This is what His Grace handed me:
For the welfare of the people of God, I appoint you, Reverend Mark D. White, pastor of Holy Name parish, Washington, D.C.
I hereby commit to you the full pastoral care of souls in this parish…May God grant you the grace and health to carry out this charge of priestly service for souls.
Donald Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington
I am unworthy of such trust. Please pray for me. May the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph, who together gave our Savior His Holy Name, watch over me and all the people of “Capitol Hill extended” and Trinidad.
Father Mark White Blog 
Father White,
I pray for you daily, I assure you (and by name!). Will the blog change its name to “Pastor and Big Daddy?” Inquiring minds must know such details.
Ad maiorem Dei gloriam+
D.v.
Congratulations, Dear Preacher! May you touch the souls in Holy Name as profoundly as you’ve touched ours!
Dear Father White,
You will truly be missed at St. Mary’s. And I agree with Mary Ann, may you touch the souls at your new parish, Holy Name, as you have touched ours. Congratulations Father! I’m glad that you gave us a heads up on your website, cause I think I would have started to cry at Church this morning just like Thomas!!
But I would like to share a cute little joke with all of the P&BD readers if that is ok… It is cute…. And we all need a good laugh….:)
PECANS IN THE CEMETERY
On the outskirts of a small town, there was a big, old pecan tree just inside the cemetery fence. One day, two boys filled up a bucketful of nuts and sat down by the tree, out of sight, and began dividing the nuts.
‘One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me,’ said one boy. Several dropped and rolled down toward the fence.
Another boy came riding along the road on his bicycle. As he passed, he thought he heard voices from inside the cemetery.. He slowed down to investigate. Sure enough, he heard, ‘One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me.’
He just knew what it was. He jumped back on his bike and rode off. Just around the bend he met an old man with a cane, hobbling along.
‘Come here quick,’ said the boy, ‘you won’t believe what I heard! Satan and the Lord are down at the cemetery dividing up the souls.’
The man said, ‘Beat it kid, can’t you see it’s hard for me to walk..’ When the boy insisted though, the man hobbled slowly to the cemetery.
Standing by the fence they heard, ‘One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me.’
The old man whispered, ‘Boy, you’ve been tellin’ me the truth. Let’s see if we can see the Lord..’
Shaking with fear, they peered through the fence, yet were still unable to see anything. The old man and the boy gripped the wrought iron bars of the fence tighter and tighter as they tried to get a glimpse of the Lord.
At last they heard, ‘One for you, one for me. That’s all. Now let’s go get those nuts by the fence and we’ll be done.’
They say the old man made it back to town a full 5 minutes ahead of the kid on the bike.
Smile God loves you.
Congratulations Father
We will miss you. You will make a fine pastor. You will be in our prayers.
Love it: Pastor and (now two miles from a) Big Daddy (in Chinatown).
Dear Father Mark,
Ah be careful what you wish for… congratulations! I will keep you and your new parish in my prayers. I have every confidence that you will do well. Holy Name Parish is getting a wonderful priest.
God bless you!
Father Joe
Dear Father, My heart is broken. Does it really matter that we at St. Mary’s need you? I think not. This is a pattern of the Archdiocese. They send you to a parish and everybody gets to know you and you, us. You are finally weaving God’s word through the parishoners and WHAM, you are whisked away by the Boss. There is no doubt that you can do the job ahead of you, only we who care and have befriended you are left to wonder and heal from this “goofy” decision. I hope the people of Holy Name Parish know what a wonderful and loving person they are receiving. p.s. I love, Father Pearson so no disrespect intended. I wish him well in his new job, also. That must mean that I send my love and friendship with you. Georgene and “THE FAMILY”
I’m very happy for you, Father, but we are going to miss you for sure. HOWEVER I calculated that when I move I am only going to be ten minutes away from Holy Name. And you thought you could get away…:::mwahahaha::: 🙂
That is quite a calling from the bishop. I send my prayers that you may perform the “full pastoral care of souls” worthily and humbly.
Congratulations, Father Mark. This is big.
Hi Fr. White! Look who is back on the blog! It’s been a while, but being your first weekend away from St. Mary’s, I felt a need to connect. I came to this article to put my two cents in. You will be an incredible Pastor. If you are half as kind and loving to the parishioners of Holy Name as you were to us at St. Mary’s, they will be the happiest people in the world! (someone very wise said very similar words) Our prayers and love are always with you, Fr. White, as your ministry begins at Holy Name…….
From the “Wonders of the Holy Name”: ‘This Divine Name is in truth a mine of riches; it is the fount of the highest holiness and the secret of the greatest happiness that a man can hope to enjoy on this earth.’