“Do you believe?” “I do!”

Sunday dawned sunny, cloudless, and warm, a beautiful day for 29 children to receive the Holy Eucharist for the first time. We congratulate you all and welcome you into an ever deeper relationship with Jesus.

With families and guests, the church so full, it made sense to celebrate a special Mass in the afternoon. There was a lot of excitement and some nervousness in the air. This is not a time for the person seeking a quiet, contemplative experience.

After the Homily, it was time for the children to reconnect with their Baptism. It’s a special moment for a young child to hold a their baptismal candle, lit with the light of Christ. Six times, Father asked, “Do you…?” and the children responded with a robust “I do!” Then it was time to recall the moment of Baptism, when Father pours water while saying “I baptize you in the name…”. Father is always very generous when blessing the children with a sprinkling of holy water.

When each child came forward to receive the Body of Christ, many also received the Precious Blood. Parents, we will soon email to you a photo of your child receiving.

For their part in helping the children to prepare for this day, we have many people to thank. Let’s start with their first teachers, their parents. Christine Kainz heads sacramental prep, and Kristin Johnson directs our Family Faith Formation program. Thanks also to our Greeters and Sunday Choir. Fr. Konopa led the celebration masterfully and had a great message in his Homily.

As a parish family, we pledge to support these children in their faith journey with prayer and setting a good example. Again, congratulations to all!

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St. Mary’s Choir and St. Mary’s Singers

This evening, St. Mary’s Choir and St. Mary’s Singers generously gave their usual rehearsal time over to Bob Jansen and me for audio and video recording of four sacred songs.  We will be publishing these recordings on the parish website and at the annual parish banquet on Nov. 14.

Let’s be thankful for all of these singers.  When you see them at rehearsal, you see the effort they put into details, how they help and encourage each other, how their combined strengths produce something much more than the sum of three parts.  When you hear the recordings you will be amazed at their musical energy, their zeal, and the harmony that is not just voices but hearts working together.  It’s easy to see joy and love on their faces; they love to sing, and singing is their most joyful way to express a deep love.

Let’s be thankful for the directors and musicians who guide and accompany these choirs.  Both of these directors are able to draw the best from their singers in a way that is clear, gentle, affectionate, yet very efficient and effective.  I could tell that there is good chemistry between Therese, Judy, and the Choir, and likewise really good feeling among Mary Jo, Lois, the Singers, and their instrumentalists.  I hope that when this evening’s recordings are published, they’ll all take pride and joy in the work they do together.  Tonight they were in concert, in both senses of the word.

One of the songs recorded was We Remember by Marty Haugen.  I plan to combine Bob’s audio with images from the latest parish directory in a new video to help people appreciate each other and perhaps learn a few more names.  I love the refrain, “We remember, we celebrate, we believe.”  It seems a fitting soundtrack for a “slide-show” of parish families when you hear, “See the face of Christ revealed in every person standing by your side, Gift to one another and temples of Your love.”  I hope that when you hear Auriel Nigl sing those words you will choke up as much as I did tonight.  What a combination of gift, effort, and spirit.

Tonight I was reminded again that parish is family and that we have a really strong, talented, loving, generous parish family.  Let’s celebrate and be thankful for our parish family.

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