I am writing this column while attending the National Association of Pastoral Musicians in New Orleans.  Our Liturgy and Worship Director, Pip Hines, is also attending. Today I had the immense pleasure of sharing lunch with one of my former debate students from the University of Alabama.  He had noticed on Facebook that I was visiting New Orleans and contacted me.  We had last seen each other 40 years ago.

Recently another of my old friends – whom I had not seen in several decades or spent significant time with for forty years – was visiting Louisville to work in the Merton Room at Bellarmine. He asked if he could stay in one of our rectories.  Last Monday night, we had the chance to meet for dinner.  Prior to both encounters, I had wondered what we would talk about after so much time had passed, but it wasn’t a problem.

Four years ago, at a conference in Phoenix, I had dinner with a longtime Department of Justice friend. We had been able to visit in person a few times after I left in 1994, but this time I was able to spend more time with her and her husband.

In all of these cases, and others that I recall, I have been surprised by how easy it was to reconnect.  In each instance, we enjoyed mapping out and describing the courses our lives had taken since we were first acquainted. I was also impressed that in each situation I could easily tell that my close friends of long ago were essentially the same people I had known; we reconnected easily.

 I wasn’t expecting that a musician’s conference would permit me to reestablish a relationship with a long-time friend.  Perhaps this is the most spiritual benefit of authentic friendship. Even after decades and many career twists and turns, we can still experience the real bond of good friendship.

My newer friends are brother priests, deacons, and my parishioners.  Seeing my friends from so long ago gives me joy knowing that our friendship bond is more durable than we realize.  I believe we will discover this when we meet God, who has always been and will always be our very best friend.  Even though we can’t see God, we can encounter Him in the faces and lives of our many friends.    

Fr. Gary