552 - February 2015
January 7th, 2015 - February 1st, 2015

CANADA-UNITED STATES

On December 31, 2014, the Archdiocese of Chicago issued this bulletin:

Cardinal George has been dropped from the clinical trial group that was being given an antibody drug in order to contain or reduce cancer. Recent scans showed that this experimental drug has not been effective in his case, but the physicians and others who are overseeing this trial assured him that the information that they had gathered during his course of treatment will be of benefit to others.

The Cardinal will meet with his physicians at Loyola University Hospital in January in order to discuss how best to address some of the side effects of his cancer, which so far has not spread to any vital organs. He is at peace, but he counts on everyone's prayers that he might be of service to the Lord and His Church in the time left to him.

Cardinal George would like to thank all those who have been praying for him, and asks them to continue to do so. You and those you love are remembered in his prayers as well. Cardinal George wishes you a blessed New Year.

A recent headline in the Buffalo, New York, diocesan paper stated that there would be a new title for the annual education fund-raising event, “Gala 22:6”. Most people would look at that and not think twice. But for those who attended Bishop Fallon High School, and learned Latin and/or Religion under the tutelage of Fr. Robert COLFER, the link was clear, even if the reference is a bit obscure.

For, no matter what offense you might have done, either you or one of your classmates would hear his famous words: “Write this: ‘A young man, according to his way, even when he is old, will not depart from it’”, the words of the Book of Proverbs, chapter 22, verse 6, now the slogan for the diocesan fund-raiser of 2015.

Fr. Colfer appreciated these words, often quoted by Fr. Charles BARRY, provincial of the US Eastern Province in the 1940s, for whom Fr. Colfer served as secretary in the early years of his priesthood. They became important words for him to use in reminding his students that what they were learning as high school students would influence their lives for many years to come.

One look at the Holy Angels Collegiate--Bishop Fallon Alumni Association in Buffalo shows the lesson was well learned. Every year, they raise funds to aid Catholic education in the city of Buffalo, helping to pass on what was learned at the hands of the many Oblates who taught them.

Fr. Colfer’s words spread beyond the Buffalo area. When Pope Benedict visited Washington, DC, he was scheduled to pass by the Oblate residence where I was living. Crowds came from all over to catch a glimpse of him. While waiting for his arrival, a group of 20-year-old men came by, saw the sign for the Oblates and asked if I knew Fr. Colfer. When I said I did, they began to recite Proverbs 22:6, which they had heard from him while he was teaching in Florida. Many men learned Christ’s way when they were young and keep it while they grow old, thanks to Fr. Robert Colfer. (William O’Donnell)