Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
~ This week, I will be making my annual retreat at the Siena Retreat Center in Racine, Wisconsin. Please pray for me and for all my brother priests who will be with me on retreat. Unfortunately, this year my annual retreat runs right up to the beginning of the school year, so I will not be at the parish next Sunday for Back-to-School Sunday and the “Blessing of the Backpacks”. Still, I know our Church will be filled next Sunday with students and families eager to begin the school year, and you will be in my prayers! As you do your back-to-school shopping this week, please purchase some extra pocket folders to donate to Isaiah 58 Ministries to share with our student neighbors in need. Boxes will be at the doors of Church for your donations until the end of August. Thanks for your generosity!
Summer is always a time for many projects around the school and parish campuses, and so much work has happened on our campus over the last few months. I would like our parish family to be aware of all the work that has happened, the money that has been spent, and all the time and energy that has been given by so many on our staff and by contractors and vendors.
The following projects have been ongoing this summer:
- New flooring in the classrooms, hallways, and stairs of Faith Hall at school
- Renovation, flooring, and painting of the gym bathroom hallway
- Painting of the gym bathrooms
- Continued repair and maintenance of the HVAC systems at school
- Caulking around the windows on the back side of St. Joseph Hall at school
- Installation of a partial new fence behind the Cafeteria in Faith Hall
- Repair of Eco-turf surface in school playground
- Renovation of the rooms at the rectory for Msgr. Turek
- Repair of the lift in Church. This took many months since parts had to be ordered, but the lift is finally working again!
All these projects have happened because of the expertise of so many contractors and vendors, and the coordination of many members of our parish staff, including Carmela Garza, Deborah Elliott, Patrick Holley, and our new Maintenance Technician, Todd Hancock. We are only able to complete these projects because of your generosity in the Sunday collection week after week, and we will only be able to continue projects like these in the future if that generosity continues. Thanks for your support of St. Margaret of Scotland Parish and School!
Finally, you may notice that we have a “new” processional cross in place for our use at Mass. This crucifix was made for St. Margaret during Fr. O’Toole’s time here; it was always intended to be a processional cross, and thanks to the work of Dave Reid, who crafted the crucifix onto our existing pole, it is now complete. The crucifix is an image of Jesus on the Cross, and at his side are our two patrons, St. Margaret of Scotland, offering her crown, and St. Louis of France offering the Crown of Thorns. Feel free to come into the sanctuary to take a closer look. It is a worthy and fitting addition to our worship space that will serve our community for many years. Lift high the Cross!