My dear friends in Christ,

    It is with overwhelming gratitude that I announce the birth of the mission of the Gratitude Foundation.  It is also with a deep sense of humility and unworthiness that I assume the position of executive director.  I find it an amazing privilege to serve the Lord and a solemn responsibility as well.  I never envisioned myself in the role of a priest and now as assuming this office.  With love for the Lord, I submit to His will as I hear His words, “It was I who chose you.”

    It has been one year now since I retired from full-time parish ministry.  I miss everything involved in my priestly ministry, but preaching is what I miss the most.  Preaching for me always started with hours of prayer with God’s Word.  I would always begin my prayer with the question, “Lord, what do you want the people to hear, what do YOU want to say to them?”  Time and time again words came to me that I knew were not my own.  People would confirm that as they told me that they felt that God was talkingdirectly to their hearts through my words. And I knew that the words were not mine.  I feel that God wants to continue to speak to His beloved children through me.  

     As I prayed before penning this letter the Word of God to the Prophet Jeremiah came into my heart, “I am making my Word like fire within you.”    In these passing months the word of God has been burning like a fire in the depth of my soul as never before.  It is a fire within me that I could not extinguish even if I wanted to.  It is the fire of Love, a fire that cannot be contained, a fire that must be shared.  It is the fire of the Holy Spirit seeking a voice.  

    Jesus is the Eternal Word made Flesh.  Out of love for us God humbled Himself to share our humanity.  He sent His Only Begotten Son to assume our fallen human nature to transform and raise us up.  It is the historical event upon which all human history revolves.  But the incarnation is more than an historical event that happened two thousand years ago.  Each one of us is called to be the incarnation of God in our world.  We are all called to be temples of the Holy Spirit and therefore making the Word God flesh in us. It begins with a personal relationship with Jesus, the Eternal Word.  It is as St. Paul describes: “It is no longer I who lives, but Christ who lives in me.”

    From my own deep personal lifelong relationship with Jesus, and united with Him, I offer myself to you in my new role as executive director of the Gratitude Foundation.  Please join me in this mission. Please join me in invoking the Holy Spirit to fill us, to lead us and to guide us as we pray, Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of us Your faithful and enkindle in us the fire of Your love.  Amen.

Yours in Christ with Gratitude,