(Lost a few days progress in the blog over the past week. Will catch up so that I end this series of 100 posts on January 13, 2019, which is also the day for my retirement liturgy as pastor! What a coincidence.)
No, the above photograph is not me. It is, however, the way that I feel on some days. This particular priest is 100 years old. Keep going, Father.
I will have a few posts on this topic. Hopefully, they will not be an exercise in narcissism. If it comes across that way, then storm the barricades and tell me not to be so self-absorbed! My intent in this blog has been to candidly share what I'm thinking, what I'm believing, and somehow convey a sense of what I've learned from the people that I have served. I recognize that, for some strange reason, I am more at easy in sharing via this blog than in speaking with others. I will leave to others the chance to figure that out. I've shared in this blog what I've learned and, to some degree, experienced. Often what I've learned and experienced comes from my interactions with so many in the parishioners and friends over the decades.
I have been thinking about retiring for a couple of years. I would have been eligible to retire with full pension when I was 68. I'm now 71. One of the most significant "gee-whiz" moments came when I was at a priest's funeral. I asked a classmate who is also our diocesan archivist whether my calculation of priests from our ordination class was accurate. He agreed with me after that funeral. There were 23 of us ordained for Paterson in 1973. There are three of us still standing in active duty. With my gradual retirement (first from the parish and second from the diocesan job), there will then be 2 left standing. The rest have either retired or gone home to God.
I have seen some priests hold on to their parishes or their assignments until they were no longer effective. I never wanted to be in that category. Certainly one thing that is unique about my retirement is the reality that i have been associated with the parish for 45 years and 28 as pastor. I'm an anomaly. The length of time that I've been here makes it really difficult to retire from here. Just about all my friends are clustered around this zip-code! People have been so good to me.
I'll continue this line of thought for a while in these posts.
TODAY'S GRATITUDE: This is for you. I'm also sorry that some are so upset that I'm doing this. Thanks for sharing this as well.