During the Paschal Triduum, at the Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord's Supper, the well-known hymn, "Where Charity and Love Prevail" is sung.  The first words of the song say, "Where charity and love prevail, there God is ever found."  How true that is at Sacred Heart Church, especially during the days of the Triduum.  We had many people offer the charity of their time and talents to prepare and participate in our liturgies in the ministries of singing (our beautiful choir directed by Lynne Border), our lectors, ushers, altar servers and sacristans who decorated and prepared our altar area for each service.  I was also blessed to have two deacons on the altar with me during the Triduum, Deacon John Froning and Deacon Nelson Rubio, our seminarian.  I believe overall (except for a smoke alarm going off at the end of our Holy Thursday Mass), that our liturgies went beautifully, and I'm grateful to God, our ministers, and those who were in the pews, for lifting us up to the Lord in these special liturgies.  I also want to acknowledge the charity of those who contributed to various needs through our collections for the seminarians ($16,458), for the work of the Church in the Holy Land ($3,631), and Operation Rice Bowl that supports Catholic Relief Services which has incomplete financial numbers as Rice Bowls continue to come in.  The amounts in both of the two collections were larger than the year before, which speaks so strongly of so many loving, charitable hearts reaching out to help our future priests in their formation and countless others, especially God's poor who are helped on a regular basis through Catholic Relief Services.

I am made ever confident, given all this, that charity and love will continue to prevail and inspire others within our community and beyond, to find God and rejoice in His presence and in the hope that comes to us from Jesus Christ crucified, risen and working in so many believers.  God bless you all!