The word Eucharist means To Give Thanks. In the midst of great persecution, the early Church gathered regularly to share stories – their own and those that formed the foundation of their faith – and they shared a meal. They broke open their experience and they broke bread. In doing those things they realized that Christ was with them in a very real way. His promise of being with us, the Church, for the rest of time was being fulfilled. It was then that they were filled with, even overwhelmed with, GRATITUDE that Jesus had not merely left them with words of comfort and love, but he gave them a command and a ritual action to repeat that experience of gathering, story and meal, forever. He promised that he would be with them as they did so. By the grace and working of the Holy Spirit, realizing turned to real, remembering turned to presence, and their gratitude deepened.
In the spirit of thanks there are several people, both staff and volunteers, that I would like to sincerely thank because of their adaptive creativity in the midst of this unprecedented pandemic time:
• Gene Garcia has produced our taped Mass each week. We tape every Monday and Gene augments that streamlined Eucharistic celebration, always available for prayerful viewing, by each Saturday. He not only adds his musical talent but also his technical creativity with visuals that augment and add to the presentation that you see and pray with via our website.
All other parish websites and contact points offer some form of streamed live Mass that is so essential to the prayer life of those who cannot or do not feel comfortable joining a larger group for the live Mass experience. We at Holy Family offer a different experience and we hope that you appreciate all that goes into that presentation. Our presiders and Gene collaborate to offer the most prayerful experience possible during the current restrictions.
• Our Reopening Committee of Scott Swenson, Sue Geegan, Bernie Schaeffer, Ro Geisler, our maintenance staff led by Bob Clough and Ray Lacek, along with a very dedicated group of volunteer Greeters and Ushers. Judy Petrie and other Liturgical Arts staff members have helped tremendously, along with Kristin Berryhill who has offered a lot of assistance as a volunteer. They have put in countless hours making sure that the events of Live Mass, Baptisms, Weddings, Funerals, Private Prayer, Reconciliation and Adoration are conducted in the safest and healthiest ways. This requires welcoming people, guiding them to their seat and cleansing, but it also requires planning seating arrangements for EACH event to accommodate the unique combination of guests and their families. It also involves continual study of the above for changing needs and improvement.
• Dr. Peg Hanrahan and our Family & Teen Faith staff of Marta Robak, Laura Ferlita, Amy Hodson and Grant Guthrie who have continued to offer programs despite current restrictions. One particularly successful event was the Virtual Spirit Camp that we provided. Many, many hours of preparation went into offering this important program to our younger children. Our staff engaged other parishes and through innovative thinking and the magic of online assistance, this year’s Spirit Camp was one of the most successful ever, despite initially doubting whether we could offer it at all.
• Kate O’Brien, our principal, Laura Clark, assistant principal, Kathy Knuth, school nurse and office manager and the entire Holy Family Catholic Academy staff who have truly distinguished themselves with the quality of the e-learning experience for our children. Faculty, staff and administration have worked tremendously hard in adapting educational resources and experiences for the unique and ever-changing and evolving needs of learners. However, with an increased involvement by parents in this unprecedented time, our staff has been collaborating with them more than ever. There is so much uncertainty and varying needs and wishes of families based on parents’ work schedules and the value of live, in-school versus e-learning. Please trust me that Kate and her staff, as well as Peg and hers, have been working overtime in balancing the health and safety needs, both physical and psychological, of the families and children that we serve.
• Michael Patti who has gone from a contributor to managing our website and now produces all content for it. The website is the primary vehicle for sharing information about Holy Family, but Michael consistently adds his creative touch, particularly to ever-increasing prayer and spiritual growth resources available on our website.
This is just some of what we have to be grateful for. If you are willing to volunteer for any of the above, please contact the parish office.