St. Edward Parish, Newark: February 2005 Archives
Well, the blog is up an running after the server went down for a while. I have been depressed all week, sleepless nights even after an exhausting weekend. My Province has put me in a huge quandary. Losing all health benefits and retirement, all going to lawyers and lawsuits.
Still others have greater troubles. There was a murder of a teenager this week in the city and the police and the press showed up tonight at the parish as many of his friends sought to hold a candlelight vigil. It was all a surprise to us. I was walking around the property with the facilities manager when we noticed the press in our front parking lot. One of the videos on the KTVU site even shows the reporter in front of the church.
Tomorrow is an all day meeting with the Bishop on the GIRM for all the priests of the Diocese, and then I pick up Fr. Nordenbrock from the airport for the beginning of the lenten mission.
What a wonderful day, full of reverence and devotion!
The crowds were enormous, but wonderful. My feet are killing me.
We had Mass at 6:45am, 9:00am, 10:30am, and the Deacons presided at Liturgies of the Word at Noon and 4:00pm. Then there were two evening masses at 6:30pm and 8:30pm. At the 6:30pm Mass the Plaza and the Driveway were filled with people who could not get into Church, so another lay minister and I stood outside in the plaza distributing ashes from the beginning of Mass to well after it ended. The people were mostly hispanic but there were a few asians and others who did not speak spanish, and I fumbled around, forgetting how to say it in English. That was a first for me.
I am tired, but will be up for the 6:45am tomorrow on my day off. Pray I get a Spanish homily done for Saturday.