I hope you enjoyed Holy Week and the celebration of Easter.  A lot of beautiful music and decorations and lectoring and serving went on in relatively short time.  On that same weekend, our Rose window in church was being repaired.  We appreciate all those who contributed to helping us maintain such a treasure.  Our windows were made in Paris, France.
     It’s been a couple weeks since I announced that our parish and St. John Paul II parish were going to be linked come July 1^st.  What that means is that they will remain independent of each other and will be served by two priests, myself and Fr. Matt Federico.  Fr. Matt will live with me in our rectory.  Mass schedules will not change.  We will probably alternate masses back and forth from one parish to the other.  As I reflected on this, the confidence I’ve received from working at Christ the Good Shepherd has encouraged me to say yes to St. John Paul II parish.  I also look forward to sharing my pastoral wisdom and stories with one of our young priests.  Matt Federico will be ordained May 31^st at the Cathedral at 2:30 p.m..  Please keep him in your prayers as he prepares to commit his life to the service of the Lord and his Church.  By the way, Steve Blaxton, whom many of you know from spending a couple summers here, is being ordained at that same mass.  (He will have a Thanksgiving Mass here 10:00 a.m. on June 16^th.) The third person to be ordained is Marc Hopps who is currently serving at St. Dominic Parish. Pray that God will bless them to be good and holy priests.
     This coming Thursday, Jacob Kusowski and Avery Fulgencio  will be confirmed at St. Thomas Aquinas Church.  The Bishop has delegated our Regional Vicar, Fr. Rick Bokinskie, to confirm the youth.  The Mass is at 7:00 p.m. You are welcome to attend. Congratulations to both of them as they are strengthened by the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit.  May God richly bless them.
     The recent video series we had on prayer during Lent was a part of our parish’s strategic plan to focus on sharing our faith.  It was well received from the comments I’ve received.  Another initiative of the Pastoral Council has been the little booklets that were placed in the pews during Holy Week.  It contains stories of how members of the Pastoral Council came into the Catholic Church and how they found our parish in particular.  You are encouraged to write your story and submit it to the rectory or in the collection basket.  God is doing good work in and through us in this parish.  We want to share the Good News.
     During the Month of May, our custom is to invite you to come a little earlier to mass to help recite the rosary.  May is traditionally one of the months of Mary, along with October. 
                                                                              Peace,
                                                                                  Fr. Ron