Blessed Easter! Jesus is risen from the dead - and the promise of eternal life is God's gift to us. What an amazing thing God has done for us. This celebration is the most important one in our Church. Just like Christmas, Easter Sunday is celebrated for 8 days (an octave), and the Easter Season goes for 50 days, 10 more than Lent! So, there is much to reflect upon and discover in these inspiring, joyous stories of our Lord's resurrection. The Friars and all 4 parish staffs join me in wishing you a Blessed Easter.
I'm taking advantage of bigger Easter crowds to get this message to as many folks as possible: As you are aware, our parishes of Beaver, Freedom, New Brighton and Rochester are in the gradual process of merging into one, new parish. I know there are varied reactions to this, from: "I'll never go to Mass again." to "I'm very excited and can't wait for this to happen." Wherever you might be on that spectrum, there are two points I want to share, please:
1. The Capuchin Friars and I are committed to doing all we can to keep open and use all 4 church buildings.
2. In order to do this, two things are necessary:
a. Keep Mass attendance up. It's been good, really, so keep it going. 50% full capacity is the minimum to keep a scheduled Mass going.
b. Our finances need to be in better shape. Collections are down for all 4 parishes. Part of that is from losing a Mass time, the other part of it is anger over the Grand Jury report. Some of it could be fear about the future.
Here's the thing. In order to keep churches open and parishes thriving, we must be able to pay our bills. So, please, tell your family, friends and neighbors that the responsibility for the future of our Church lies with its people. Please give what you can.