Fr. Jim
I want to thank in this forum Fr. Jim French for all that he has done for the parish is the brief time that he was here at Holy. When I think of Fr. Jim two things come to mind.
First, it was very freeing knowing that there was someone here to preside at Mass when I had something else going on. It may not have seemed like a big deal for any of you, but it was a tremendous load off of my mind, not having to come back into town when I was out in Washington, or wherever my min- istry took me. The second thing I will re- member about Fr. Jim is his cooking, especially his pork chops. There were times over the past year when I was running about and I would get home and think to myself: What should I do for dinner? And lo and behold, it was often there waiting for me on the stove. Fr. Jim is a great priest and a remarkable human being and we shall miss him here at Ho- ly. He leaves us for a noble task, to take care of his mom in her elder days. May God Bless him in the next chapter of his life.
Crossing the Finish Line
I have stated it so many times that it sounds almost hackneyed, but I could not be any prouder of our school (administration, staff, faculty, students and parents) as we finally crossed the finish line on this school year. 2020-2021 offered all of us one of the great-est challenges of our lifetime. Keep the school open, keep the students and their families safe and healthy, and then try to do all those things we always do during the school year. The final three weeks were crazy. I had not been through a real end of school here at Holy, so almost everything was new. I would like to say “Farewell” to our intrepid eighth graders as they move on to high school. They were excellent leaders of our school and I am expecting great things from them over the next four years and be- yond. I hope they try something out of their comfort zones, because when we stretch like that, we grow, prosper and thrive.
Summer Time
There is little argument that summer is my favorite season (I was a high school teacher for 35 years, what did you expect?). I hope that this summer can be a time of relaxation and renewal. Here are four challenges for all of you: 1.) Mingle. Get out there and renew some relationships that have been missed due to the pandemic. 2.) Read. Stretch your mind this summer. Try to read at least two books. 3.) Play. Some people think that this is frivolous and unnecessary. I totally disagree. A lot of us have been somewhat dulled by the pandemic, we need to focus on doing something to take us out of the hum- drum and boring. No matter how old you are, get out and play. 4.) Pray. Over the last few weeks it has been awesome welcoming people back to church – in person. We have had public Masses for a whole year now. It is safe and it is refreshing. (Parents, tells those teenagers to come as well.)
Enjoy.