September 14, 2018

Letters to the Editor

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A heartfelt ‘thank you’ to our priests who answered the call to ministry

(Editor’s note: This letter was submitted by a reader, and we share it with all the priests who serve the Church in central and southern Indiana.)

Dear parish priest, my friend,

I wanted to take this opportunity to say “thank you” for all that you have done for me and my family.

I wanted to say thanks for listening to the call of God and becoming his earthly servant, but most of all I wanted to tell you thanks for being there in our time of need. You should know that thousands of us love you, and we will always be grateful.

You chose to be a servant of Christ. You are at our baptisms, our confirmations, our weddings, our funerals. You are with us in our time of need and our time of celebrations. We take you for granted too many times, and we fail to express our sincere appreciation. Please forgive us for our faults.

You never fail to tell us that God loves us so much, and that he sent his only Son because of his love. Because of that love and a parish priest telling us of that love and sharing that love, most of us have felt his love in one form or another. We are blessed because of your commitment.

You may be feeling a little overwhelmed by what is happening in our Church. As you retire at night in the quiet of your own mind, you may ask why, what purpose is to be served, and perhaps a thousand unanswerable other questions, questions that any human would ask.

I don’t pretend to have any answers nor any insight nor meaningful advice. I only know that a parish priest has been a part of every significant step of my life.

I hope you, as a priest, will listen to your own words that you have spoken to us, words of love through Jesus Christ, words of hope and a belief that Christ has a plan. Out of the dark, there will be light.

Thanks again for all you do and for listening to the call to be a priest. May you always feel his love and the love of the people to whom you give so much.

- Charles (Bud) Doyle | Indianapolis

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