Graduations happen at this time of year and change takes place. Clergy changes in the Church happen frequently during this time of year as well. Wedddings also occur at this time of year and transitions take place after saying, "I do." Military personnel make transitions frequently, and sometimes under quite stressful situations. People in secular jobs get promoted or transferred, or worse yet, laid off. People relocate to different parts of the country or world for a variety of reasons. Change is the constant. I simply invite you to pray for all who are making transitions of any kind. I assure the chancery personnel of my prayers for each of them as they encounter another transition with my departure. May we each experience God's blessings and peace! The years continue to roll by. This fall Margaret and I will celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary. Today I celebrate 19 years as a deacon. The above photo is a little yellow with age, but it shows that Archbishop Justin Rigali (now Cardinal Rigali) did indeed place his hands on my head. I never imagined where this journey would lead. After ordination I continued my schooling for an additional year. (It is hard to believe that 4 and a half years of classes had not been enough.) Since then, I have been working full time for the Church over these last 18 years. After wrapping up nearly nine years in diocesan ministry in the beautiful state of Wyoming, I am looking forward to returning to parish ministry. I am also looking forward to a little milder climate as I prepare to relocate to the Diocese of Charleston, South Carolina. Forty-five credit hours of specified theology and religious education coursework prepared the way for my entry into full-time ministry. The "on-the-job" training has been even more immense. Classroom work certainly provided some much needed knowledge on the content of the subjects, but it really did not prepare me fully for the reality of what ministry looks like on a day-to-day basis from a practical standpoint. I guess that is something you almost have to experience first-hand to grasp the magnitude of the messiness of ministry. There are many blessings and joys in ministry, but there are also times when the challenges are quite daunting. I have been fortunate to have worked with some strong and prayerful leaders through the years. These role models have helped me to become a better leader because of their wonderful example. I will always be grateful for the faithful people who have had a hand in shaping my own spiritual journey. While 19 years have passed since the day of our ordination, we have only lost one member from this picture. Deacon Steve Wohlert died on July 19, 2017. May he rest in peace! Cardinal Rigali is retired. Bishop Sheridan is in Colorado Springs. Bishop Braxton is in Belleville, Illinois.
To my deacon classmates: congratulations on 19 years of service. May God continue to bless each of you in your ministry! I will be arriving in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina at the end of the month to begin my new role as Director of Religious Education for the parish community of St. Francis by the Sea. If all goes as planned, I am scheduled to preach at the weekend Masses on June 30 and July 1 as my way of being introduced into the parish. I look forward to meeting the parishioners and beginning this new adventure. Finding this program in a file reminded me that it has been almost 8 years ago since I presented this retreat for the staff of St. Mary's Cathedral. A lot has changed since then. A significant portion of the staff at St. Mary's has changed, a different pastor is in place now, and numerous associate pastors have come and gone over these last eight years. The beautiful retreat center of St. Malo has unfortunately also burned down since then and is no longer in existence. As I have come to realize quite profoundly in my own life in recent days, nothing stays the same.
I used the above topic (Flying in Formation) for a couple of years as I presented retreats to a number of parish staffs. It is of the utmost importance for those of us in ministry to know ourselves. What are our strengths? What are our weaknesses? How is our relationship with Jesus Christ? How well do we pray? It is my opinion that we must know ourselves so we are able to recognize the opportunities for growth that come our way. As ministers experience growth in their own lives, they have more to offer the people under their pastoral care. A person's encounter with the living God through prayer and the sacramental life of the Church empowers the individual to be an intentional disciple and faithful witness of Jesus Christ. How awesome is that! If we , as ministers, have had that encounter with God, it gives credibility to the message we share with others. We aren't just pushing some theoretical proposition. We are sharing a lived experience. How would that impact the Church if our ministers were all operating out of that lived experience? As we grow deeper in faith, hope, and love, it is important for us to take God's message out to the world. We don't keep the Good news of Salvation to ourselves. We are sent forth to share it to the ends of the earth. This is especially true for anyone who has taken on a ministerial role at the parish. There is a deep responsibility that comes to the minister who has the privilege of serving God's people in a formal manner as a member of the parish staff or team. It is my prayer that each of us seek the grace of God to live up to our individual responsibilities well. Whatever roles we have--whether as a paid staff member or as a volunteer--let us truly build the Kingdom of God! We have a magnificent opportunity to be the light of Christ to others. Don't miss the chance to shine! |
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