Dear friends,
Four weeks after the resumption of our weekend Masses, time has come to evaluate a little bit what has been happening here at Holy Cross our Parish family.
I would like to thank all of you for the diligence with which you embraced the protocols related to keeping all and each other safe and healthy during these very trying times. From the so many ministries serving the Lord in our liturgical celebration to the army of volunteers who day in and day out spare nothing to clean and sanitize our church before and after each celebration, we have seen the experience of your courage, love, solidarity and resilience. Thank you so much.
Today we are invited to take up the cross in the footsteps of Jesus. Taking up the cross at these trying times seems repetitive anyone would say. Is not the present pandemic already a cross we carry courageously in the footsteps of Christ? Yes, indeed. However, the Lord calls us to more. There are crosses we are meant to take up that could be missed from our consideration. Take the example of wearing face masks. At this very difficult time, which is even made worse in our state with the new spike of the virus, wearing face masks is a cross we are meant to take up for the sake of others. It is a cross because many of us feel uncomfortable with them. Yet, we are all accepting them not for our own sake but out of love for those brothers and sisters around us. Thus, approached from that perspective, face masks we could consider as cross would be transformed to a token of solidarity with and love for our brothers and sisters who share with us the Table of the Lord.
Finally, another cross, which you already carry courageously and generously is the financial load of our parish. I would like to thank here once again for your endless generous support to our parish. As your pastor, I am very proud of you for your love for our parish. At these uncertain times, the expected human reaction would have been to worry about our personal finances and the security they would afford us. Yet, out of love for Christ and your parish, you selflessly donate to keep our parish alive and to help it function. As we look ahead, we know that things could get harder for us. Bingo and Rummage sale which were considerable sources of our income cannot be organized due to this pandemic. Our parish survival depends on your generosity. Thank you so much for your gifts, expression of your sacrificial love for Holy Cross. You and all your loved ones are always in my prayers.
Let us continue to pray for one another and for our parish family.
Fr. Emery