Dear People of Good Shepherd,

 How can I begin to thank you for the stupendous outpouring of affirmation, love and support on the occasion of my fortieth anniversary of ordination to the priesthood?  I am in awe of your generosity and kindness.  The number of gifts, presents, and words of affirmation written on cards and letters, as well as your spoken words and acts of kindness have touched my heart deeply.

Forgive me for not writing a personal thank you to each of you who have been so good, generous and thoughtful to me.  The task is quite beyond my capacity at this time.

 Last Saturday night during the Mass at five o’clock, your affirmation brought tears of joy to my eyes.  In writing this letter of thanks to express my profound gratitude for all who have contributed in any way, I hesitate to mention people by name for fear of slighting anyone.  However, I want to acknowledge the music ministry and Judi and Jim who lead them. Christine Burns was a superstar in organizing the Social Activities Committee and the many volunteers who gave of their time and talent.  Ann Hernandez did a magnificent job in putting photos together and organizing the Memory Book, printing the mass booklets and memorial cards.  The cover dish supper which followed mass was out of this world.  The quantity and quality of the food was outstanding.  There were so many volunteers who made things go smoothly, from setting up, decorating, serving, guiding and then to cleaning up.  I was impressed with the care given to details like tying forks and knives within napkins and labeling the foods at the buffet.  

For all of you I give thanks to God and I remember you always with prayers night and day.  

Incidentally, we all know that a twenty-fifth anniversary is silver, a fiftieth is gold, but did you know that a fortieth is ruby, as someone told me?  I didn’t know that.  Here’s something else you may not be aware of, in Sacred Scripture, the number forty has special significance.  In the days of Noah, after it rained for forty days and nights, there was a new beginning on the earth; in the days of Moses, the Israelites wandered in the Sinai for forty years before they entered the Promised Land; in the days of Jesus, after his baptism he spent forty days in the desert before beginning his public ministry, and in the Acts of the Apostles,  it says that forty days after his death Jesus showed himself to the disciples in ways that proved beyond doubt that he was alive. In each case the number forty seems to describe a period of purification, preparation for something new.  Now that I have come to my fortieth anniversary, for all that has been I say THANKS, for all that is yet to be, with the help of God’s grace, I say YES!!!