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The Victoria

GAZETTE

June 2011

Father Larry does everything at St. Joe's that a priest would normally do -- says Mass, gives homilies, does baptisms, administers other sacraments, visits parishioners, attends meetings, and worries about the finances.  "I'm in charge of both the parish and the school," he said.  “We have a principal.  We have an administrator but not a deacon.  I've been at St. Joe's for five years now.” 

         "Before I left Iraq I told the guys that I've got a lot of tough things to tackle when I get home," said Father Larry.  "For me, as a priest, for us in this kind of work, a helping profession, it is about people you love.  I loved being with the soldiers.  I loved being on the flight line and with the guys in the shop, the guys working with sheet metal who let me weld a few pieces together.  I miss the people I was privileged to serve with.”

         Larry said he has shared these thoughts with his wife, and that Diane understands.  It's not that he wishes to be away from his family and community in Victoria.  It's not that he wishes to be away from his parish and school families in Waconia.  It's that he also loves his military family.

         I'm reminded at this time of a column in the Gazette, written when he was Pastor Larry Blake at Holy Cross Lutheran.  He wrote, "We all have a calling to fill.  For the moment, mine is to pray for peace and the safe return of all the soldiers and sailors and to be a pastor to the people I was called to serve.  God will help us fulfill the tasks we have been given today."

         Thank you, Father Larry, for sitting down a spell with the editor of the Victoria Gazette.  Thank you for your service to people and country in so many ways. 

Text Box: Our Father in Iraq Continued

Father Larry in his office at Balad.