January 11, 2004

This weekend, our celebration of the Christmas Season comes to a close with the Baptism of our Lord. I offer the gratitude of all parishioners to Ken Danchik and all of the members of the adult choir, children’s choir, teen bell choir and school bell choir for the beautiful music that was so inspiring during our holydays; to the ushers, Eucharistic ministers, lectors, servers (including those who are in college who pinch-hit for us) and all on the Environment Committee who so beautifully decorated our church and made sure it looks as nice today as it did on Christmas Day itself. You are all generous stewards of your time and talent and we are grateful for your generosity!

Many thanks to all of you who sent cards, gifts and all kinds of cookies and candies to me and the Pastoral Staff over the past several weeks. Your thoughtfulness is greatly appreciated!

Our Parish Christmas Tree is very well decorated with special ornaments from our homes. It is awesome to see in a very visible way how our lives come together and make something incredibly beautiful out of a diversity of traditions and backgrounds.
This past week we received 3 calls from Santa Claus in answer to our need for a computer for our upcoming census. To those of you who don’t believe in Santa Claus & like to “Bah-humbug”, here is your proof. Yes, Virginia, there really is a Santa Claus!

And speaking of generosity, many thanks to a donor who wishes to remain anonymous for walking into the parish offices the other day to drop off a check for $1,000. The bounties of the Lord are not exhausted!

Craig Reitmeyer’s Eagle Project, is almost finished. When the spring thaw arrives the area in front of the church where you see the benches will be finalized. This area, where we will light the Easter Vigil fire on Holy Saturday, will then be transformed into a flower area for our walkers to rest in between jaunts around the parking lot. We are grateful for his hard work in designing and planning the project, and in coordinating the assistance of our Boy Scout Troop 326 in making his vision a reality.

This Monday takes us into Ordinary Time once again. We move from the excitement of this holy season into the ordinariness of our lives. But as we do so we carry with us the presence/presents of Jesus and remain...