Dear Family,
Two weeks to go and counting. What will Easter mean to you this year? As I’ve remarked in various places recently, the process of “maturing,” (i.e. getting old,) finds me becoming a little more focused on what is to come, and a lot less on what has been. Somewhere in the middle of those two ideas is my here-and-now.

A couple of people pointed out a recent op ed in the Wall Street Journal by Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York. I highly recommend it. Just type ‘Cardinal Dolan Inclusion’ in your search box and it should pop up. It worked for me.

The Cardinal’s article was headlined, “If You Want ‘Inclusion,’ I’ve Got a List.” After reading through Cardinal Dolan’s “list,” I was overwhelmed. I tried to envision some of the people he singled out. Picturing them was wrenching. I felt wounded, enraged, empathetic, sympathetic...

I doubt the Cardinal had to work hard to call up the groups he mentioned. As Archbishop of New York, they must create some of the very foundation stones of his ministry.

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Dear Family,
Normally March 19th is the feast of Saint Joseph. The great feast day is moved to tomorrow, the 20th, so we can continue on our Lenten journey. May Patrick and Joseph be our guides.

Our gospel story today is about the man born blind and his cure. It is the fourth of the five great Lenten stories, the gospel accounts of

1 - the temptation of Jesus,
2 - the Transfiguration,
3 - the woman at the well,
4 - today’s story of the man born blind, and
5 - the raising of Lazarus from the dead, offer us a basic catechism about Christian living.

Can you pick out a line from those stories to reflect on? For me, I got:

1 - “Get behind me , Satan.”
2 - “Do not be afraid.”
3 - “Give me living water.”
4 - “Go wash in the Pool.”
5 – “Lazarus, come out.”

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Dear Family,
It’s hard to believe that tomorrow it will be 10 years! We pray for the Holy Father and his mission, and we give the Lord thanks for his resolution and spiritual leadership.

On a more local level, the Lord surely blessed us with our parish mission. I’ve known Fr. Tom Boyer for many years, but I think I had forgotten just how good a presenter he is. I almost said ‘preacher’ but that doesn’t do him justice. He didn’t speak at us but invited us to walk along with him.

Our heartfelt thanks to Tom for his time with us, and our thanks to the Lord for him. Tom and I were ordained in the same year (1968.) He has “retired” to Naples from Oklahoma, and he regularly celebrates in parishes around Naples. I’m grateful he is open to being persuaded by his ‘friends’ to share some of his accumulated wisdom. He redefines retirement.

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Dear Family,
We happily welcome Father Tom Boyer to our par¬ish this week to walk with us on a short parish mission.
Last week Fr. Tom sent us a summary of the shape of the mission. You’ll recall he posed three questions that Matthew’s gospel asks about Jesus:

• Who is Jesus of Nazareth?
• What did he have to say?
• What does he do?

The first talk is on Sunday afternoon at 4:00 p.m.
The second and third talks will be on Monday and Tuesday.
The same talk will be offered after 8:30 a.m. Mass (with coffee) in McDonnell Hall
OR 7:00 p.m. in the Main Sanctuary.

It will be refreshing for me to hear someone else at the microphone.

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