I want to start this off by saying “Thank you” to everyone who contributed to the Diocesan Appeal. We surpassed our financial goal by a +30% and we also exceeded out participant goal. The dollars raised stay within our diocese and support its efforts. These efforts make the parish shine brightly among the diocesan parishes. However, I must keep before you how perilous our future may be. Parishes will continue to close or be consolidated as the shortage of priests continues. (We are blessed with 8 seminarians, the most in over 30 years with more coming next year. But it will be 10 years before this increase will help the situation.) St. Libory’s is experiencing growth. We frequently register new families and have many baptisms. But we are still the smallest parish within a 20 minute or less drive to 5 other parishes. If you have 6 people running from a hungry bear, all that 5 need to do is run faster than the sixth. We are the sixth. And in terms of numbers, we are way behind the other five. Before closing a parish, the Bishop will confer with the area pastors. This is cold realism, but they will primarily see closing us as a benefit to them by receiving us into their numbers. This is a frequent topic of my prayer and meditation before the Lord as pastor. I love this parish. It’s loving, faithful and fruitful. I really do not want it to close. But my prayer always takes me back to, Lord what do you want? I do believe His will is for us to thrive in the same sense that it is His will that His faithful thrive in His grace. But I also know His permissive will allows for the other, as when the people of Israel failed to enter the promise land even though it was His perfect will that they should. I have ideas, but I am only willing to pursue God’s will. Perhaps we could make our interior too beautiful to close. Perhaps we could offer our parish to provide the traditional Latin Mass, which has a growing popularity, especially with younger generations. Perhaps we could enthusiastically promote Catholic education of our children by throwing our support behind G.I. Central Catholic which is rapidly reclaiming its Catholic identity. (This would make us an asset to the Grand Island parishes as we would be helping with their burden of school support and therefore less inclined to desire our closure.) Perhaps we could become a center for adult Catholic learning. We have a hall that would certainly lend itself well to the need. (The pandemic has helped to produce an abundance of programs available via the internet.) Perhaps we could organize to be a vibrant outreach to the surrounding community with the redeeming message of our Lord. Perhaps we could do all of these and more. I realize that I’m dreaming here, but that’s where it starts. What’s your prayer for our parish? What’s your dream? Are we willing to say like Blessed Mary, “I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be done to me according to your word.” Jesus said, “With God, all things are possible!” Yours in Christ our Lord. Fr. Sid.