I will look back on April 26^th, 2020 and recall what an incredible day and an immense blessing it was. If anyone had asked me Saturday morning only 24 hours before about what I was going to do on Sunday, I would have told them I’m going to celebrate mass, pray, and relax. Later, that Saturday evening when all three priests were sitting down to dinner, I mentioned the idea of doing a Eucharist Procession in a truck through the streets of Sylmar. Fr. Daniel said, “How about a truck with music in front for the procession?” And, the ideas continued as to where we would start and how the procession would begin. Before we knew it, we had this spontaneous idea set in motion and began calling various people who helped to put this event together.

I never realized the impact social media has on our community until yesterday afternoon. We had only announced the procession at the 10 and the 11:30 am masses that went on Facebook. By word of mouth and multiple phone calls there was an amazing turnout for so many people to see Jesus come through the streets of Sylmar. So many people who could not come to church, had the church come to them. We were all so excited to see faces we hadn’t been able to see in more than a month.

2:10 pm yesterday afternoon when we began on the corner of Glenoaks and Harding, I had no idea how many people would be on the streets to greet the Lord in procession. What an amazing sight it was to behold so many people standing on the corner waving handkerchiefs and cheering the presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Through every street we drove, there were so many people lined on both sides just waiting to get a glimpse of Our Savior.

Initially, I thought the procession was only going to be an hour and a half. By the time we finished we completed more than three hours of procession through the streets of Sylmar. The incredible patience to wait faithfully for Our Blessed Lord when He finally arrived and greeted parishioners who had been denied His presence for more than a month. When we finished we also had many people who followed us all the way to the end, their cars lined up down the block and around the corner. What a day! What a blessing! What a powerful witness to the presence of God. The Spirit of God invited us to gather in the streets of Sylmar and you all responded. I will never forget this day for the rest of my life.

I also want to take this time and offer Fr. Norm a very blessed and Happy 52^nd Anniversary to the Priesthood which he celebrated yesterday by presenting the Blessed Sacrament on the last part of the journey yesterday. 52 years of service and still so much that he wants to do for the community of God’s people.

On another note, I have been asked numerous times if we are going to have the Fiesta in the month of May. I so much want to celebrate the fiesta as we have had in years past because it’s a great opportunity for us to gather as a church community for three days of music, food and games but due to the COVID shutdown, all those plans have been scrapped. It is for this reason also that the drawing for the raffle  has been postponed. We are hoping to have one giant Barbecue in either July or August but nothing is certain until we are given the green light to gather as a community again.

In the mean time, I was given a powerful sign of hope by the community I serve. I witnessed faithful people lining the streets of Sylmar plus so many others who had NOT heard of the procession through Facebook or social media ahead of time and still so happy to participate the spontaneity of yesterday’s event. God Bless you St. Didacus Community, I pray for you always.

Fr. Bob