Thanks to all of you for sharing this special moment with me.

1. Thanks to my brother, three sisters, and spouses for coming. You know me too well after these many years. Thanks also to all the friends who came from afar. You have been, like my family, companions on the way. I can only hope all of you who are closer to me personally have seen me grow through my mistakes and triumphs, my joys and travails.

2. A word of thanks to all the representatives from the parishes. The parishes are where the action really takes place. Thanks for the vitality of parish life and for the excellent ministry that takes place there.

[As an aside, I should remind you all that this is Good Shepherd Sunday and, thus, Vocation Sunday. It might surprise you from reading newspaper reports, but our Vocation Office says that the recent reporting has brought forth more candidates to priesthood than ever. One should not be afraid to challenge that wonderful younger generation.]

3. Thanks to all of you out there who have worked in a special way for me in the Archdiocese ¯ on committees, councils, task forces, and projects. Some projects were not easy, for example, merging parishes or renovating a cathedral. But thanks for staying the course with me.

4. Thanks to the many men and women religious who reside and work in this Archdiocese. They have been an essential part of the history of this diocese and I hope I have always respected their important contribution.

5. Thanks to my staff, especially to the Episcopal Delegates and the Administrative Cabinet. You made my life possible and effective. The collaboration through these years was a joy.

6. Thanks to our deacons and especially to my fellow priests who have shared so intimately ministry with me for these twenty-five years. I have always felt a special rapport and bond with you and appreciated your good work, zeal, counsel, and mutual support. Although you priests are under fire now by the secular press, I want you to know that the good you do does not go unnoticed. Thanks.

7. Thanks to my fellow abbots, and in a special way to my own abbot from St. Vincent, Archabbot Douglas Nowicki, and to all the bishops of Region VII ¯ Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin. I know you are here not just to see the Cathedral, but because of the collegial nature of our ministry together.

8. A special word of thanks to Bishop Richard Sklba. To share the ministry of bishop as teacher, sanctifier, and administrator with you through these many years has been one of the greatest blessings and graces of my watch here as bishop.

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Now I know that you expect from me a final word of wisdom.

My advice to all of you at this particular moment in the history of our Church would be to try to keep a balanced perspective in your own lives and in the life of the Church. Never lose sight in your own lives of the good things you do when you or those you work with may have fallen below your own standards.

Concerning the Church I say: Never lose sight of the good being done by your priests, lay ministers, and fellow Catholics. We Catholics are not Manicheans, that is, we do not believe that good and evil have to be equal forces in this world, but that, because of Christ's Resurrection and the presence of God's Holy Spirit among us, the balance can always shift toward the good.

Remember, too, that Christ came to found a healing Church for all ¯ for each of us personally, since we all are sinners, and for the world in general. Some in God's eyes are not more worthy of healing than others. We must all fall back on that healing love of God and try -to bring its integrating peace and wholeness to ourselves and to everyone in need.

And so, as I say thanks to all of you I also pray: May Peace and Blessing from a loving, healing God be upon all of you.