Back to the Future

I"m sitting in a room at St. Anthony Shrine in Boston in the middle of a two week journey north from St. Petersburg. It's a journey which began with a look to the past and will end with a look to the future.
This past Saturday, May 9, I was at St. Stephen's Church on E 82nd St. In NY to celebrate the 50th anniversary of preisthood of 7 of our friars, all of whom are still working. It was a wonderful celebration of the lives of men who have served God and God's people over a time when the whole landscape of Church and society went through a seismic shift. These guys, ordained in 1959, celebrated Mass in Latin for several years but then adapted to Vatican II, the sixties, the space age, computers, etc. All of them adapted and changed with the times yet were rooted in faith and the desire to serve God's people. And they're still going strong serving in parishes, preaching missions, working in the foriegn missions, reaching out to the poor. I'm grateful for all of them and for the blessing of serving with one of them--Fr. Rod Petrie, ofm.--for many years in the Ministry of the Word.
Tomorrow, May 16, I will attend the graduation of my niece Michelle from Salem State College, north of Boston. Like many of her peers Michelle has worked hard and fought through many challenges to arrive at this moment. She hopes to work with children and to write children's books. She and her classmates at Salem State and around the country are the future.
If many of them are like Michelle it is a bright future to which we look forward. Congratulations Michelle and my God grant you many happy and wonderful years.