This is Deacon Zaid’s final weekend with us before his ordination to the priesthood on May 22. It has truly been a joy and blessing to have him with us over the last year. I appreciate his enthusiasm, love of the Lord, his communication and preaching skills, and his dedication to the Sacred Scriptures. Deacon Zaid stepped in when Mary Quick, our director of faith formation, retired, and helped to hire Leslee Smith. He gave much time to leading Bible studies and teaching in the schools. He helped us to update our livestreaming equipment, and secured Richard Lane for our parish mission during Lent. Deacon Zaid connected with people of all ages, and helped to enrich the faith of many. Pray for him as he makes his final preparations for the priesthood. We look forward to celebrating with him at his Masses of thanksgiving and reception on Sunday, May 23. May more people be inspired to respond to the Lord’s call to ministry in the Church as joyful missionary disciples. FIRST COMMUNION Next weekend, we will be celebrating most of the parish first Communions at the regular Masses. Please note that seating will be reserved for our first Communicants and their families, and Mass (especially 10:00 am) will be more crowded, given limited church capacity. We pray that our young people will come to know and love Jesus more deeply in the gift of the Eucharist, and that we adults will be inspired by their witness to grow in our own faith and devotion for the real presence of the Risen Lord among us. CATHOLIC SERVICES APPEAL 2021 It is time to begin our appeal for CSA 2021. Even though the kickoff weekend is May 15-16, some have already responded to the initial mailing already received in April. We are off to a good start. I have made my person pledge for the new year. We will give a final report on the 2020 CSA in the coming weeks as the books are closed out. Thank you to everyone who has done their part to help us as a parish to “Fuel the Mission”.