Wow, what a weekend! This past Easter weekend was filled with everything you may have wanted and more. The weather was absolutely perfect with clear skies and temperatures warming into the low 80s. I mention this because some of our parishioners actually sat outside in the courtyard due to space restraints in the church and PLC. For those inside the church, the AC units had to work overtime to keep all of the tightly packed parishioners from overheating. Fr. John tells me that the 8:00 p.m. Vigil Mass on Holy Saturday was absolutely full. On Sunday, the action started promptly at 7:00 a.m. with roughly 1,500 in attendance. The 9:00 and 11:00 a.m. Masses in the church were completely standing room only (inside and out) and one can only “guestimate” the total number in attendance. The 9:15 and 11:15 a.m. overflow Masses in the PLC were also standing room only. It is estimated that in excess of 10,000 attended Mass over the weekend. Traffic was backed up on 111th Avenue North all the way to US 41 and then eastward to the entrance of the Post Office. Although it was overly crowded, we are hopeful that you had a very spiritual experience here at St. John the Evangelist.
Have you ever attended the Easter Vigil Mass at St. John the Evangelist? Celebrated on the Saturday evening before Easter, this Mass is the true beginning of the Easter celebration. Although quite lengthy (just over 2 1/2 hours), it is the most beautiful of all Masses celebrated throughout the year. Deep-seated in Catholic tradition, the Easter Vigil Mass begins in total darkness with a large fire burning at the entrance of the church. The church is in total darkness as the celebrant leads a procession to the front of the narthex. As the procession heads into the sanctuary, the flame is passed from the Pascal candle to all those in attendance creating a beautiful site in the sanctuary with the only visible light coming from the nearly 1,200 candles. Present on the altar this year was Fr. John, Fr. Len, Fr. Kelly, Deacon Frank Paniccia, seminarians Peter Vale and Michael Scaramuzzo and our lone altar server, Emily Anton. In addition, Tom Oram provided outstanding music accompanied by our choir and a quintet from the Naples Philharmonic. The Vigil Mass serves as the platform for which to welcome our new RCIA candidates and catechumens into the church. This year we had three individuals receiving the sacrament of Baptism and another six receiving their Confirmation. If you feel capable of sitting through a two plus hour Mass, I strongly encourage you to attend this incredibly beautiful Mass next spring.
The Men’s Club hosted their 6th annual Easter egg hunt on Holy Saturday. Soaking in abundant sunshine and low humidity, nearly 500 children and adults showed up to gather as many eggs as possible before heading back to the ballroom in the PLC for pizza and ice cream. So well organized was this event that I received numerous phone calls and emails expressing thanks to the Men’s Club. On behalf of everyone here at St. John the Evangelist, many thanks to the Men’s Club for hosting another exceptionally well organized event to benefit the children of our parish. And if they weren’t tired out from the Easter egg hunt, the Men’s Club will also host Parish Appreciation Day this Sunday.
We have finally loaded all of the email addresses into our new database and will begin using this new tool next week. We will use your email addresses to inform our parishioners of upcoming events, pertinent information and to distribute what we hope will be at least a quarterly newsletter. I would kindly ask that if you receive the initial email from St. John the Evangelist and have since decided that you do not wish to be on our distribution list, please DO NOT mark the email as SPAM. Instead, simply send me an email ([email protected]) asking to be removed. If you have yet to submit your email address and wish to be included, please send me an email and I will add you to the list. Your email address will be used exclusively for parish correspondence and not shared with anyone else. In addition, your email address will not appear as a CC on any of the parish email blasts.
Did you attend the Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion on Good Friday? Many did and we received numerous complaints due to the fact that there was only one cross for adoration. Those in attendance know that this took an extremely long time. The new translation of the Roman Missal explicitly states that only one cross is to be used for adoration (formerly termed veneration.) Obviously, this directive is a universal directive of the Church and was not something created by the parish or the Diocese. The rubric suggests if many people are in attendance that the celebrant along with his ministers only venerate the cross. Those who were involved in the preparation of the Liturgy of The Lord’s Passion thought such an action would take away a treasured practice.
In His work together,
Scott Schlossberg, MBA
General Manager