Good evening,

As many of you know, Father John is back at the Mayo Clinic now that his radiation treatments are done and he had a bit of time to recover from that regimen.

Yesterday, he had surgery to put a titanium mesh plate in his skull to replace the part of his skull that was removed after his first surgery got infected. This is why he has been wearing the helmet for the past few months. According to the doctors, the surgery went very well and was completed in about three hours. Father John spent last night recovering in the intensive care unit. He was in a fair amount of pain after surgery (perhaps the 30-40 screws in his skull may have had something to do with that) but the team was able to get that under a reasonable amount of control today. He is now resting and recuperating in an adjoining facility operated by the nuns who established the Mayo Clinic. My wife and Fr. Jonathon Meyer are with him tonight.

Our family would like to ask for your prayers. It is our fervent hope that there is no return of the infection after this round of surgery. Fr. John has had a long road recovering from the first infection and we are hoping and praying that he can come home and once again resume ministry in his parishes - sooner rather than later. Your prayers would be so deeply appreciated. We know that Father John would also ask for you to remember the victims of sexual abuse as a part of your intentions for these prayers as well.

God bless you and thank you for the outpouring of love and support for Fr. John and our family. 

God bless you all in every good way!