You know that popular saying… Time flies when you are having fun! Indeed, I don’t know where my time goes. On July 1st I completed nine years as your pastor. I want to thank each and every one of you for putting up with me. I am grateful to the Lord for having given me the privilege of serving in this faith community. None of us knows what the future holds. But looking back, I feel content that together we have done much to further God’s Kingdom here in Park Ridge.
A year after I came to Park Ridge, I got a new car. As I was driving around in the days following, I was feeling pretty good about myself. I loved the new car smell. However, every now and then the same thought would cross my mind: “How long will I be able to keep this car looking new? How long will it be before I put the first scratch or dent on this new car?” I tried not to pay attention to such negative thoughts. A couple of weeks later I was up in Wisconsin on my day off visiting my brother. They had moved into a new home and it was my first visit to their new place. Their driveway is rather tight and I knew I had to be extra careful in getting out. And yet, as I was pulling out of the driveway I heard a thud. I knew that I had banged into the stone wall on the right side. When I got out of my car to inspect the damage, I was quite upset with myself. I had done it! I had put the first dent on my new car. I was mad at myself.
As we draw closer to the Fourth of July, our thoughts and prayers automatically revolve around our nation. The present political climate and the tenor of our civic discourse give us cause for serious concern. Recently someone told me that last year families canceled Thanksgiving dinner because family members were so divided by their political affiliation that the dinner would turn into a riot. What a sad commentary on where we are! I wonder what the Fathers of our nation must be feeling right now. Everyone decries the animosity and rancor that are so manifest and yet no one knows how to bridge the chasm.
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Born in India to deeply-committed Catholic parents, Fr Britto is one of seven children. He joined the Salesians of Don Bosco as a young man and was ordained a priest in 1981.
After he completed his priestly formation and his early education in India, he came to the US for his graduate degree in Journalism at...Read more...
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