From the Pastor

Dear friends in the Lord,
 
     Father Carlos and I continue to move into the parish’s new rectory. The furniture from the rental rectory has been in storage for two years, and with the help of those gifted with much more design sense that Father Carlos or I, we are distributing it through the new house and acquiring the other furnishings we need.
 
     I reiterate my profound gratitude to all who have assisted us in this project: Architect Ryan Webb, designer Maryann Blackburn, our builder Neil Johnson and his team at Canonbury Homes—and most of all, of course, to all parishioners who remain generous in your support of the parish offertory. It is a measure of the confidence the Archdiocese has in our fiscal health that they allowed us to borrow the money for this project without a capital campaign; the loan is being retired entirely through our regular offertory collections at Mass.
 
     I am eager to show the house to the parish, but I have decided to wait until after the solar panels are installed next month to schedule an open house. The community was extraordinarily generous in funding the solar project on Giving Tuesday last November, and I want everyone to have an opportunity to see that system at work. (This will also give us a chance to finish all the items on the construction punch list before hundreds of visitors descend upon the house.)
 
     As I write this I had hoped to be in the Dominican Republic with our parish Mustard Seed team. But instead of the D.R., I ended up last Sunday night in the E.R., with what turned out to be a kidney stone. Who knew that something as small as 3-4 mm could cause so much discomfort! (This experience has revealed to me that I was not nearly compassionate enough when Father Javier suffered the same ailment two years ago.)
 
     I have been offering up my discomfort for the success of our Mustard Seed missions. The Dominican Republic team will return this weekend. Please join me in praying for their good health and safe travel.
 
     Your brother in Christ’s word and work,