I'm enjoying the quiet on this Independence Day Holiday.  The word "holiday" comes from "holy day".  God is the one who gives us the gift of freedom.  Our Declaration of Independence recognizes that truth.

     Since it is quiet, I'm getting ready for my vacation next weekend.  With our newly retired Fr. Richard Carrington, we now have five retired priests covering for me from Thursday through Monday.

     I've also updated the livestreaming so that it works more easily and doesn't require my presence.  Our livestreaming camera operators will be fine without me.  However, if something crazy happens, I won't be around to fix it.  We had such occurrences at the 8 AM and 10 AM Masses when the power went out briefly.  If the power goes out, the livestreaming stops.  With the updated set-up, the camera operators will be able to restart the livestreaming once the power returns.

     Fittingly, we had 76 more people join us inside for Mass this past weekend for a total of 854.  That's our second highest after the 882 on June 12-13.  We saw a big jump at the 12 PM Mass because of the 2 PM Mass stopping and many new people returning to Mass.

     I ask those going to the 12 PM Mass to be more strategic in where you sit.  We had plenty of room, but we had a lot more handicapped people than usual.  And we had several big families.  We have reserved a few sections for the handicapped and those who want to be six feet apart.  If you can sit in the other two-thirds of the church, please do so.

4 PM        215            5

6 PM        126            1

8 AM        130            0

10 AM      169            1

12 PM      214            0

God love you,

Fr. Jim