Dear Disciples of Christ at Holy Spirit, St. Helen’s, and St. Mary’s,

Dear Parishioners,

Thank you for all the love and support you have given me since I arrived here. Ministering to and with you has been one of the greatest joys of my priesthood. Leaving you is hard. But that is part of love.

I am reminded of the many beautiful farewell discourses that are to be found in Sacred Scripture. Moses, in Deuteronomy, reminds the people of the great deeds God has done, of the commands of the Lord, and challenges the people to Choose Life! To choose God so that they may live long, loving the Lord, obeying Him and holding fast to Him. St. Paul speaking to the Church in Ephesus as found in Acts Chapter 20 says, You know how I lived among you. I served the Lord with trials and tears. He speaks of how he bore witness to Jesus and finished by saying he will be going to Jerusalem where the Spirit has shown he will suffer, but Paul is well with all things so long as he

finishes the ministry given to him by Jesus. Then there is of course the greatest of them all, the Last Supper Discourse of our Lord found in John’s Gospel in chapters 14 to 17. He starts by saying, do not let your heart be troubled. He commands, “Love one another as I have loved you.” He prays to the Father for unity among those who follow Him.

I am dust compared to any of them. But I am so bold as to dare say their words which I have shared here reflect the message I want to leave with you. Choose Christ! Bear witness to Jesus and the Gospel as I have striven to do among you. Love one another with the Love of Christ.

I know my human weaknesses and flaws and that there have been times I have acted out of them rather than the Love of Christ. To anyone I have hurt in any way, please accept my apologies.

Paul was going to Jerusalem and then onto Rome. I am just going to Westville. Bella, my Cane Corso, and I have a wonderful home there that is just a few miles from my parents. While I will no longer have a specific parish community to serve, I will open myself to serve the surrounding parishes when they are in need. The closest two, St. Mary, Otis and Sacred Heart, Wanatah are the parishes where I grew up and both have already asked me to cover Masses. I will be well.

My address is 438 Birch Parkway, Westville IN 46391 and I will maintain the fatherianwilliams@gmail.com address. Email may be the best way to reach out to me. As I move to the next part of life and ministry, you will remain in my heart and prayers.

In the love of Christ, Fr. Ian