Dear St. Catherine Parish Family,
I want to wish all of you and your families a Happy Easter! I am quite confident that this will be an Easter we will never forget. For most of you, I am sure this is the first Easter in your life that you have not been able to attend Mass in person. Nonetheless, we mark the resurrection of our Lord Jesus this year with a renewed confidence in His power, and we recall, in a special way, that the fear and grief that the disciples experienced when our Lord was crucified ultimately led to great joy and hope.
As we celebrate this glorious feast of the Lord’s resurrection, let us begin again to truly trust in Him and to ask Him to help us not to waste this time, but to really use it as best as we can to continue to grow in faith and holiness. In this regard, I want to thank all you, especially my staff who have continued to support the mission of our parish, and those of you who have continued to give so generously of your time, talent, and treasure to ensure that our parish remains strong during these difficult times. (As a reminder, we now have Text to Give, which is a very easy way to give to the needs of the parish and/or special collections -- our second collection today is for our archdiocesan seminarians.)
I want to say a special word of thanks to all of you as well who have supported our St. Vincent de Paul food pantry. Through your generous donations of food and personal care items we have been able to help a large number of families who have lost their jobs or find themselves needing food during this pandemic. As a reminder, if you know anyone who may be in need of food and/or personal items, please have them email svdpcat@gmail.com to set up an appointment for pick up.
Finally, I want to remind you that we will be offering Mass at 10:15am in English and 1:30pm in Spanish today (click here to download the Mass aid to follow along with hymns and readings in English). As I mentioned in a previous email, we decided not to purchase additional Easter flowers that were sponsored, since the sponsors will not be able to see them in the church in person. I am, however, including the list of names below for whom the Easter flower were donated, and we will purchase the additional flowers when we are able to return to the church.
As we celebrate this glorious day, I pray that you all have a very blessed Easter, and that the risen Lord will continue to bless you and your families with the joy of this season to help you to persevere in the triumph of His love.