Today was a lot tougher than I thought. Burying five priests in the short time that I have been the administrator of the diocese has been hard to begin with; however, a couple of them were not only brother priests but really good friends.
Msgr. Morales was so looking forward to “coming home”. He would have moved back to our diocese a week before our next bishop’s ordination. I was going to hook him up with doctors for his care once he was back. All that changed when God decided to call him home not to Northwest Indiana, but, to eternity.
He was never really able to realize his plans to return. He truly valued friendship and our fraternity. It’s making me think that I have to do much more to cherish and nurture those friendships now; because, none of us knows the time that we have left.
Rest in peace, my dear friend.
