Pastor’s Letter – 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Posted on August 12, 2020 View all News

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

What a joy it has given us to see new faces at Sunday Masses, some are returning gradually to the house of the Lord. Please, feel calm and safe because, as a parish, we try to keep the church as disinfected as possible. Although I always encourage you to follow the safety protocols, wearing a mask, and maintaining social distance. Thanks to the Lord, we are doing this very well!

I want to congratulate the 18 students from our school that graduated last Friday. At Mass, I asked God to protect them and guide them with wisdom so that this new step that they will take in their lives makes them grow in grace and holiness.  Congratulations, and never forget our principals: faith, excellence, and joy.

On August 17th, our schoolteachers will be returning; I give them the warmest welcome, many of them are new to our school, I have them in my prayers so that they can carry out their vocation as a faithful ministry as they teach our children. This year will be a great challenge for them as it is for everyone because the implementation of the safety protocols against the virus is quite a challenge. Still, with the help of God, we will succeed, I invite them to make a great team of faith and make the education of our children this year is a success.

Also, this coming Sunday, we will start a new Mass in Spanish. I have realized that many Spanish-speaking parishioners in the area are going to other parishes both to Mass and celebrating their sacraments, the church is a spiritual home, and the parish pastor must attend to them. Therefore, I decided to establish a second Mass on Sundays for them. The Saturday Mass will remain at 7:00 PM, and the Sunday Mass will be at 1:30 PM, I invite you to help me pray for this to be a success.

I also want to make you aware that I have started the repair of the church tabernacle door; it seems that for many years it had not been cleaned professionally. The lock was already giving problems; at the same time, the interior where the Blessed Sacrament is kept, was full of dust seeping into the corners of the door. For this reason, these coming weeks, you will see a temporary tabernacle while the other its repair completely; the idea for the future is to place a golden box inside the marble so that the Eucharistic Jesus is in a more beautiful and more dignified tabernacle and with less dust. If anyone wants to collaborate for this purpose, your help is always welcome. Thank you very much in advance.

Finally, I want to share with you that, thanks to your commitment in our Capital Campaign, we will soon begin two significant projects to improve our sanctuary, the first one is the sound system, I hope to sign a contract this week, and that next month they will begin work. Hopefully, soon we will be able to hear the Eucharist more clearly. Also, the replacement of the lighting at the altar will soon be a reality. This project will be just one phase of all lighting replacements of the church that the previous pastor left planned. I am pleased because I know that most want better lighting and better sound in the church. Thank God everything will soon take shape.

I hope you have a happy week; I have you all present in my prayers.

In Christ and Mary,

Fr. Alex