Our behalf of the parish community, I offer congratulations to all our parish graduates in the class of 2019! Whether from college and universities, high school, grammar school, kindergarten, schools of technology or professional career training, congratulations on your accomplishments and the discovery and development of your God given talents! May you all have a bright future!!

While I was away on vacation in California May 15th – 23rd, a scripture passage came to mind several times: “When I see your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and stars that you set in place – what are humans that you are mindful of them, mere mortals, that you care for them?” (Psalm 8:4- 5) Visiting Yosemite for the first time and experiencing the grandeur of El Capitan, the valleys and streams, and the powerfully flowing waterfalls (they had 180% of normal snowfall this year) and standing next to the giant Sequoias, I could only marvel at the grandness of God’s creation. That scripture passage came to mind again when I visited what I call the “outdoor cathedral.” There is a grove of costal redwood trees called Armstrong Woods in Guerneville. Some of these majestic redwoods are over 300 feet tall, 15 feet in diameter and 1,400 years old. It is the calmest and most still place on earth that I have ever been. It is so quiet that you can hear yourself think! And the intriguing and mysterious play of the sun light making its way through some of the trees adds to the specialness of this place. That scripture passage came to mind again when I went to the ocean at Bodega Bay, Jenner, and Fort Ross. Sitting and just being lulled into mindlessness by the rhythm of the waves one can only be refreshed and renewed. In all these places, I realized that God does have a plan. The millions and thousands of years it took for Yosemite to be carved, the redwoods and sequoias to grow, the ocean to form around the continents, God did this so that in time, we humans, mere mortals, could enjoy His creation. The beauty we see in nature today was created for US to enjoy today! “What are humans that you are mindful of them….Yet you have made them little less than a god, crowned them with glory and honor. You have given them rule over the works of your hands, put all things at their feet: All sheep and oxen, even the beast of the field, the birds of the air, the fish of the seas, and whatever swims the paths of the seas. O Lord, our God, how awesome is your name through all the earth! May we be good stewards of what we have been given rule over!

Next weekend is Pentecost Sunday, the conclusion of the Easter Season. In addition to decorations and flowers, we encourage you to be a part of the celebration by wearing some red, yellow, or orange. And finally, please keep Fr. Mark in your prayers this week as he will be away on a silent retreat at Creighton in Omaha, Nebraska, June 3rd through 7th. Have a blessed final week of the Easter Season!

Fr Don