Two weekends ago we celebrated the 30th anniversary of the founding of Our Lady of Mercy parish. Our theme was “Though Many….We Are One” – celebrating how rich we have become as a parish over thirty years with the diversity of ethnic origins our membership. Streamers of flags of many nations hung above the baptismal font symbolizing that through baptism, no matter what our ethnic origin, we are now one in Jesus Christ. And what a beautiful celebration we had!! The founding pastor, Fr. Gerald Tivy, now 80 years old and retired came back and along with his older brother Fr. Tom Tivy, celebrated the 4:00pm Mass on Saturday. I invited Fr. Hugh Fullmer as well to come back and celebrate a Mass that weekend, but he was away on an Alaska cruise. The dessert reception after all the Masses featuring homemade goodies from the ethnic background of our parishioners was outstanding! Thanks to all who baked or donated these wonderful treats! The picnic on our grounds with food trucks of various vendors was a tremendous success as well. All enjoyed food, fellowship and dancing to the tunes parishioner DJ John Wehrel played. So kudos and thanks goes to a lot of people: Marty Kadziela, chair of the Pastoral Council and PPC members for the initial ideas and impetus for celebrating our 30th anniversary; Doug Kieffer for recruiting parishioners to read the scriptures at Mass in different languages and the lectors themselves, Marck Mocarski, Stefania Chase, Babes tiongsen, Marie Reitenbach, Lourdes Indad, Robert Pelegrini, Maybird D’Silva, Sissy Roy, Veronica Manzanares, Lucero Manzanares, Sergio Noyola and Ernesto Pacheco; the gift bearers, Kalathiveetil Family, Rinon Family, Manzanares Family, Pacheco Family, Nicole Achebo, Ndoko Family and Some Family; the Knights of Columbus Honor Guard, Robert Pelligrini, James Lambert, John Melisi; Art & Environment and Set-up, Karen Schwartz, Len Eickhoff, Linda Eichoff, and Marty Kadziela; Liturgy Coordinators, Phyllis Anderson, Larry Harris, Vince Wardein, Maybird d’Silva; Coordinator of desserts, Phyllis Anderson; Hospitality, Jim Marks and Phyllis Anderson and all the kitchen helpers; Photographers, Maybird D’Silva and Jeanne Daill; and the food trucks were organized by Alessandro Vazquez of Brew Avenue Events. And a special thanks to the over 120 parishioners who baked or donated goodies for the dessert reception. We had desserts from 19 different cultures. I hope you were adventurous and tried something new! If I’ve inadvertently left anyone out, please accept my apologies. And a big thanks goes to all of YOU who joined in celebrating our 30th anniversary!
Now that summer is in full swing, I hope you and your families are enjoying some rest and relaxation. For those of you traveling, I pray you have a safe journey…..and don’t forget, you can find Mass times wherever you are at www.masstimes.org or download the app “Mass Times For Travel.”
Have a Blessed Week!
Father Don