Bulletin for April 8

Dear friends in Christ,

Happy Easter! Christ is risen! Alleluia! Alleluia! Our celebration of Easter continues for 50 glorious days so let us continue to praise God with hearts and minds renewed in the Risen Christ.
 
Today, the 2nd Sunday of Easter, is also known as Divine Mercy Sunday, a day dedicated to the Divine Mercy devotion that focuses on the mercy of God the Father through His Son, Jesus. To commemorate the day we will have a service at 3 p.m. today in the church. There will be a reading of Scripture and a reflection on the Divine Mercy as it relates to the Eucharist. We’ll have a time of quiet reflection and adoration, and then a recitation of the Divine Mercy Chaplet. All are invited for this time of prayer in thanksgiving for the gift of the Divine Mercy to the Church.

We also welcome 20 of our brothers and sisters into the Catholic faith today at the 9 a.m. Mass as they make their Profession of Faith, are confirmed and receive Holy Eucharist for the first time. They join the 20 others that were baptized at the Easter Vigil last week. My thanks to our wonderful RCIA team that has prepared these 40 new Catholics over the past year (and more in some instances). Do you have a family member or friend interested in learning more about our Catholic faith? Invite them to “come and see” what the Church is all about. My thanks to Julie Cook, director of RCIA, Deacon Jack Alexander, and all the RCIA team for “walking the walk” with those who join our Church.

I would be remiss if I did not again thank all of the wonderful people who made possible the celebration of the Triduum and Easter Sunday. Those days are always so busy and full of many liturgies with an infinite number of details to attend to, but our staff and volunteers really outdid themselves to make them flow so flawlessly. My special thanks to Deacon Jeff Willard, Ofelia Carrasco and Deanna Negrete in our Liturgy Department, along with the many men and women of our Art & Environment team, headed by Patty Arnett. They worked multiple hours each day to get the church prepped and ready. Bridget Wenk and all in our various choirs and Music Department led us beautifully to worship the Risen Christ in song. Thank you one and all.
 
There are numerous others who stopped by for a day or two, or maybe just lent a hand for a couple of hours. Extra special thanks to our deacons, altar servers, EMHCs, sacristans, ushers and greeters and all liturgical ministers. Your gift of your time and talent was a true show of Stewardship, something we are all called to do. I encourage all of us to “step up” in these Easter days and become servants of Christ’s Church through our efforts in Stewardship.

I won’t say that “Easter is behind us.” Easter is always ahead of us! But our immediate attention now turns to our upcoming 33rd annual Spring Festival, April 28-29. That’s just three weeks from today. The Festival core committee is in full preparation mode and your help is especially needed. The festival booth will be open today and the next two weekends for ticket sales, T-shirts, barbecue dinner tickets and volunteer sign-ups. Raffle tickets for a chance to win a new car are also for sale and you can sell what was mailed to you, then return your stubs and money. The raffle is the top fundraiser of the Festival so, we need your help.

I especially encourage you to volunteer for a shift or two in one of our many booths and games. We are in need of several more chairpersons for some of the booths and it’s actually easier than you think. Just a few hours of your time in service to the community makes the Spring Festival a great success. Quality items are still needed for the auction, both live and silent. Remember financial donations are also welcomed so that the team might buy high quality items to put in the auction.

Check our website for all the information. It also has a link where you can sign up online to volunteer. The link on that page will take you to the SignUp Genius page, which is our primary way to register to volunteer. Many of us are familiar with using SignUp Genius as it is the portal of choice for many school, sports and neighborhood activities. It’s quick and easy to use – even I mastered it with no trouble at all! You’ll see the entire array of different ways to volunteer on tabs at the top of the page – donation, pre-festival, auction, booths, games, barbecue, flea market, post-festival, etc. Simply click on the area(s) of interest, enter your contact information (and that of other family members who are helping as well), and you’re done.  Act now to have the best selection of times and booths that are of interest to you and your family. 

Also, now is the time to work on some “spring cleaning” of your garage and attic for items that can be donated to our flea market booth. That’s always a big part of the Festival, so clean out some items and donate them for the rummage sale. I can tell you it is a high priority for the rectory. I’m determined to clean my garage and closet. I know I said that last year (and the year before that, and the year before that), but this year I really mean it! We’ll have more details next week on when to bring them to the church, but get prepared now. Also, it’s time for you bakers to start stocking your pantries and warming up your ovens for items to donate for the bake sale and sweet shop.

We'll have lots more information in the next few weeks, but clear your calendar for three weeks from today. We look forward to seeing you at the 33rd annual CtR Spring Festival! Don’t you dare miss it!

Peace,
Fr. Sean