Good Lord, I think I’m in trouble.
If this evening is any indication of what is to come tomorrow, it’s going to be a long day of warm fuzzies!
After the 5:30 p.m. Mass, they invited parishioners to go down to the cafeteria to congratulate me on my forty years of ordained priesthood. (HOW, by the way, did forty years go by?!) Tomorrow, after the first three Masses, they will repeat the scene with opportunities for people to go to the cafeteria to greet me and, after the Noon Mass, there will be a lunch for people who reserved a place for themselves by purchasing a meal ticket. The committee had to do it that way in order to make sure we don’t go over the fire code capacity of the gym.
This evening was jampacked with greetings or, as some would say, “feeling the love.” Boy, did I feel it.
I’m good at thanking others. At least I think I am. But it’s tough for me to receive thanks from others because I don’t think I deserve it because I’m only doing my job. An emotional evening is the introduction of an emotional day tomorrow. It’s a good think Monday is a holiday and we are closed because I think I will need that day to decompress! 🙂
Thank you to all who came out to greet me and who left me all sorts of cards and gifts. You’re simply amazing.