Dear Parishioners,
I am so grateful that we were actually able to celebrate the great mysteries of our faith during Holy Week, and to gather today for the greatest of all feasts, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It seems so surreal that we were not together last year for Easter but thanks be to God we can come together now, still with some restrictions which we have all learned to accept & cope with during the last 12 months. So I say welcome to you all, both our weekly participants and those who are visiting with us or who have been away from Mass for whatever reason. The forgiveness of God is extended to us all, to saints and sinners alike (and aren’t we all a bit of both?). What a great blessing it is to me and to Deacon Pat & Joan Berigan, to see you all this weekend and to celebrate with joy the rising of Christ and the promise of our own resurrection from death. How important this reality is to us, especially after we, along with so many others throughout the world, have suffered the loss of loved ones because of the COVID-19 virus. Though we mourn the death of parishioners, family members & friends because of this world-wide scourge, we live in hope for our health and for the new life of all who have gone before us. Let us remember, let us hope and let us pray.
I am also grateful to all those who worked at our Fish Fry’s these past few weeks. Though we had to limit them to take out orders, we had a tremendous turn out & the food was just as delicious at home. The only thing missing of course was our ability to share these meals together, but we live in hope that such gatherings will be possible again next year, if not much sooner. But again, thanks to all of you who stopped by to support us and thanks to all who served our community in any way through the Fish Fry’s.
At the end of January, I celebrated the funeral Mass for Ralph Mlady, a wonderful man who had been an active member of our parish for many years. Ralph had a special devotion to St. Francis of Assisi & as you know we have a statue of St. Francis right outside the church door by the chapel entrance. Ralph’s wife Loretta approached me with a wonderful idea...since we already had a statue of St. Francis, could we honor Ralph by adding some animals around the man who loved all of God’s creation, especially animals, as can be seen from various pieces of art which show Francis surrounded by birds, wolves, and other creatures of God. So that is what we did and I know Ralph is smiling at the thoughtful suggestion of his wife. It’s rather subtle that he is surrounded by such creatures of God’s making until you approach the statue & see the deer (along with her fawn), the raccoon, the wolf eyeing the deer (don’t worry...Francis is said to have spoken to a wolf & he will protect the wolf’s natural prey), and the birds perched on Francis’s hand & shoulder. You’ll also notice my own particular nod to Michaela & Abby! Even the Easter Bunny can be seen with it’s young offspring. What a great time of year to enjoy this scene as we welcome spring and remember that all of creation joins in the praise of God at Easter.