My dear friends in Christ…
“Rejoice in the Lord always: and again, I say, Rejoice”. Philippians 4,4
After the celebrations of our Paschal Mysteries and Easter season, we are back to the normal time that we call in the church “Ordinary time”. It’s called "ordinary" not because it is common but simply because the weeks of Ordinary Time are numbered. The Latin word ordinalis, which refers to numbers in a series, stems from the Latin word ordo, from which we get the English word order. Thus, the numbered weeks of Ordinary Time, in fact, represent the ordered life of the Church—the period in which we live our lives neither in feasting (as in the Christmas and Easter seasons) or in more severe penance (as in Advent and Lent), but in watchfulness and expectation of the Second Coming of Christ.
Also, this time is marked with joy because the presence of Christ brings happiness as we celebrate “Corpus Christi” or the Most Precious Body and Blood of Jesus, the Solemnity of Sacred Heart of Jesus, and the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in our church calendar.
There are many other things to be happy for as many families are celebrating the graduation of one their members; weddings everywhere, birthdays, Father’s Day, Fourth of July and others and for this we need to give thanks to God for his mercy and love for us. All this because restrictions are being lifted but we need to be mindful of our responsibility and care to us and our brothers and sisters.  
In our church family life, I want to thank all of you for your faithful support to our churches in many ways here in Lewis County, and I hope that you continue to do so as many plans are being discussed with our staff.
As I mentioned that with new restrictions guidelines lifted up a little bit, I would like to invite you to be kind, respectful and welcoming to one another. There will be a number of people here, some of whom we don’t see all that often. They are our guests, and we want to treat them well – perhaps be somewhat inconvenienced ourselves so that others may feel welcome. In so doing, we are genuinely making Christ bearers to others as we move forward looking for full reopening and going back to normal life, God’s willing.
Finally let us make this time a time of regeneration and renewal of our faith, friendship, and heartiness guided by the Holy Spirit and by his joy. Rejoice in the Lord.
May the Prince of Peace, our Blessed Mother and St. Joseph be with you all and protect you from all harm.
Blessings.
Fr. Milhton.