April 11, 2021 - Happy Easter!

In spite of the ongoing pandemic, we had a wonderful and beautiful Triduum and Easter celebration here. Many thanks to Rachel Vaughn and the RCIA Team for a large class of Baptisms, receptions into the Catholic Church, and Confirmations. While many parishes struggled to have anyone to welcome at the Easter Vigil, we were blessed with a bumper crop! The Spirit is a-movin’ here!

Thanks also to all those who made our liturgies so prayerful, beautiful, and meaningful: to Dr. Andrea Pobanz and all the musicians, cantors, and choir members; to our excellent lectors, to the ushers, to all who helped decorate, and to all who donated for altar flowers.

I am especially grateful to the clergy who assisted and presided: to Deacons John De La Garza, Dan Wright, and Billy Atkins; to Fr. Paolo Puccini and Fr. Rich Andre. We have a clergy team here that is not only very talented but also diverse. That helps a lot.

Thanks to all who attended, both in person and virtually. A special thanks to all those who worked behind the scenes to pull this all off: Stephen King, K Kriesel, and Frank Garcia.

Now on to Pentecost! As more and more of us are fully vaccinated against the Corona Virus, we expect we will have more people returning to church. Attendance at the Easter Masses maxed out what we are able to accommodate under the need to maintain social distance. But as more of us are fully vaccinated, that will undoubtedly change. When can we finally take the ugly blue tape off the pews in the church, put holy water back in the fonts, and return to the normal pre-Covid? I don’t know. I expect we will do so in steps, maybe loosening up a bit by Pentecost, then some more over the Summer. Hopefully by next Fall, we will be back to something closer to “normal”. All we can do is keep our vigilance up against the pandemic, encourage each other to get vaccinated, and roll with the punches.

God bless!