Church Remodeling Update

I haven't posted much on my other activities as the church remodeling has absorbed a lot of attention. For pictures and videos of progress, see the parish blog.

Our Aspirants

One of the responsibilities of every priest is to provide his own replacement by encouraging young men who are preparing to be ordained priests, or just thinking about it. While I can't take a lot of credit for the good news I am relating here (the Holy Spirit gets the credit), I am very pleased and proud that two members of our parish set off this morning for Washington, D.C., to try their vocation. William Pacheco and Samuel Castro will be living at the seminary of the Institute of the Incarnate Word, a very dynamic and fast-growing congregation of priests. As we go to press, word reaches us that they may soon be joined by a third young man from our parish. Pray for them!

Feliz día del pavo

We tried something new in the parish yesterday: a Thanksgiving Dinner for all the Latinos who had the day off but weren't sure how to cook turkey and pumpkin pie. Food service began at 4pm, dancing at 8 pm. We had about 400 people come. The all-you-can-eat buffet included turkey (with homemade stuffing), ham, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, corn bread, pumpkin pie, and apple pie. Entertainment was provided by a DJ and a folkloric dance troop (see video). Volunteers worked very hard the day before Thanksgiving, preparing all the food from scratch, and getting the hall ready. In fact, they finished painting the cafeteria walls about 8:30 p.m. Wednesday!
The event was a great success which means, of course, that we will have to repeat it next year...

Everybody keeps asking when we are going to start the church beautification project. Simple. We need 200,000 dollars. To date we have 117,000 dollars in our construction fund. When we have 200,000 dollars -- we start. Our architect, William Heyer, has given us a great gift in his design, which will turn our "temporary" church into a beautiful and dignified chapel in which to celebrate the Sacred Mysteries. Until the day, comrade, just keep looking at this beautiful picture.