I have your blog bookmarked since I stumbled upon it a year ago during a pretty tough time at work and now check it each week for a little spiritual sustenance – it’s a real gem. Your words are very valuable because no matter what’s going on in the rush around me, time stops for a few moments while I wonder over your latest posts. Sometimes they can change my perspective on the day/the next client/the grumpy judge I’ve had to deal with, and it’s a little marvel. Please don’t underestimate the power of your words.

So thank you for the last year – congratulations on all of them and here’s to many more so fruitful.

I love Jesuits. Or perhaps since some insist there are distinctions, I love those who follow the Ignatian way. No, the heck with distinctions: I love Jesuits!

There was a priest here for a short while whom no one cared much for. He was pushy, bossy, overbearing.. but.. I will love him forever, because while renewing my wedding vows along with other couples in a special Mass, he somehow intuited that mine weren’t happy tears, and he held my hand through the whole thing. There’s no way for me to be able to adequately tell people what he did for me that evening.. but God knows of it, and so do I. So, whether in words or silence, loved or merely respectfully endured — or anywhere in between — priests should know they give something priceless always. Always.

May God bless your next 10 years..

(I would tell my mother that no one who has St. Ignatius in common with me could be a stranger.)