When I finally returned home from Rome to start the real work of being a parish priest, I was assigned to Immaculate Conception Parish in Washington, PA. (IC is now part of Saint James Parish.) My pastor was Rev. William P. Feeney. I didn’t know Fr. Bill from Adam at that point, so there was a little trepidation on my part…would we work well together? Would we respect each other? Would we even be able to get along?

As usual, all of my fears were unfounded. Fr. Bill was, and is, a great pastor, a wonderful priest, an excellent mentor and a better friend. His parishes have been blessed to have him, and so have I. This past May – May 6, to be precise – he celebrated the 50th anniversary of his ordination to the sacred priesthood. The evening on June 18th, Immaculate Conception welcomed him home to celebrate a Mass of Thanksgiving, and how providential the date, because this weekend is also the feast of Corpus Christi.

Thing is, Fr. Feeney didn’t want to preach his own anniversary Mass. For reasons passing understanding, he wanted me to do it. So here’s my shot. Homily begins at about the 27:50 mark, and ends at about 39:10.