Greetings from Fr. Dave

Our Easter Season is nearing an end with the Feast of Ascension this weekend. The weeks seem a blur since we began our shut down early in Lent.

First Communion Masses last week went well despite having only 25 persons in church per Mass. Highlight for me was after one of the Masses: two of our girls dressed in their First Communion dresses were posing for photos in front of our Walker Road sign (“Congratulations on your First Communion”), and cars going by started honking in support! I take that as a sign of the Holy Spirit filling in where our normally highly enthusiastic congregation would have been cheering for our kids!
 
Next weekend we will be welcoming our RCIA folks into the sacramental life of the church. Normally (!) this would have taken place at the Easter Vigil but nothing is normal this year! Pentecost is the next best time as we all ask for a renewed outpouring of the Holy Spirit!


We received news this past week that Fr. Hans will be staying with us for another year! I am very pleased and look forward to continuing to share the pastoring of this parish with him as we begin reopening. He has taken the lead on creating and managing our online sign up for Masses.
 
A reminder to all of you to keep signing up every week, even if you have been able to participate in Mass already. We have had quite a few cancellations and have been able to “backfill” those with other folks eager to come. If you sign up for the weekday Masses you have a greater chance of being selected. And, we deeply regret the “rejection” notices that some have received. Holy Trinity prides itself on being welcoming to all, and to have to send notices that individuals have not yet been chosen to come to Mass is just so contrary to our spirit. I pray we will SOON have larger numbers allowed. As you know we have plenty of space to do social distancing so can accommodate a lot more folks than is currently allowed.


We will be having a seminarian intern join us again this summer. Tristan Schubert will be arriving most likely at the beginning of June for an 8-week internship. This is the fourth time we have done this and I am grateful we can give our seminarians an experience of how a vibrant parish like ours “works”. We will find ways of introducing him to all of you and giving him a rich experience of parish life as we adapt to our
circumstances! All part of the “package deal”!


Last week, funeral services were held for Alexander Gascon. Please also pray for Helen Thompson, Betty Vreeland, and Wade Trine who died last week, and for all their families. May their souls and all the souls of the faithful departed, rest in peace.