This is a story about a dedicated, humble, and caring man who has been a priest in the Savannah diocese all of his adult life. Fr. Mike Smith is now "retired", which I guess means that he works harder than ever. Please let me tell you about this wonderful man.

I first met Fr. Mike in Statesboro while in school at Georgia Southern College in the late 1980s. He was then the parish priest of St. Matthew's. Over the years after I left Statesboro, I was fortunate to have occasional contact with Fr. Mike throughout the next 15 years. During this time, he left Statesboro and began Hispanic ministry in South Georgia. During this time, he spent much of his energies handling all of the issues that are a part of the migrant workers' lives as they labor in the fields throughout southern Georgia. This included a long summer in the early 2000s when Fr. Mike was the parish priest in Moultrie, GA when the I.C.E. team from the United States government came in and took away the men who were illegal in the fields around Moultrie. That left many families without breadwinners and with no one to turn to - except Fr. Mike. Long hours, much overtime, and lots of miles driven and the majority of the families were taken good care of and the Church, in the guise of Fr. Mike, did the job Christ gave Her, to feed His sheep.

Today, Fr. Mike is living back in Statesboro as a very busy and active retired priest. Recently he worked a day at A.C.T.S., a local volunteer program that assists the poor with money for electrical bills, food, clothes, and a plethora of other kind acts; then he was off to perform three English Masses and two Spanish Masses. During this time, he also assisted a few people that he came in contact with that "simply" needed a kind word and a few dollars to buy gas or a meal.

Fr. Mike is such a wonderful priest because he is exactly what God wanted in the leader of a flock. Humble, loving, kindly, with just a hint of mischievousness. His warm smile is all I need after a bad spate of rough work. Thank you, Fr. Mike, and all of the priests, young and old, who bring God's word to a very hurting and needy Church. May God Bless!

--Submitted by Tom Grovenstein, a member of St. Matthew Parish in Statesboro