St. Linus Rectory

10300 S. Lawler Ave.

Oak Lawn, Illinois

U.S.A. 60453

Tel: (708 422 2400)

Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

 

Greeting all!

 

My time of service to the people of the Parish of Muckno (St. Mary’s & St. Patrick’s) will come to an end when I leave on Tuesday Aug 12^th  and return to Chicago. I want you to know that I will miss you and think of you often.

My mother (Co. Tyrone) and my father (Co. Monaghan) were couriers of a belief,  that “you should never walk into someone’s home with one arm as long as the other!” This meant, of course that my mom would be carrying a loaf of Soda Bread and my dad carried a bottle of Irish Whiskey. It was their way of displaying gratitude and friendship.

Generosity and kindness are companions that are manifested in the varieties of experience, religious or secular, that announce a Gracious Presences among us. Your presence in my life, during the past four months, with your arms carrying your wonderful gifts of friendship and kindness to me, has reviled Gods presence in so many fine ways.

The prophet, Elijah, discovered that God was in the “whispering wind” that passed by. The gift of your voices contains that power. I am, indeed, grateful for hearing them and enriched by listening to their sound, Thank you, kindly, for the privilege of being with you. I felt, honoured, always, to be in your company. All good things for you, and know that I shall always “tip my hat” as you pass by!

Sláinte,

Fr. Gene F. Smith