Thanks be to God for fifty years of priesthood

At the Mass: left to right - Deacon Michael Smith,
Fr. Kenneth and Fr. Leonard Misey (pastor)

At the dinner following the Mass - left to right at
the head table -- Fr. Misey, Deacon Michael Smith, Fr. Kenneth,
my brother Harold and his wife Dee, my sister in
law Vera and my Aunt Mercedes Gladbach.

What a wonderful celebration I had for my Golden Jubilee of ordination to the priesthood. On Saturday evening, June 6, we had a family gathering at the farm of my nephew and his wife, Kenny and Julie Reichert. Many relatives were there and also some of the out of town guests. Then on Sunday morning I celebrated a Mass of Thanksgiving. The church was full and overflowing as chairs had to be set up. That was followed by a dinner served by the Knights of Columbus at the Knights Hall. It was certainly a day I will remember for the rest of my life. I am certainly grateful to God for being able to celebrate this occasion and also to all my family and many others who helped to make it a wonderful day.

My good friends Ben and Alicia Darnell were there and spent a few days. They now live in Dayton, Ohio where Ben is youth director at one of the large parishes. They are expecting their first child in August. Also, his parents Rick and Sandy Darnell were there. They came all the way from Phoenix, Arizona for the occasion. The deacon for the Mass was a former seminarian who served at my first solemn Mass at Brunswick in 1959. He is now married and is a permanent deacon. He now lives in the Detroit area. I was also very happy to have the brother of Father Alexis there. Father Alexis was ordained with me and we were good friends. He died after heart surgery in 1998. His brother Bill and his wife Shirley and one of their daughters came from Peoria, Illinois to be present for the day.

I have been busy since I returned to the Abbey last week on Thursday. I now have many thank you notes to write but I'll get to them in good time.

The temporary infirmary seems to be working out well. The main problem is that we do not have any extra rooms available.

Thank you to the many of you who sent a card or an e-mail for my jubilee. Thank you especially for the prayers.

Until the next time, God bless you.