Fr. JC Maximilian

(Donival Brown, RIP)

The gentleman pictured above is Mr. Donival Brown.  Donival has been the Music Director at Our Lady of Sorrows for 20 years (well, 18 yrs at OLS, and then 2 at OLS-St. Anthony after the merger).  Donival truly had a gifted voice and a gentle disposition.  I am not sure when he was first diagnosed with cancer, but it was before I got to the parish, 18 months ago.  You could tell he was sick because he got very thin and frail looking, but he always had a pleasant disposition.  Donival died about two weeks ago, and we had a memorial Mass for him last night.  The church was packed, which was a loving tribute to the man.  His family had taken his body back to Georgia, where most of them live.  He was baptized a Baptist, and his parents became Jehovah Witnesses, so the fact that Donival came into full Communion with the Catholic Church this past Easter was something of a secret, but since it was talked about so openly last night, which several of his family there, I guess they know about it now.  I had the privilege of being his sponsor for Confirmation.

I mentioned in a previous post that I needed to have surgery last week.  Things turned out fine, so thanks for the prayers.  Some of you know that 2.5 years ago I was diagnosed with cancer (thyroid).  It was easily treated, but it means that my doctors (and me) are cautious when something new and unexplained shows up.  About 6 months ago I developed swelling and soreness in one breast.  While steroids made it go away, once I came off the steroids the swelling and soreness came back.  To be safe my doctor decided to perform a mastectomy (yes, men can have them).  The pathology report indicated that all that they cut out was benign, so I require no more treatment.  YEAH!  Thanks again for your prayers.

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