"FRIENDSHIPS" ARE MADE OF "PERFECT BLENDSHIPS"..........

If you find yourself humming a Cole Porter show tune as a result of the title and theme of today's blog column, you are not alone. The popular classic song, "Friendship, Friendship, It's The Perfect Blendship"..., is the spirit of what I am intending convey in this written reflection. In recent days I have had ample opportunity to experience and ponder on that reality in my own life. From the thoughtful, thank you / farewell reception hosted by the parishioners of Presentation Parish in Arden Arcade, celebrating my more than three and a half years ministering, to and with them; to a luncheon with my CSU-Sacramento classmate, friend, and then ASI President Joe Gibson and retired campus Economics professor, Dr. Bob Curry; to the 100th Birthday Party for founding member of Holy Family Parish Citrus Heights parishioner Katie Johnson, who was the first parish school secretary and then the senior volunteer in the parish office until she was 85 years old +; to a Japanese dinner here in East Sacramento, with my other close and dear thirty year plus friends, Curtis Richards, Ramona Bugatto, Teres and Mike Mugnaini, and the latest phone call and weekly mailing from Roger and Karin Geach, whose latest invitation to lunch at their son's Original Pete's pizza, pasta, grille, restaurant,Ihad to decline to stave off an emerging cold; to sharing phone calls with my Indianapolis priestly classmate, Rev. Fr. Dan Donohoo, and getting together with my fellow Sacramento ordinands, Rev. Frs. Paul Schloeder and Eduino Silveira, for a mid month lunch together; or assisting my Carmichael colleague, Rev. Fr. Brendan McKeefry, with First Reconciliation for his Our Lady of the Assumption parish students; as well as calling my very good friend, fellow believer, and ministry collaborator, going back to the the beginning of my priestly service in 1987, Ray Riehle, to wish him a Happy Birthday; and my Ecumenical Sunday worship and fellowship with Rev. Barbara Horikoshi Firebaugh and the members of Faith United Methodist Church, as part of Christian Unity Week; it is oh so true in each of the instances I have cited that the bonds we forge and share are grounded in the friendships we blend with each other and our lasting commitment to affirming our friendships. If you take the time to ponder the interpersonal relationships you share you too, are likely to be able to cite a similar set of, "friendships as perfect blendships", in your lives. As we commemorate the feast day of Sts. Timothy and Titus, who were two of the early bishops of the newly founded Church and were companions on the journey, of what I refer to as, "Faith, Fellowship, Collaboration, Collegiality", may you also celebrate the friendships of companionship that you have blended with those persons nearest and dearest to you. As the great 16th Century poet John Donne wrote, No man...(make that person)...is an island. Life is not an island of isolation, but a horizon of caring, sharing, celebrating, the joys and sorrows, the successes and failures, the struggles and survivals, that comprise our life experiences. Being there with and for one another in all moments of our personal journeys can and do, truly enrich us in the blendship of friendships we maintain..........Have a Faithful and Friendly Day in Christ Jesus Our Lord, Fr. Troy