What a Beautiful Easter
Easter was beautiful. I am so impressed by how we pray here. Everything was as I dreamed it would be, the music was great, the liturgy well prepared, and even the attendance kind of astounding. I was never at an Easter Vigil with so many people. I want to thank everyone who made all this happen, from the music ministers, to the altar servers, from the ushers to the lectors.
A special note of thanks to Fr. Raymond, our maintenance staff and the decorating committee for making our church so beautiful.
On Days Off
As you know I gave the staff in the Parish Center an extra day off to be with their families and prepare for Easter. Some felt that I was too generous and were upset to find the office closed when they needed a sponsor form or a baptism certificate. I am sorry you were inconvenienced, but I am not sorry that I gave our staff an extra day off. The people in our Parish Center work hard with minimum compensation. I always tell them that their reward will have to be in heaven. All of us should be grateful for their efforts as they keep the parish going and we will not begrudge them an extra day with their families.
One Man's Junk....
This year we are sponsoring our first tag sale. There are lots of great items and several vendors. I hope that those of you who read the bulletin before Mass will stop over after Mass to see what treasures you can find.
Spring Has Sprung
With Spring finally arriving, the new grass in front of the Parish Center is germinating and growing. We are also looking at our summer projects. To bring you up to speed, we are hopefully in the final selection process of suppliers and contractors to replace the front doors on the church. Someone asked me what we were going to do with the old doors when they are removed. I have some ideas about that and I promise to fill you in once they fall into place. The old doors have a lot of sentimental value to be sure.
Doors Doors Doors
The other day the spring on Fr. Michael's garage door snapped in half sending his heavy wooden garage door crashing to the ground. It was scary and I just dodged it.
Fr. Michael says he saved my life, but I told him it was his garage door that almost killed me. Those old wooden doors are very heavy. Needless to say, we have had three vendors come out to give us prices and advice. All of them suggest we replace the doors. “How many years do you think you can get out of these doors,” one man said. The vendors also examined the other doors and informed us that all of them need to be replaced or repaired. A parish is just like your home, there is always something to do. When I became Pastor I never dreamed that doors would place such a pivotal role in my ministry here.
Eagle Scouts
Two of our parishioners, Joseph Labadia and Anthony Mann, are working on their Eagle Scout projects and have decided to offer their talents to the parish. Anthony is going to help us with the landscaping in front of the Friary and the Parish Center. Joseph is working with Ed Janik to develop some kind of pergola to protect our air conditioning duct work and compressor for next year, should the snow come flying off the roof again (like it does every year). It is senseless to submit the insurance claim, get everything repaired and not take some steps to keep the same problem from developing again next year. I am excited about these two very necessary projects, and I am grateful that two fine young men from the parish are willing to step up and help us out. I'll keep you posted.