This morning, I was at St. Mary Church in Kouts for the funeral of Fr. Thomas Tibbs. He was a good and pious man. He was also the pastor at the parish for 34 years. Imagine that. 34 years!
Fr. Jim Meade, who knew him well, was the homilist at the funeral Mass. He spoke of Fr. Tibbs’ past, his conversion story, and his relationship with some of the “power hitters” of our diocesan past: Msgr. Grothouse, Msgr. Bill Martin, and Fr. Bart. Fr. Tibbs had a deep faith and lived it well.
He was in incredible pain for at least ten years; yet, all he ever had for others was a kind word and a smile. He never complained and never snapped. I don’t know how he did it.
May he rest in peace. And may God call others to follow in his stead because we are burying more priests than we are ordaining and, soon, the diocese is going to be in real trouble.