Dear Friends,

When the MLK Holiday comes around I always like to read Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. It always blows me away. It is one of the greatest speeches in American history, right up there with Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address. The part of the speech that struck me this year was this:

Dear Friends,

Some years ago, on a trip to Asia, I visited the beautiful country of Cambodia. One of the things you see is that the population is very young and one of the things you don't see are lots of elderly people. And there is a reason for that: the Khmer Rouge killed off millions of fellow Cambodians, most of them adults and the elderly. And one of the things you are bound to see in Cambodia are the Killing Fields.

Dear Friends,

On January 20, our Bishop turns 75. As required by Canon Law, bishops and pastors are required to submit their resignations upon reaching their 75th birthday. So, Bishop Olmsted will submit his letter to Pope Francis. Now the Holy Father can accept the letter, wait awhile or ask him to stay on for a bit longer. Though it seems to be the practice of Pope Francis to accept episcopal resignations within a month or so of their submittal. Which means, at least when I look into my crystal ball, we will probably have a new Bishop sometime around Easter.

Dear Friends,

This year another March for Life will take place in Washington, DC and many more around the country. The annual March takes place on Jan. 21, the anniversary of the US Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade, legalizing abortion in all 50 states. But this may be the last March for Life protesting Roe depending on how the Court rules on a case it heard in December regarding abortion and the right of the states to regulate it. If the Court overrules Roe, it would not outlaw abortion but restore the status quo pre-Roe, which allows the states to legalize or not and put restrictions on abortion.

Dear Friends,

Soon it will be the year that was. But was it a year to remember, or your favorite year? Was it the Best Year Ever, maybe a Year in the Life of a Fool? Or was it more the Days of Wine and Roses or a time we'd rather forget? However, those 525,600 minutes of those 365 days or those 31,536,000 seconds of the 52 weeks of 2021 passed by I hope you can find many reasons for gratitude and thankfulness.