In honor of Thanksgiving I'd like to announce 102 things I'm thankful for (I'm equally thankful for all of these so don't think it is ranked or listed by importance!) Feel free to try to come up with your own list!

God Bless, Fr. Romke
1. The infinite Love of God
2. The people of St. Patrick
3. The students at St. Mary
4. The CCD kids and "Jesus Party Time"
5. The greatest secretary - Kara Grot
6.The best business manager -Rhonda Jahn
7. The tireless efforts and shared gifts of Rita V. 8. Incredible music at Mass
9. The inspiration and vision of our Coordinator of Parish Evangelization - Jen Sagel
10. Our Evenings of Prayer and Praise
11. "The Well" Youth Ministry
12. My family
13.The Cubs
14. Our dedicated and hard-working Catholic Women's Club
15. Our Buildings and Grounds Crew
16. Our incredible Choir
17. Sushi
18. My brother priests in the Diocese
19. My favorite Saint: Catherine of Siena
20. Our beautiful Church
21. An amazing principal who loves our kids unconditionally - Jean Spohn
22. The Chicago Bears
23. The Chicago Blackhawks
24. A.S. Roma Soccer
25. Asian Buffet in Sterling
26. Newman High School
27. All of the Newman Comet teams: Academic, Theatre, Sports
28. My Guitar
29. My Exodus 90 Fraternity Group
30. My "2nd Parish" - The men at Dixon Correctional Center
31. The ceaseless dedication of Deacon Terry in everything
32. Deacon Sam's ministry to the hospital and nursing homes
33. Our amazing Choir
34. The dedicated teachers at St. Mary
35. A great DRE who ensures that our kids love Jesus - Sarah Campbell
36. All of our incredible CCD teachers
37. Loaves and Fishes: All of the volunteers and the great people we serve
38. A beautiful rectory
39. Scuba diving with friends
40. The Generosity that made the new floor, railings, tabernacle, and St. Peregrine statue possible
41. My teeth - and the help of Exceptional Dentistry for fixing my emergency
42. Taco Bell
43. Basil Tree
44. The Knights of Columbus
45. The Rosary before 10:30 Mass led by Mike Williar
46. Light of the World (you can be thankful for this too! Next retrereat 3/1-3/4!)
47. The great city of Dixon IL.
48. Connor Flanagan's inspiring concert
49. Laura Schrock for keeping the rectory in shape!
50. Everyone who helps with "Adopt-A-Spot" around the campus
51. The great compassion and work done by Jones and Preston-Schilling funeral homes
52. Fellowship Sunday
53. Music by Matt Maher
54. Disc Golf and the new course at Lowell Park
55. The couples I get to work with and marry
56. The mentorship of Fr. Dan (Msgr. Deutsch)
57. The weekly assistance of The legendary Msgr. Hermes
58. The memories created by the Rome group
59. The conversations/handshakes/high fives after Mass
60. When you all laugh at my attempts at humor within my homilies
61. Your participation and involvement in parish life and events
62. The support of my good friend Fr. DiTomo
63. The Rectory Chapel
64.The Cubs winning the World Series in 2016!!!!!
65. Running along the river
66. The joy on the kids faces as they bring up their offerings at 10:30 Mass
67. The example of St. Maxamilian Kolbe
68. The example of St. Theresa of Calcutta
69. The priestly witness of St. John Paul II
70. The gifts and talents of our Cantors
71. The dedication of our ushers
72. The hospitality of our greeters
73. The efforts of our Pro-Life Group
74. The multi-faceted generosity and dedication of our St. Vincent DePaul Society
75. Lunch with the NAIM group
76. The Petunia Festival
77. The protection of our city by our police officers led by Chief Howell
78. Performances by our very own "Blues Brothers"
79. The whole crew that makes "Ladies Night" a huge success
80. Support, encouragement, guidance, and feedback
81. Golfing
82. My Spiritual Director Fr. Joel Rippinger
83. My nieces Serafina and Angela
84. Monthly dinners with "Dinner at Coty's" at the Traditional Wellness Center
85. The awesome and amazing group of people going through RCIA!
86. Hannah Dixon for providing child-care for RCIA
87. Pat Toepper and Mary Shippert for coordinating weddings
88. Protein Shakes
89. The protection and love of Mary Our Mother
90. Star Wars
91. The Field of Dreams
92. The bike trail
93. Arthur's Garden Deli
94. Our future Adoration Chapel
95. All of the priests who have served at St. Patrick Church before me
96. All of our AMAZING Altar Servers
97. Our talented lectors
98. Our invaluable Extraordinary Ministers of Communion
99. Those who bring communion to the homebound
100. My Baptism
101.Javier Baez
102. The arrival of Khalil Mack