Thank you!!

I personally want to say thank you to all of you who made our Triduum and Easter Sunday Masses so beautiful. First of all thanks to my brother Priest Fr. Bill Vollmer who joined us for Holy Thursday and Good Friday and then said three Easter Sunday Masses in a row! Fr. Bill you are personally such an inspiration to me. I hope to have that much energy 21 years from now when I retire. Wow! What a great man Deacon Joe is! He is ready to be ordained on June 18th to the Priesthood! He was our preacher for the Triduum, sang the Passion on Good Friday, sang the Exultant on Holy Saturday and served as Deacon at four Easter morning Masses. Deacon Joe – you are a great gift to the Church and you will make a great priest! Both you and Fr Bill have great priestly hearts!!!

I personally want to thank our Seminarians David and Jason for doing a great job and assisting in so many ways. David was our Master of Ceremonies and kept us on track, while Jason helped out in so many ways. Many thanks!!! I want also to thank Deacon Tom and Deacon Chuck – our two permanent Deacons for all of their great service. You guys are the best! A special thanks to Gene our Sacristan, to Stephen and Rusty for serving, to all of our Altar Servers, Lectors, Ministers of Hospitality, Knights of Columbus (who helped set up and manned the Easter Fire), and to our great Environment Committee who helped make the church look so beautiful for the different services. You guys are outstanding! I also want to say a word of personal thanks to all of my staff members who have done so much in the way of preparation.

I also want to express my personal thanks to Don Billings, our Music Director, and to all of the members of the choirs who made all of our Liturgies so beautiful. This year we had the sung Passion on Good Friday and it was so moving! I know that a lot of behind the scenes practices went on – thanks to all of you for your dedication and love for the church! You guys are great!

I want to thank all of our young people who dramatically portrayed the Passion of the Lord on Palm Sunday evening. Your presentation put my right into the spirit of Holy Week. I want to thank our ever growing Hispanic Community for the gift of the Paschal Candle and for your very moving portrayal of the Passion of our Lord on Good Friday.

To all of our parishioners, your family members, friends and our visitors – May the Peace of the Risen Christ be with you today and every day! Happy Easter!!!

Fr. Brad

Good Friday 2011

This past Sunday Evening (Palm Sunday) our Teens presented the Passion Play. It was incredibly moving. I pray that these pictures help you to remember the love that our Lord and Savior has for you.

By his stripes we were healed! (Isaiah 53:4-5)

Fr. Brad

Rise, let us be on our way

I came back to the office today and found a cardboard box from Barnes and Nobles on my chair. In it was a book written by Pope John Paul II entitled Rise, let us be on our way. I want to thank Marti and Jack Ostrowski for taking time to order it for me as a gift. What a great gift. I will be reading it prior to going to bed each night. Pope John Paul II in this book mentioned that noticed each person in his path. “I simply pray for everyone each day. As soon as I meet people I pray for them and this helps me in all of my relationships. I welcome everyone as a person sent to me and entrusted to me by Christ. For Pope John Paul II to meet another person is to encounter God.”

Aren’t these really great words!

That is why I really enjoy meeting people, and walking with them in the good times and the not so good times. I really enjoy welcoming people as Christ would. I really like the notion that people are entrusted to me by God. Each day I hope I live up to that entrustment. At the end of my day, I always like to have some time to pray night prayer and to just thank God for those who I met during the day.

Sunday after all of the Masses were done I went to my local favorite Chinese Restaurant to pick up some dinner for Deacon Joe and I. In speaking with one of the family members who owns the restaurant I had the privilege of listening to him recount the love that his grandmother had for those children abandoned in the streets of her village in China. As she swept the streets, she would occasional find babies who were abandoned by their parents. She would rescue them and help them to find good homes.

WOW! What a great story of such love and devotion. These are the stories that at the end of the day make me glad to be a priest and entrusted with the care of the souls of those whom I meet.

Rise, let us be on our way!!!

Fr. Brad