The past week has been one that I will never forget. The events are permanently etched on my mind and there are even some reminders left on my body that are still healing. The amount of support I have received over these trying days has been amazing. I wish I could talk with everyone personally to thank you all, but I thought this public update might more easily reach all those who are interested. Here are some details you may be interested in:

• My physical injuries include a broken bone in my right wrist which is minor enough not to need a plaster cast.
• My left shoulder and back area were heavily impacted by the seat belt in that location. While it appears that none of the ribs were broken, there has been quite a lot of pain. Unfortunately, there is no real treatment for strained ribs, so pain medication and time are the only option. Please pray for a quick healing.
• My car was obviously totaled, but the seminarians here at Curé got all the stuff out of my car right before it started to rain. There are a few things missing that were thrown from the car, but my laptop works and some scouts found my iPhone in the grass.
• The doctors that treated me in the trauma center in Belton said that there was something unusual in the scan of my brain that was not related to the accident (I was worried that they had discovered the source of my secret super powers). A wonderful parishioner who is a radiologist confirmed that there was something to be explored in an MRI.
• Last night my primary care doctor called to say that they looked at the MRI of my brain and…there was nothing there. I think they meant nothing bad there.
• However, this morning my radiologist friend took a look and thought that there was something unusual. He decided to show it to his colleague who is the brain expert and he agreed that there is something that is not normal that needs to be explored. It’s apparently nothing immediately threatening, but I won’t know for a few days what’s going on. Maybe God allowed this whole ordeal partly so that this anomaly could come to light.

My high school kids always like to ask questions about the end of the world and when it’s going to happen. I normally tell them to be ready every day because you might get hit by a bus or something before the day is over. If there is something you would do differently, just go ahead and do it and don’t put it off. The end of the world for me came very close last Wednesday. While I often get preoccupied with all the ways that I can improve and continue to fight against sin, I did have the happy thought of knowing after it was all over that there was really nothing major that I would now do differently. If it had been my time, I think I was in a good place. Get to confession regularly, attend Mass often, talk with God each day…be ready. If there’s something that would make you afraid to die today because you’re not ready to see God…just go ahead an fix it sooner rather than later.

By the way, I pointed out to someone recently that John Paul II was hit by a truck and was almost killed when he was a young man. I said I thought that perhaps I’ve now gotten that traumatic near brush with death out of the way. The person then pointed out that JPII also got shot and he wondered when I was going to get shot. I said that is reserved for after I become Pope, so I should be safe. Thanks again for all the prayers and support. Please keep it up, because things are very difficult right now, although getting a little better each day. God is so good. I pray that I can continue faithfully in the mission he has yet before me.