The Return of Children’s Liturgy!!
Beginning May 1st, Children’s Liturgy will return to Holy Redeemer. For those of you who are new (post-pandemic), we took our little ones during the 9 am Sunday Mass out for their own Liturgy of the Word. They would move downstairs to the Church meeting room after the Opening Prayer and would then return during the Preparation of the Gifts. It both gave them an activity to do during Mass and gave their parents a bit of a break as well. Like so many things it had to go on hiatus during Covid, but now it a good time to re- start this awesome practice. I would like to thank Laura Welch for spearheading this effort and if you would like to help her, I am sure she would appreciate it. One of the joys of my priesthood is watching the children march back to their families with works of art or even a treat with a huge smile on their face.
First Communions
Today at 2 pm we will celebrate the first of two First Communion celebrations with our children from our Day school as well as our PSR program. We divided up the class during Covid because of restrictions, but now it is because the classes are large and we want their families to be able to come and celebrate this big step in these children’s spiritual lives. Our second graders are a spunky group and I could not be prouder of them. Please keep them in your prayers.
Volunteers
As I mentioned before we will be looking for new volunteers for our School Board as well as our Parish Council. These are great ways to serve our parish. I would also like to start a Liturgy Committee to help with celebrations throughout the church year. We need people involved in music, art and decorations, and planning to help things go smoothly during the various seasons. This past Holy Week I found myself doing some of the details by myself. That is OK, it is part of my job, but I think I could use a bit of input and expertise from the perspective of the pews. If you would like to help, please let me know. We would not begin meeting until the fall.
My Upcoming Schedule
I’ve had several people around the parish ask me if I am getting away enough. There were at least four trips I had planned that Covid ruined. Need- less to say I am ready to get away a bit this sum- mer. For your information, I will be gone the week of Memorial Day for a short trip. In July, I will be gone for two weeks with a golf trip to North Carolina (never been
there!). And then the first week of October, my brother priests and I will be at our Convocation down at the Lake of the Ozarks. (Wasting away again in Margari- taville…) I am on the team put- ting the week together and it is always an enriching and enlightening time. Other than those three times, I should be around for the rest of the year.
Summer Work
As you may have noticed they were working on the roof of the church. That is almost completed. We had a nice big rain on Holy Week, so we can discover the problem areas. We hope to refinish the gym floor this summer after it was damaged by a burst water pipe. And finally, we hope to have a permanent shed put in place to replace the pod outside for storage. If you see anything around the grounds that needs work or repair, let me know. We may not get to it right away, but it is good to know.
Father Kevin