90 minutes of fame

Andy Warhol said everyone would have 15 minutes of fame--hell, I had 90 today alone! I was on radio for an hour and TV for half an hour. It was easy--all I had to do was talk about things that were important to me and be encouraged by the one 2 liberal talk show hosts in Waterbury! Piece of Cake. Bring on Jay Leno--I'd like to get Conon O'Brian's separation pay. Hey, I'm retiring, where's the $33 million?

Seriously, It was fun for me. I love to talk. I once asked my beloved friend and mentor, Bill Penny, before he died, if he thought I talked too much at our weekly clergy meetings. I was driving him home since he had serious macular degeneration. We were going to stop at his favorite fish store in Watertown on the way to Litchfield.

"Yes," he said, in response to my inquiry. Then he added, "I think I'll get some salmon...."

I once described my job to someone as 'walking around and talking a lot'. I wish I had said, 'walking around and listening a lot'. And I wish that had been true. If there is anything I regret about my life as a priest, it is probably that--that I didn't 'listen' more and talk less. And if there were any advice I'd give to someone thinking about priesthood it would be 3 things: "listen...then listen...then listen a little more".

Silence, I have begun to truly believe, is the Heart of God. I wish I had been a little more silent over these years....listened more....

But I do like the sound of my own voice....