What a great weekend we just had at St. Mark's! A big mahalo goes out to the Stewardship Ministry Team for their hard work in making Sunday's stewardship banquet such a success. Please be sure to thank Sandra Leialoha, Michael Ida (chairperson), Wayne Yoshigai, Phyllis Shimabukuro-Geiser, Jeanne DeCosta, Nanette Judd, and Derrick Shimabukuro. Thanks also to Marvin Mero for his ministry of music, and to Uncle Bo's restaurant for their gracious hosting and abundant spread of food. We had about sixty people attend the event which is over half of our weekly church attendance. We must also thank Pamela McCoy for her excellent stewardship talk and Louie Xigogianis for his Proseco toast. The banquet was a big success in every way.

The Blessing of the Animals was a great success too. It is always a pleasure to welcome our furry friends in the neighborhood. I was pleased that we had many more cats in attendance this year, and that my two cats, Massimo and Slipper, were not alone with all those dogs! We only had one dog mark her territory in the church this year - the cats are still gossiping about that. It was also a pleasure to have a parrot join us. That parrot was so garrulous that I thought there was someone make a commotion outside of the church throughout the whole mass. If you have never been to the liturgy, at the end of the service we have each pet come forward for an individual blessing. Following the individual blessings, we have a general blessing for all of God's creatures. This year the senior warden asked me to add the sprinkling of holy water to the general blessing. By doing so we might bless the lizards and geckos in the church who went into hiding with all those cats present. (There is one lizard that is quite the frequent pooper in the Lady Chapel. I thought about letting the cats take care of that problem, but then a parishioner reminded me that I was a priest. Oh well.)

In the spirit of St. Francis, I leave you the following picture I captured on my phone of a lizard adorning St. Francis' head near our parish lanai.

St. Mark's Episcopal Church

St. Mark's Episcopal Church

Rector's Journal

St. Mark's Episcopal Church

The Rector's Journal

From the Rector: Stewardship Banquet & Animal Blessings

Rector's Journal

As I write this column, showers from on high are soaking the dry earth of Kapahulu. It is a quiet day except for the gentle sound of the rainfall. I am grateful that the church has replaced every roof on the property in recent memory.

We have much to celebrate over the next few days and weeks. Tomorrow is the fortieth day of Easter, and according to the Acts of the Apostles, it is the Day of the Ascension. One of the great feasts of the church, we will celebrate with a Solemn Mass at 7:00 pm.

Last Saturday morning I met with a cross section of lay leaders who devote many volunteer hours to our worship ministries. Our task was to evaluate what went well with Lent, Holy Week, and Easter, as well as what we might improve for the future. We also looked at the upcoming feasts.