I think we will run a betting pool to see what date the last mounds of snow around the church will melt. I’m thinking the prime spots will be around the Fourth of July. Speaking of the snow, I want to acknowledge and thank our dedicated maintenance team for the long hours and hard work they’ve put in this winter. Even as the blizzard was in full force, they were suited up for battle and getting our property cleared of snow. I am very grateful for their amazing work. This past week, as I was preparing for our Finance Council meeting, I was thinking about how grateful I am to be your parish priest. You all make it easy and a joy to serve here. It can sometimes be a drain for priests when they offer things for their parishioners and receive little or no response. It can be disheartening. You, however, are always responsive. When various opportunities for formation–holy hours, bible studies, men’s group, book studies etc.–are offered, you show up. I often bring a book with me for when I am hearing confessions, but I never get to read it. We offer confessions and so many people take advantage of it! We ask for food for the poor and you bring it. We mention that Catholic patients in the hospital are in need of the Eucharist, and you respond. In a similar vein, I am grateful that you possess a strong sense of fiscal responsibility for the parish. Over the past few years, each year the weekly offertory collection has increased. Unfortunately, that is not the case in every parish. For a long time, Catholics felt like all they needed to do was “throw a buck” in the collection. That general attitude has persisted in many parishes. People often think of the weekly offertory as “giving what I happen to have in my pocket” on a particular Sunday. That lack of intentionality and lack of a sense of responsibility has destabilized many Catholic parishes. There seems to be a never-ending list of necessary maintenance issues to be addressed on our buildings and properties. Those issues are immediately obvious to us. If the heat, the sound system, or the air conditioning isn’t working, we notice. When the roof leaks, we notice. Those are kind of the “body” of the parish. At the same time, we have to tend to the soul of the parish. These needs are not always quite as obvious, but they are even more urgent. They are about making it possible for as many people as possible to encounter Jesus Christ, especially in the Sacraments and in His Word. This happens through our life together as a parish family. Everybody needs Jesus Christ, whether they know it or not. Everything we do as a parish is ultimately aimed at helping people to come to know, love, and follow the Lord. That is why we have daily confessions, more daily Masses during Lent, and so many opportunities to gather together for formation and friendship. This year, I was particularly moved by the vast crowds who filled our church on Ash Wednesday. I know people sometimes dismiss the once a year people as being insincere, I honestly am amazed by their presence. In a culture that has become so secular and de-Christianized, I think it is an amazing work of grace that so many people are still drawn to church on that day to be told they need to repent. Deep down, they know it is true. That, I think, is why they come. One of my goals as pastor is to find ways to reach those kinds of people; people who are not often here, but who are open to the Gospel. Our attempt to build up our parish is not only for those who are already here. It is also so that those who are looking for something find it here. I know that sometimes priests can feel as though the burden for all these things is entirely upon them. I am very grateful to all of you because I do not feel that way. I feel like all of us are working together–each in his or her own way–to build up our parish and help others to encounter Jesus Christ. This mission that is given to all of us–in different ways–by Jesus Christ becomes a joyful burden. This was a long-winded way of saying, “Thank you for making this a great place to be a priest.” Your Brother in Christ, Fr. David Barnes