It started a week or so ago.  Fr. Jim was feeling poorly and found it hard to breathe.  He went to the emergency department and was diagnosed with pneumonia.   The next day he was feeling better and day by day he was feeling better, then not so good, then better—but not that much.  Then he had a couple of days when “better” was elusive.  

Yesterday (Wednesday) he was saying he wanted to go to a rehabilitation facility but his breath was short; and then, today, he asked to go to Kairos Dwelling, a hospice care house near Nazareth.

He has been saying that he feels good, that he knows he’s dying and he feels closer to God than he has ever felt before.  His faith is strong.  His wit is sharp (sometimes stinging).  He’s Fr. Jim.