Today finds us at the beginning of the month of April - an April we never would have expected would have looked like this when March began! Certainly we find ourselves in a very unique situation for all of us - I was reminded of that when the Archbishop recently wrote in one of his letters to priests that none of us has ever found ourselves in a situation like this before. It is very true. I have been a priest for fifteen years now and have never found myself in a situation like this, and, of course, that is true for everyone who is reading this note right now. You parents have never been in a situation like this. You teachers have never been in a situation like this. You students have never been in a situation like this. None of us has. So, we find ourselves all working to do the best we can in an unexpected situation - in a situation none of us is familiar with and that most, if not all of us, were never trained for. I wanted to take a moment to publicly thank the staff and faculty of St. Mary's for doing what they have been doing to make this adjustment to a radically different style of teaching than they were trained for or have experience in - usually the switch to something like online learning would come after many months of training, of planning, of practicing - but they have had to make the switch, literally, in the matter of a few days - I think they have done a marvelous job in doing this and we all owe them our 'thanks' for the ways they have gone about doing this - especially in light of the fact that they too have families, parents, children, etc., who they are concerned about.

I wish I could write and say, 'we're almost through this, just a few more days!' but, as it is, I can't. In fact, at the risk of sounding particularly discouraging, I do not believe that this will be over in a matter of a few days and probably not even for a few weeks - this is what reality is going to look like for the foreseeable future and so I want to propose three particularly important things we need to keep in mind as we go through this - together - as a partnership between teachers, parents and students. So how can we make it through this situation, and not only make it through it, but come out stronger on the other side? I want to propose three "P's" that can guide us and that should direct us over these coming weeks:

So, perhaps these three "P's" are the things we can keep in front of us right now to help us not only get through this, but to grow through them and come out on the other side of it stronger - stronger in our family ties, stronger in our love for others, stronger in our fidelity to God - Perseverance, Patience and Prayer. I am praying for all of you regularly, please know that in your hearts and may God, in His mercy, sustain and protect us.

Father Peter Berger

Pastor