8/11/2013 – Mission appeal at Holy Cross Catholic Church in Rumson, NJ

        This weekend, instead of celebrating mass in Tupelo, I had the privilege of traveling to the town of Rumson on the Jersey Shore in the Diocese of Trenton to do a mission appeal for the Diocese of Jackson.  I decided to take Pope Francis’ advice and travel there in a humble and simple way.  I left my rectory in Tupelo at 1:45 am on Friday morning, drove to Memphis, and then traveled by Greyhound bus from Memphis to Newark.  It was a humbling experience traveling that way, although those who know me at all know that I often travel by Greyhound where I need to travel a long distance.  This is a habit from my missionary days.  Most of my family and friend think I am stark-raving mad for doing this.  But, like I said, it keeps me real and keeps me humble. 

         I had a great time in New Jersey.  I had dinner with an old college friend from my days of studying accounting at Wake Forest University in North Carolina – Jim Wood.  We had a lot of laughs about our days in college and the late nights we used to spending studying accounting and other such things.  We remembered our business law professor, Miss Jeanne Owen, who would cackle at us like a witch and who berate us constantly – “The facts, Mr. Dall, the facts!!!!”  Anyhow, a big thank you to Father Manning and everyone at Holy Cross in Rumson who were so welcoming to me.