This was my last weekend at St. Mary’s Parish in Malta, MT. As such, this will be the last of the “Ask Fr. Cory” columns for a while. They may return in the future.
10 years. A decade seems so long, and yet looking back it seems to have passed in a blink of an eye. I still remember the happiness of coming back to the Hi-Line, and the wonder at what the future would hold for us and our parishes.
As this is my last weekend here, I’d like to take the opportunity to say thank you to everyone. Thank you for the chance to serve you. Thank you for the chance to be a part of your lives, even in a small way. Thank you for the joys and sorrows. Thank you for the prayers, and your willingness to join in the worship of Our Lord at Mass. My time here in Malta, Dodson, and Saco has been a great opportunity to serve Our Lord and you, and I am thankful for each and every one of you.
At the same time, there have been difficult moments for us. For the moments that were caused by bad decisions or actions that were hurtful on my part, I apologize and ask your forgiveness. For the decisions I had to make that were unpopular, I hope you can understand that I made them out of a desire for what is best for each of you as individual disciples and for the parishes as a whole. I also hope we can disagree while still maintaining mutual civility and respect.
Please welcome Fr. Felix as your new pastor. He will be with you for at least the next 6 years, God willing, and is looking forward to his time here. I hope he will be welcomed into your families and our communities. We are fortunate to have him coming here, and will be a great addition to the parishes.
As I leave, I want to assure everyone of my prayers for you. May God bless each of you and your families. Please keep me in your prayers as well and pray for the parishioners in Cascade and Ft. Shaw. May the next 10 years be a time of joy and love in the Lord Jesus!
