Midnight Musings
September 5, 2010

Dear Family,

I really thought I would be coming to you personally with the news of my transfer. I sure would have preferred it that way. I wanted you to hear it from me first. (Unfortunately, priests seem to be absolutely unable to bring to the discussion of assignments the sacred confidentiality that always marks the seal of confession. In other words, we gossip too.)

This is the second time I’m writing this because somehow I lost the first letter in the Canadian nousphere. It was brilliant in my opinion, but I guess God didn’t think so, so I’ll try again.

Archbishop Wenski caught me in the boarding area of Delta as I was about to embark on Part B of the famous vacation. (Maybe I should have been expecting something dramatic. After all, the Marlins put Cody on waivers while I was on part A.)

I saw “Archbishop Wenski” on my call log four times from the previous night and realized I had turned my phone off for Mass and never turned it back on. Then there was “Archbishop Wenski” again timed at 7:14 a.m. while I was walking nine miles to the gate. I knew he was up and figured I better call. “Hello Jim.” (That means he’s got my number and name to ID me.) “Hello Bishop. Sorry I missed your calls. I had the phone turned off.” “No problem. Jim, I’m calling to ask you to accept the assignment as pastor of St. Sebastian’s in Ft. Lauderdale.”

I was dumbstruck. I thought maybe we had some breakthrough on MorningStar and that was why he was calling. “Bishop I don’t know what to say. I really thought I probably would be buried out of St. Louis.” “Well,” he said with a chuckle, “Maybe that won’t come quite as fast now.” As you can imagine, my mind started to go into warp drive. Amazingly, I found myself saying, “Bishop I’ve always said that if one of you guys wanted me to move then I was going to try and hear the
Spirit talking.”

From the first day Archbishop Wenski’s appointment to Miami was announced, one underriding thought I have had is, “What can I do to help make it work for him?” Although he is a Miami kid, he’s been away for seven years and a number of serious problems have developed. You know about the financial ones. In my own very personal opinion, despite perhaps some good intentions, the priests of the diocese simply do not have a big enough picture to know what to do or how to help.

From what I hear, there are a large number of changes coming with mine. I believe that these changes are going to demand that priests throughout the Archdiocese are going to have to stand back and get a better perspective of the needs of the whole Church of Miami and not simply one parish. I know for myself it has been very easy because of all of you, and your dedication to Hospitality, Generosity and Reconciliation have made it easy to be focused on ourselves. Even our outreach to the poor lets us be so busy that we forget we also belong to a bigger Church that Jesus needs.

Although he couldn’t tell me who he was appointing as your new pastor, Archbishop Wenski knew, I think, of my concern for you and he said he wanted to speak to the man first, but that he thought I would be pleased. Well, now I know and I AM pleased. Your new pastor will be Father Paul Vuturo, a good man and a very good preacher. (Also he is thin so you won’t have to worry about putting him on diets.) I also know that it will be as painful for him to change after 24 years
at St. Bart’s as it will be for me after 28.

I asked Father David if he would join me at a Mass of Thanksgiving for our years at St. Louis. We have very little time, but we were looking at Thursday evening, September 23rd. Fr. Mike will let you know. I really would enjoy just doing the Eucharist with you and I suppose one heck of a greeting of peace.

In Matthew 19:29 Jesus says, “Everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children...for the sake of my name will receive a hundredfold...” I never thought much about the ‘hundredfold’ but I’d never have thought I’d have to do the giving up part twice.

We will do fine with all of this. Anyone got some boxes... Peace and love,

In Jesus,

Father Fetscher