Parish Picnic 2018

With our parish patronal feast being the Assumption, celebrated as a holyday of obligation on August 15th, our staff discussed the idea of doing something special to honor our patroness and celebrate our identity and unity as a parish.  To that end, it was decided to host a Mass under the tent on the parish grounds behind the rectory at a special hour and follow it with a picnic.
The day's festivities would start with a special bi-lingual Mass at 11 AM and follow with a picnic where the parish would provide hot dogs and hamburger with drinks.  Parishioners were invited to bring a salad or dessert to share.  Our local Knights of Columbus Council # 80 jumped in when contacted at the last minute to help with the cooking of the hot dogs and hamburgers.
At 9 AM that morning, we set up for Mass and began to organize for the events in a couple of hours.  Fr. Mateus presided at Mass, assisted by our Deacon Dave and seminarian, Julio Bonillo, and concelebrated by our pastor, Fr. Peter.  Holiding Mass outside under the tent was a welcome change from the muggy conditions in the church during these summer months and someone recommended that we do so once a month! While there were threatening skies, the entire picnic took place without rain, a few sprinkles fell after 1 PM while we were tidying up but the hard rain held off until 2 PM.  One of the special moments that Fr. Mateus pointed out at the end was the perfect timing of the tower bells ringing during the consecration.  A sweet reminder of how special their sound is to our parishioners and focusing our attention at this great moment in the Mass.
The food was plentiful and delicious from a gorgeous arrangement of fruit to salads and desserts homemade or store bought that were the perfect complement to a perfect day.  Our gratitude to Jonathan and to Luis for their service with our music ministry in leading us in song during the Mass and to Pedro for helping with the sound system so that everyone could hear the day's events.  For our first effort, things fell together wonderfully at the last minute and we would hope to hold another event in the future.