St. Michael's Hall and May Crowning

04-29-2018Pastor's LetterRev. Gregory B. Wilson, VF

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

The recent completion of the south wing of the church courtyard brings an end to our project. The wing includes a hall (nearly exactly the same size as upper Smith Hall), a conference room, and what will soon be a small gift shop. In deciding what to call the wing, we went back to you, the parishioners, and what you voted for when naming the bells. The bells were named in order of most votes. The fifth most popular name was St. Michael. I hope you will enjoy your St. Michael Hall and Conference Room.

The patronage of St. Michael the Archangel means a lot to many people. He is the Patron Saint of police officers, the military, sailors, paratroopers, firefighters, paramedics, against illness, and even grocers. Saint Michael is mentioned several times in both the Old and New Testaments, most notably in Daniel, Jude, and Revelation. His final appearance in Scripture is in Revelation 12:7: "War broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and his angels fought back." Here, Michael and the forces of heaven defeat the dragon (Satan) and the devil is hurled to the earth and defeated "by the blood of the Lamb." Jesus has conquered – join yourself to His victory.

Our May Crowning is next Sunday, May 6! Join us for the 11:00am bilingual Mass (or come back around 12:00pm). Each parishioner is encouraged to bring flowers, especially from your garden, to carry in the procession and leave in the vases at the statue of our Blessed Mother. Then, join your fellow parishioners for our annual Parish Picnic. (Please note there will be NO 12:30pm or 5:00pm Masses on 6 May so that all may come and enjoy the picnic as one parish.)

Do you have cultural roots in the Philippines, Vietnam, or elsewhere in Asia? Perhaps Africa is your heritage (like Fr. Michel and others), or Central or South America? Maybe your ancestors came from France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Croatia, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Germany, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia or another European country? (All represented in our parish – Sorry if I missed yours!) Everyone in every country has a favorite cultural food. Why not share yours with the whole parish. Aluminum pans are being passed out for parishioners to share their favorite side dish for our picnic. Bring your favorite dish that best represents you!

Finally, a little prayer asking Mary's intercession that we might know more deeply the mystery of Christ that Mary experienced through her own life, herself an eyewitness to the extraordinary events of the Passion, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension: O God who gave joy to the world through the resurrection of your Son our Lord Jesus Christ; grant, we beseech you, that through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, His mother, we may obtain the joys of everlasting life, through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

Let us pray for each other,
Father Wilson

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