As you can see, it has been now several months since my last update.  Since then I have enjoyed a recovery marked by steady improvement of my stamina as well as the numbers relating to my blood products (red and white blood cells, platelets, etc.)  As of today, I am in full remission from the cancer and the bone marrow transplant has been a complete success.

Over the course of the months of December, January and most of February, my recovery was at home with family.  Since the latter part of February, I have moved back into the priest residence at St. Helen's Catholic Church, the parish to which I have been assigned since July 2016.  On March 20, 2019, yesterday, I was given the "green light" by my medical team to return to active ministry at the parish as well as to engage in public activities again (grocery stores, restaurants, etc.)  Beginning in April, I will gradually be reintroduced into the schedule of public parish activities (e.g. Mass).  Though my immune system is recovered and within normal parameters, I am still prone to fatigue.  At my doctor's recommendation I will be gradually returning to a full schedule of priestly work as my strength allows.  Needless to say, to have the opportunity to return to public ministry is for me a great joy and blessing from God.

These past nine months have certainly been a remarkable chapter in my life.  The chief protagonist of this story though is not Richard Hinkley, but the LORD, God of hosts.  It is a mystery why some people fall ill, some of them recovering while others not.  What I do know is that whether we are healthy or sick, dying or healing, we are for the Lord and his glory (Rm 14:8.)  My hope is that after all these months of treatments and procedures, prayers and petitions, that it is the Lord and his accomplishments that remain the center of our gratitude and our joy. 

This will likely be my last post, and I would like to use this opportunity to thank you who have contributed to my healing, especially if it was "just by prayer alone."  I am so grateful to my mother, father and the rest of my family for their intense support and nurturing of me over these months, at times almost as if it were like a second childhood!  In a very special way, I am so grateful to my only sibling and younger sister, Lisa, and the gift of life - part of her own life, really - which she has shared with me.  I would like to publicly thank my doctors at Methodist: Randhawa and Lulla, as well as all the other doctors, nurses and other medical personnel, without whom I would not have been cured.  I next would like to thank my brother priests for their frequent visits and company to me during my hospital stays, especially when it was to bring me the Sacraments and celebrate Holy Mass.  To my friends, clergy and lay, thank you for your companionship on this road.  Many thanks to all the lay faithful who aided my recovery whether it was to bring me Holy Communion or offer prayers on my behalf.  I am especially indebted to the Hust family for their aid in allowing me to receive prompt medical treatment as well as speedy recovery.

To all of you who have been praying regularly and with determination for my recovery, I thank you.  I especially am indebted to the members of St. Helen, St. Thomas More, St. Joseph, St. Anthony of Padua and St Francis de Sales Catholic Churches, at all of whom I have had pastoral experiences.  There are many others I know I could thank explicitly, but please know that I will never in this life know fully the degree to which I have been the object of the prayers of so many.  None of us knows what lies ahead of us in terms of our health, but however dire our situation may be or however great our cause for joy, to the Lord be glory and honor and power forever.  Our Lady of Good Health, pray for us.