Yesterdays convocation was very informative. It was to help us, priests understand that many of these changes that the civil government want are really an attempt to chip away at the moral fiber of society. The redefinition of words is a powerful but subtle way of changing institutions. I really enjoyed it and learned a lot.
I also enjoyed having lunch with my brother priests and catching up on the news. I also met privately with Cardinal Wuerl, where he presented me with my formal decree of retirement. It will be effective on July 1st.
I got home in time for the 5:30pm Mass and stayed over in the rectory until the play reading group met at 7pm. We read “Picnic”, which I’ve heard about both as a play and as a movie. I guess it was “racy” in its day but tame by today’s standards.
Fr. Jim called me in my room last night and asked if he could take the 8:00am Mass today and I said, “Sure”. I had the 11am and then I was going to go to the hospital and see how Marie was doing. That worked out well. Early today, I preached about Philip Neri, one of my favorite saints. I also called Fr. John Bohrer to wish him a happy anniversary – and it is Saturday but we had a good talk. Also Joe called as he and Tim arrived back last night from the trip to Italy. He may come down this weekend to bring Tim’s car back to DC. It will be great to hear about his trip.
After Mass I went and stayed in the waiting room with Maggie and Marie’s daughter, Mary. We had a nice “catch up on family news” as we waited for Marie. It took about three hours and then the doctor came out to see us and tell us Marie did very well. There were blockages and he put in a stint and showed us photos of everything they did. It was interesting but not my cup of tea. We finally saw Marie in recovery and they decided to keep her overnight. Tomorrow I will have the 11am Mass and go by the hospital and get Marie and we’ll drive to Maggie’s. Maggie’s grandkids have some program from pre-school that we’re going to and I’ll stay overnight. I don’t have to be back at the parish until a 2pm Baptism. So I won’t write tomorrow. I’ll write on Saturday.
I’m glad all went well with Marie! Enjoy time with family….. I’m enjoying Florida!