This Sunday, the Second Sunday of Easter and also Divine Mercy Sunday, completes the Octave of Easter and ushers in the more extended weeks of the Easter season. These days are intended to be days of great spiritual joy as we are offered the opportunity to contemplate the gift of salvation won for us by the death and resurrection of Jesus. I, for one, am particularly grateful to everyone who worked so hard to make the celebrations of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, the Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday so beautiful and so prayerful. To all the servers: Giselle, Owen and Naomi Bolzenius, Maddie Eckstein, Peyton Adams, Payton Goddard, Alyson Fennessey, Adam and Alex Bolzenius, Josh Straatmann, Andrew Flagg, Troy Simmons, Ben and Jenna Hammer, Lillian Wiskur, and Izzy and Joe Zagarri you were superb! I am grateful to you for the time and effort you put into the practices and for how well you fulfilled your assigned responsibilities. Next, a special thanks to our music ministers, Norma Jean Salvino, Charlene Eckstein, Gerry Donner and Bob Calkins for their wonderful service – we are so blessed by the solemnity and professionalism you bring to our worship! Thanks to everyone who decorated the Church for the Triduum: to Chris and Jim Block, Dale and Susie Boschert, Mary Fink, Diane Schmidt, Theresa Brueggemann, and Betty Schmuke, as well as, to everyone who donated for the purchase of all the Easter lilies – thank you! There certainly was a lot to do last week, and it takes a lot of support to bring everything off so well. I am most sincerely grateful to our entire parish for your participation in these holiest of days – the liturgy is designed to be the work of the people and we did really good – thank you all!

Have a blessed Easter week!