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By Root 542 0

’ homes!” Needless to say, Lolly was delighted to get this sacred gift, and she kept the pyx in her dresser drawer and consumed one consecrated piece of bagel every day. You left a couple of days later. So one morning I went to our bread box where I kept the leftover bagel to have it for breakfast. I was stunned to discover that it was covered with mold! I had forgotten that these bagels had no preservatives and should have been kept in the fridge! I went out to see Lolly that night and sadly reported what happened to the “mother” bagel. She said, “There is not a sign of mold in the pyx and the little pieces are even still moist!” I was dumbfounded! And they stayed that way for the entire time she was at Brunswick. Brennan, I don’t know how you explain this phenomenon, but I call it a miracle. The rest of the story is even more miraculous. As you know, Lolly stayed sober in AA for the rest of her life—over twenty-five years! She passed away September 27, 2009. And the gift of her longtime sobriety was something that my children and I found as close to heaven as I suspect we’ll see this side of the grave.

May He continue to bless you and use you!

Love,

John Peter

Brennan,

I heard two of your boxed sets of tapes before I was blessed to see you preach at a retreat on Long Island back in the early eighties. Hearing you in person that Friday night in Manhasset spun my world around with all of the healing words of Jesus’ love cascading upon me and bringing back all the hours of healing from the tapes. We celebrated Mass in the early morning hours the next day in a way I believed Jesus did in the upper room with the apostles. You later came to preach a weekend retreat at my parish and stayed at my house. We couldn’t advertise the retreat as we were afraid the bishop would not allow you to be there since you had gotten married. You reassured me that if only one person showed up, the Lord meant for that person to be there and would take care of the details. Word of mouth tripled the numbers each night!

My times shared with you in the years that followed were treasures: going out for ice cream during retreats, staying in touch during difficult years in our marriages. The incredible gift of being invited to the gathering of the Sinners was the greatest gift of lasting deep friendships with your friends from across the country. The love, honest sharing, and tremendous laughter we’ve shared for the past seventeen annual meetings has been a great blessing. In your wisdom, you had me share a room with a brother who was going through tough times in his marriage. Years later I met my wife, Julia, through my relationship with him and his new wife. You have often joked that my meeting Julia was one of the greatest gifts of our group. Each day that I share with her and our two beautiful children, I think of the many blessed relationships that were formed through my relationship with you.

I love you,

John

Brennan,

As the years creep along (twenty since we met), I find myself reflecting more and more on the poignant moments of life, those experiences that sneak up on you and suddenly change everything. As you recall, our friendship was one of those moments that happened based on two unusual phone calls. A friend and I had spent the day together, and when he left, he handed me a tape, saying, “You should listen to this. It’s a game changer.” Days later I started listening to a talk you gave titled “Pioneers and Settlers” based on a book by Wes Seeliger. Now, I had no idea who Brennan Manning was, but the concept of God as a trail boss who carried a gun and drank straight whiskey was something that had my attention. So much so that when you mentioned your home in New Orleans, I called information, got your home number, and called you to introduce myself. I had to know more about this God you described and the man behind the gravelly voice with a hint of Irish lilt in it. You said, “I’ll be out in Oregon next month and need a ride from the airport to my speaking engagement. Let’s talk then.”

Four years and several shuttles to