It’s all about the power!  From Holy Thursday through Easter Sunday we use the Emmaus Hall for multiple purposes.  On Holy Thursday, the Emmaus Hall becomes the place for our Altar of Repose after the evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper.  On Holy Saturday, it becomes the place for the Easter Vigil reception.  Then it becomes the place for the breakfast and reception after the Easter Sunday Sunrise Mass.  Immediately after that reception, we get a crew of people to flip that hall into the overflow space for the 10 a.m. and 12 noon masses.  Unlike on Christmas Eve when we have an actual mass celebrated in the Emmaus Hall and Gathering Place because of the crowds, we just have a video and audio feed link for Easter.  With all the retooling and movement that happens in the Emmaus Hall those few days, there isn’t much wiggle room for error.  Unfortunately, however, the errors USUALLY occur with MY technology setups.  I’m sure this comes as NO surprise!
 
On Holy Thursday, I was having issues getting the church audio feed to play into the Emmaus Hall.  I was messing around with all the settings so much that I had the sound blaring in the Gathering Place but nothing happening in Emmaus Hall.  I was told the music was so loud that ears could pop.  Good heavens, there’s nothing like messing up a beautiful and prayerful Holy Thursday procession; and apparently, I was doing a great job of it.  After messing with the settings for a few minutes, I gave up because Fr. Rich was already on his way into the Hall.  I figured I would mess with all of this on Good Friday morning.  I was over it!
 
On Good Friday morning, after trying my best to make it all work, I called Rob from RMW Productions (he handles all of our audio and video stuff around the parish).  He could tell I was frustrated, and, of course, I had only a few minutes to make it all work.  After going through some of the basics, we discovered a setting I overlooked.  I told him I felt like that “low tech” customer who forgets to turn the power on or plug in the cord.  The only issue here is that I’m a “high tech” customer (maybe a high maintenance customer too).
 
Fast forward to Easter Sunday.  After getting Emmaus Hall cleaned up from the sunrise reception, I turned on the audio and video feeds to make sure all of that was in place.  After turning the mixer and the equipment for the video link on, all seemed ready to go … except I had no audio.  UGH!  At this point, I was frustrated AND getting crankier by the minute!  When this stuff doesn’t go well, I tend to blame Sr. Sarge (a.k.a. Sr. Marie Gregory O’Connor, SSJ; she was a prominent part of our school and parish community until she died in 2001).  I often say Sr. Sarge enjoys messing with me and my technology in “retaliation” for all those times I called her Sr. Sarge in front of people or had fun messing things up in the school library when I was a young and obnoxious associate (now I’m just an old and obnoxious pastor).  I messed with the settings for about a half hour and was getting REALLY frustrated (and REALLY cranky).  At this point, my blood was starting to percolate since I only had a half hour to get this working.  The clock was ticking; poor Sr. Sarge … she was getting blamed more and more with every passing minute.  Then I noticed something!  UGH!  I had become that typical older low tech customer.  It was a true Clark Griswold moment.  With a simple push of a button, it all came to life.  I forgot to push the main power button which controls the amplifiers and all the speakers.  UGH!  All was finally good.  Poor Sr. Sarge.  She gets blamed for it all even when it’s clearly my fault.  On second thought, maybe it’s poor me!  I’ll have plenty of “splainin” to do with Sr. Sarge when I get to heaven.  Yikes.
 
Congratulations First Communicants:  I wish to offer congratulations to all of our young people celebrating their First Communion this weekend.  This annual celebration is always a highlight in the life of a parish.  I would like to thank the parents, our Religious Education staff, teachers, catechists and all those who helped prepare these young people for this wonderful day.  Your own witness and example inspires these young people and enriches their faith journey more than you will ever know.
 
Now, more than ever, we need to teach our young people the importance of the Eucharist in their daily lives.  We live in such a complex world, and we need to help these young people to be people of prayer and people who know they are disciples of Jesus Christ.  They need to be a people of the Eucharist!  We have come to celebrate with these children and have placed a significant amount of emphasis on this great and holy day.  Now we have to continue our catechesis and show them by our own word and example the importance of the Eucharist in our daily lives.
 
One of the clearest ways to show these young people the importance of the Eucharist is by making the Eucharist and weekend participation at Mass an absolute priority in our own lives, even beyond all the activities that occupy the weekend!  I could count more than you’d like to know the number of times students have admitted that being at Church over the weekend simply isn’t a priority for their family.
 
The second graders making their first communion this weekend have incredible faith, yet their faith is only in its infancy.  As much as we have to protect and nurture a young budding plant, we have to nurture and protect the faith life of these precious little ones.  We need to do all we can to help them on their journey to the Lord.  Let us celebrate with them EVERY weekend around the table of the Lord.  Let us show them the importance of Eucharistic Adoration.  Let us show them the importance of prayer.  Let us show them that God needs to be the center of their lives!  Walking together on the road of life we can encounter Jesus in so many different ways.  But these young people need our help in pointing out His presence.  They also need our help in showing them that Jesus truly is the way, the truth and the life!
 
Enjoy the week.  Know of my prayers.
 
In Christ,
 
gmb
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