Pastor’s Desk – April 19, 2026

Dear Fellow Parishioners,

Now that Easter Sunday is behind us, it’s beginning to dawn on me how little of this school year is left. Confirmation of both adults and young people is done, and I’m still signing a huge pile of certificates. First Communions are just around the corner. Graduation dates for 2027 are already on the parish calendar.

Before we zoom off into the next set of events and celebrations, I would like to thank all of the many people – especially our volunteers – who made our Easter Sunday celebration such a beautiful one:

Our Flower Committee and those who prepared the church for Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday. Easter is not the end, as the flowers need continuing maintenance for weeks to come.

Our music ministries bring beauty and spirit to our liturgies all year round, but especially at Christmas and Easter. Many of those involved take time from family at busy times of the year to rehearse outside of Mass times.

Our office staff and volunteers do all sorts of things behind the scenes leading up to Easter Sunday, including prayers and Mass intentions, the huge Easter mailings, issuing and recording literally hundreds of sacramental certificates for Baptisms, First Communions, Confirmations and Weddings. And they do all of this in two languages!

Our replenished ranks of altar servers, in English and Spanish, has been great to see. We even needed to buy several new Altar Server outfits, as the servers are growing in size as well as in numbers.

I would like to thank my fellow clergy – Fr. Rodriguez, Msgr. Dan, Deacon Jim Carr – for being such dedicated and gifted colleagues. This Easter, Fr. Rodriguez officiated again at the Easter Vigil, fully initiating 14 adults into the Catholic faith. Deacon Jim Carr lead the Stations of the Cross for several Fridays.

And finally, a thanks to you, our parishioners. And a special welcome and thanks to those many of you who are new parishioners. The visible growth of our community over the past few years has been gratifying, to say the least.

Finally, a brief non-political word on the current dust-up between the pope and the president. This is not merely a Catholic matter, as many non-Catholics tell me that they also look to the pope for leadership and perspective. One of his titles is “Pontiff,” that is, “Pontifex,” or “Bridge-Builder.” Unlike nearly all politicians, no matter how popular, popes in general can take enormous amounts of exposure over years. This pope is not the sum total of what he says, but of who he is: a wise and benevolent pastor especially in tense and troubled times, who bears a guarantee in his person that somehow this world will not destroy itself. Let that be our hope in this season of hope.

Blessings, Fr Bill Donahue