As hard as I try, I will fail you as your priest. My legion of faults and vices will always get in the way for those I am called to serve. Yet amazingly, the freeing truth is that we are not alone in this battle. God has given us brothers and sisters who have won the fight, finished the race, and kept the faith (2 Timothy 4:7). This "great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb," too many to even number, now pray for us here on earth (Revelations 7:9). For my failings, I humbly apologize and beg for your mercy. Praise God, it does not depend entirely on us.