Anniversary

 Today I am a priest for 49 years.  Who would have thought that I would last this long?  I have been blessed with work in wonderful places and people.  I am a New Yorker, but started out my first days, weeks and years in Houston, Texas.  I had never set foot in Texas before that.  It was great fun.  I was good at fun, but not at holiness.  I had long hair and a beard, short hair and no beard, an Afro, all in search of an identity in this new and unfamiliar role as a priest.  The people of St. Leo the Great parish gave me the grace of their patience and love, so that I could form a base of being a priest for them.  My first wedding, the bride passed out in front of the altar.  I became a Houston Oiler fan.  Lots more in the next places I went, but enough for now.