The Marier Family

Greetings fellow parishioners in the NCWC Family of Parishes. This is Cindy Marier writing on behalf of the Marier family. Well it’s been 4 weeks in quarantine and we ARE surviving. Charlie and I are definitely missing our parish priests, staff and our many friends from the parish. We very much miss morning and weekend Masses (especially reception of the Eucharist) as well as the various parish activities we are presently involved in. And we’re still in shock that this pandemic is happening In our world. It is something you read about in books or see in a science-fiction movie but NEVER do you think it will happen in real life.
So how have we been coping? Thank goodness for modern technology as we are able to pray daily Mass on line and follow the Lenten programs (ie.) Dynamic Catholic’s “Best Lent Ever”, “Journey With The Pope” by the Pope’s Mission and Bishop Robert Barron’s “Lenten Gospel Reflections”. And of course, listening to our own parish priests “Wednesday Words of Encouragement” and song videos, like “One Pair of Hands”. These programs help to nourish our faith, give us hope and keep us focused on trust in God during these challenging and fearful days. I read somewhere that “ Hope means accepting that things happen beyond my control and I choose to trust God.” This has become our new family motto. 
The most difficult part of this quarantine is not being able to see our 3 daughters and 6 grandchildren other than through fb. The twins celebrated their 2nd birthday last Friday and we weren’t supposed to visit them. Facebook or video chat didn’t quite cut it with us so we drove over, stayed outside their house and passed the girls their birthday presents through the door. We watched them open their presents through the window as you can see in the attached pictures. We miss giving and getting their hugs, but our faith and trust in God reminds us that this is only temporary. We’ll get through this together and be stronger because of it. 
Through these tough times our family definitely feels God’s presence protecting us and keeping us safe and healthy. Che-Lyn (daughter #2), being a paramedic, puts her life on the line every day. We do worry about her safety but we choose to trust God. As Charlie and I are seniors, our girls worry about us and have been very protective. They won’t even let us go for groceries. ( I kinda like being spoiled like this ). Again, they choose to trust God that He will protect their parents.
One thing our family has been doing to bring us close together is video chats, even with our cousins in Michigan and Las Vegas. One night we had 8 of us video-chatting at the same time sharing our events of the day. It is fun to do but most important it’s keeping us in touch with each other and showing our care for each other’s families.
Lastly, our prayer life has certainly deepened over these past 3 weeks. We pray to God daily (Fr. Greg’s Litany) not only for our protection and safety from the corona virus but also for that of our friends, our country and church leaders, all our health care workers and emergency personnel and for YOU, our dear parish family. We pray that this virus will vanish as quickly as it came upon us. We need to turn to our Lord for healing and strength and protection, and wonderful things CAN happen. “What deeds of power are being done by His hands!” (Mark 6:2) Please join our family in these daily prayers, and we’ll see what wonderful things CAN happen.
God Bless and keep you safe and healthy. See you at church soon.
Happy and Holy Easter to all !