This week I passed the 100 day mark as pastor.  It has been a very busy 100 days.  When I was preparing to leave my last assignment as the Parochial Vicar at Our Lady of the Lakes, a few people said to me that as pastor, I would end up working even more hours.  I didn’t believe that to be true because I already was already working a lot of hours.

Turns out they were right.  I am working even more hours.  There are a few reasons for this.  One of them is I am the only priest in the parish so I do all the funerals and emergency calls.  As pastor, I attend even more meetings.  There is also the workshops for new pastors that I have attended.  There is the simple fact that I am new to the parish and am learning about the parish and our parishioners.  That takes time.  When people make requests for activities, I have to find out if it has ever been done before or is there anything similar already going on.  The bottom line is I am working more hours.

There is also the added responsibility I have as pastor which I take very seriously.  I can’t hand decisions off to someone else.  I do try to delegate work but ultimately the decisions are mine.

Fortunately, in the midst of all this, I know God is with me.  If God wasn’t helping, I could not do what I do.  God ensures his Will be done.  In God we trust.

Peace,

Fr. Jeff