I’m back!
Whether it will be like General MacArthur or a bad penny, the bishop has asked me to return to the Cathedral and follow Fr. Alford as the next rector of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.
I’m deeply honored.
Fr. Brian has done a fine job in his tenure and I hope I can continue in the goodness he and the Cathedral staff have maintained. I thank him for his excellent pastoral care as well as the fraternal charity he’s shown me over the years. We’ve known each other for almost twenty years, beginning in the Altiplano of Peru through the prairies of our diocese. He’s been a good friend, and his willingness to make my transition to the Cathedral as smooth as possible has been a godsend.
I say I’m back because, as some will recall, I was here from 2014-2016 as the parochial vicar. After ordination, the Cathedral was my first assignment under one of my people: Fr. Chris House. I have many wonderful memories from my first time here with him, Fr. Marty Smith, Deacon Larry, Bill Vogt, and all the rest. I know there are many more good memories to come with old friends and new.
I thank the Bishop for his trust in me, the Cathedral staff for their generosity of spirit, and you, the parishioners and visitors of our mother church for your faith and support.
I’d also like to thank my former parishioners in Vandalia and Ramsey, and also my friends in New Berlin, Waverly, Franklin, and Alexander.
In the Gospel of John, Chapter 17 verse 24, as Jesus finishes his Last Supper Discourse, He prays to His Father and says of his disciples (current and future), “Father, they are your gift to me. I wish that where I am they also may be with me.”
Considering all the good souls I have met in all of my assignments, I know a little of the gift of which He speaks and how He feels.
Please pray for me.
With gratitude and joy for the days ahead!
Fr. Seth