Dear Friends,
Did you notice the refurbished Stations of the Cross around our church? Those who noticed spoke of their joy and appreciation. It was a worthy project that our Knights of Columbus undertook. Sam Fallivene, Frank Rees, Bill Isele, Dave Ryden, and Peter Kostik, with the engineering skills of Sean Smith, worked hard to repair the various stations and made them look beautiful and sturdy. I wish to thank the Knights in the name of our community of St. Matthias for volunteering to do this good work.
Speaking about volunteering, many of our parishioners do so much good in and around our church. The Statue of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel was given a thorough wash and the area was beautified – thanks to the goodwill of Alma and Jaime Valdez. The music ministers planted flower plants that you see blooming in front of the church. The bell that you hear rung before Mass was donated by Anne Marie Francis. Enhancing our worship environment is something that parishioners Claudette Gaspard, Emile Capuno, and others are doing in collaboration with our Sacristan Mike Lanyi. Every Monday, we have one of the two teams of committed volunteers counting the Sunday collections: Annie Dupras, Margaret Varela, Nanzy Inzano, Marge Richards, Peg Joyce, John Galat, and Tom Fullerton, coordinated by Vinnie Natale. The regular live-streaming of the 10 AM Sunday Mass by Joe and Eileen Mancuso, bringing their own equipment, is another example for which they deserve our gratitude. Yanick Andre is to be commended for consistently sharing the sacristy duties for specific days of the week alternating with Deacon Ron. Last weekend you saw Pat Cullen and Jo-Ann Piagentini promoting our “Spread the Light Christmas Trees” with great enthusiasm.
The list is long and there are still many more names that could be mentioned if not for the space limit. But there are many other volunteers who work behind the scenes not receiving any applause. Those preparing the schedule for Lectors and Eucharistic Ministers and other liturgical ministers who help us all to have a smooth experience of the Holy Eucharist, dozens of ministries and committees that are actively giving of themselves for the good of our parish – all these faithful disciples of Jesus are what make our Catholic Community of St. Matthias very unique.
Like the numerous parishioners who volunteer, we all give our time off to our families and friends, to our work and duties, to school and scouts, to other institutions and good causes because of the “treasure” we have found in Jesus Christ (Matthew 13:44) – as Deacon Russ reminds us in his reflection elsewhere in this bulletin. May our hearts grow more into communion with Jesus our treasure, the “pearl of great price” (Matthew 13:45-46).
With a grateful heart, praying for God’s blessings upon all of us,
Your brother in Christ
Fr. Abraham Orapankal