Last night, when Nancy & I got home from a meeting at church, there was a message waiting for us. Checking the message, expecting it to be one of the kids, it turned out be be from Bishop Gruss. This was the call we had been expecting for some time, where would the Bishop assign us? We had been getting asked by many people where we staying at OLBH? Were we going somewhere else? We had heard various rumors but until the Bishop tells us, that is all there were – speculation and rumor. His message was him asking me to return his call. So I dialed the number and he immediately answered.
After visiting briefly, he informed me he would like me to stay at Our Lady of the Black Hills.
At this point, I didn’t know what Deacon Jim’s assignment would be. We knew we both were not going to stay at OLBH. We were pretty sure at least one of us would end up at Our Lady of Perpetual Help (OLPH) Cathedral. So if I was staying, that meant Deacon Jim was going. After hanging up the phone, I called Jim. Barb answered, and said Jim was talking to one of their sons. So I asked Barb, had Jim spoken with the Bishop. She replied yes. Was it Cathedral, again she replied yes. After speaking to her a few more minutes about other things, she said she would have Jim call me back. Jim did call and we visited for a while.
Jim and I, along with Barb and Nancy, had been on this journey together for a lot of years. While starting this next phase of our lives has some excitement associated with it, it also has sadness. We had been on this journey together for so long, now being assigned to separate parishes brought that phase of our journey to a close. But I know, as we have for many years now, we’ll always be friends, we will always have this connection because of our shared journey, and I know we’ll continue to share a common journey, just not as closely as we have.
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