Today marks the beginning of the holiest week in our Church’s calendar. It is a week filled with emotion, from the highs of “Hosanna!” to the lows of “Crucify him!” For our part, we will try to create an atmosphere that will reflect the various moods of our celebrations. The environment, music and liturgies will be geared to helping everyone understand in a profound way the richness of the last days of Christ’s life on earth, so that we can better appreciate what He has done for us.
For your part, I hope that you will join us during the special liturgies of the Holy Triduum (3-days). We begin with the celebration the Mass of the Lord’s Supper at 7:00 PM on Holy Thursday, which includes the Washing of Feet and the transfer of the Holy Eucharist to the Repository in the chapel, which will remain open until 10:00 PM.  On Good Friday we will celebrate the Passion of the Lord beginning with the Liturgy of the Word (in English in the church and in Spanish in the chapel), after which the Spanish-speaking members of our parish will join us in church for the veneration of the Cross and reception of Holy Communion.  Finally, the great Easter Vigil will be celebrated Saturday evening beginning at 8:00. We will light the Easter fire, hear the great history of our faith proclaimed through Scripture, witness the blessing of water and the baptism of Tara Fullerton, our wonderful “elect” and, after renewing our own baptismal promises, rejoice with our candidates, Melanie Butler, Courtney Rieken and Troy Willoughby as they profess faith and with Tara are confirmed and receive Eucharist for the first time. I certainly hope that many of you will join us as we welcome these newest members of our Church and parish, and I ask that you pray for them as they begin this exciting new chapter of their lives.
A special word of thanks to all the members of our RCIA Team who have been assisting these newest members of the Church along their journey of faith. It is always important that we have people willing to share their own understanding of the faith and help those who seek to know more about what we believe as Roman Catholics. Their dedication and willingness to spend time with those who are interested in becoming Catholic is a great service to not only our parish but our Church. Thank you all!
We continue this weekend to accept your pledges for the Annual Catholic Appeal, which assists us as we join with other parishes in our diocese to provide so many services to the community. Thank you for your generous response to this appeal. May God bless your generosity!

 Have a Holy Week, everyone. May God bless you and your loved ones! 
 Father Giuliano