Vespers with Our New Bishop.

The excitement in our home, parish, and diocese has been beyond words. We have been praying for years for the successor of Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz. In all of God's wisdom, He chose to answer the specific prayer of so many of the faithful. Bishop James Conley was installed today as our new shepherd. Our children were overcome with excitement to see him in person and to finally meet him face to face. We are so grateful.

  We attended vespers last night at the Cathedral. The Cathedral was filled with hundreds of clergy and the faithful praying the Church's night prayer together. We sat near the front in front of several priests. After vespers, a priest I had never met before came up to me and said, "I just want you to know that you are doing God's work. I know it is so hard raising children, but I just had to tell you that your work is so important.  It is the future of the Catholic Church." He grabbed my hand and said, "Please take this." I opened my hand later to find a $50.00 dollar bill. I only share this as the hope of our future rests upon the Culture of Life.  It must be built by each individual, each family, and each priest. 

With all the pomp and circumstance of this week regarding the Bishop Conley's installation and just that small encounter with that priest, I am filled with so much hope and courage to press on and keep on fighting the hard fight. Typically, the social issues of the world rarely discourage me as I know that God always wins.  Every time.  Courage inspires courage.  We couldn't be more grateful for our new shepherd.