We find all sorts of paradoxes the longer we live. Along those lines, I encourage you, in the light of the Gospel, to make some really clear observations; expand your horizons. The state, nation and world are a lot bigger than southern Buffalo County. For example, the solar eclipse on Monday. In the wake of civil protests which indicate a lot of disunity, did you notice, at least for a few moments, the national unity around this lunar event? In other words, we really did come together as a nation. We were buying glasses, watching news, talking about and observing the eclipse…together! We really can be unified, it’s possible, and unity happened.

While visiting my parents on a recent “day off,” I was setting outdoors perusing YouTube listening to somesongs which bring back good and pleasant memories. My dad who is 71 years old, sat down next to me andinquired as to what I was doing. “You can find those songs on your phone?” he asked. “Sure, and I can showyou how to find them on your phone.” So I did. By no means is my dad technologically advanced, but he hasdone a pretty good job mastering text messaging with my siblings and I. So, after a few steps with his phone hewas listening to songs which helped him reminisce about his younger years. The time together was delightful.

Our current Staff members have been holding things together over the past several days in my vacation absence. Among them is Amanda Burrow, our Coordinator of Religious Education. She graciously agreed to composethe bulletin articles, focusing on Confirmation. While she was busy writing, I was busy reading, praying andquite simply relaxing. I took advantage of doing some reading about Pope Francis. In my reading, I wasreminded by a priest friend to not only learn about his mind, but also to learn his heart. I like that concept whenthinking about our pope, to learn his heart. Hopefully Pope Francis, like any good shepherd, will lead us todiscover an ever deeper relationship with the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ.