On behalf of Father Joseph, Father Gustavo and Father Mike, we extend our heartfelt thanks for making Holy Week such a tremendous celebration for the glory of God! The Holy Week ceremonies were truly prayerful and reverent, and the liturgies were joyous! As St. Augustine said so long ago, “We are an Easter People and Alleluia is our song!”
None of the solemnity, beauty and glory of Holy Week is possible without the hard work of so many good people. We thank all who worked to ensure that the most sacred time of our Church Year was possible and wonderful. We thank James Houck and the RCIA team for all the time, effort, and sacrifice you placed in teaching our catechumens and candidates about the faith which you yourselves love. We thank Joan Follmer and the dedicated crew of decorators who made the temple so beautiful with flowers and decorations. We thank the band of sacristans who cleaned and polished the vessels and vestments and made the necessary preparations prior to all liturgies. We thank the hard working maintenance crew for ensuring the church was so clean and the grounds so beautiful. We thank our altar servers who served each of the ceremonies with great reverence. We thank our loyal ushers and greeters for their service and hospitality to our many visitors. We thank our lectors and Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist for their faithful service during Holy Week. We thank the music ministry for providing such beautiful music for the Easter Triduum. We thank our devout collection counters for meticulously counting and organizing the offerings collected throughout the week. We thank all the smiling faces of our parishioners who welcomed our returning neighbors. We also thank our dedicated Parish staff for their support and hard work in planning and executing all that goes into Holy Week. They are a great blessing to our Parish!
Yes, all these good folks, and many others, deserve our gratitude for the hard work in seeing to the details that made Holy Week truly beautiful and joyful. We must, however, give all the gratitude to the one who truly deserves our thanks and praise, Almighty God! God is the great giver of all that is beautiful and joyful and so we thank Him for the many blessings received during Holy Week! St. Ignatius of Loyola reminded us: Ad maiorem Dei gloriam, All for the greater glory of God! For starters, we give thanks to God for those who were baptized and received into the Catholic Church last night at the Easter Vigil. As they now share in confessing our Catholic faith each Sunday, let us pray that their faith flourishes in their lives.
As we rejoice in the Risen Christ and celebrate the Easter Season with a joyful and lively faith, let us pray together that the Holy Spirit continues to bless our wonderful Parish, convert hearts, and guide us all to the Mercy of God.
