RENOVATIONS: In case you did not know we have begun the renovation work in McMahon Hall. When this is complete, we will have finished the renovation of the lower level of the church. The renovation of the lower level was first done in 2002, which gave us the Andes Room and McMahon Hall and were a wonderful addition to our facilities here at Sacred Heart. These rooms, along with the Conry Room, have all seen a great deal of use by various parish groups and ministries for a wide variety of events and activities such as Altar and Rosary dinners, Boy Scout Spaghetti dinners, men’s and women’s day of recollection, Donut Sunday’s, concerts, youth activities, RCIA sessions, parish picnics (when it rained), school concerts and plays, parish receptions, funeral luncheons, and many other different functions. The rooms have served the parish community very well these past 22 years.
Even though the rooms have held up very well they were beginning to show their age, so they needed some updating. The Andes Room was renovated last fall. The Conry Room has been renovated and will be complete in about a week or so. We have made two rooms in what used to be just one large room and added some more storage space and dressing rooms for brides and their bride’s maids. One of the rooms will be a music room for our choirs and musicians to practice. The other room will be a meeting place for smaller groups equipped with audio/visual components, similar to the Andes Room. Both rooms will have a sink and small area for making and serving coffee.
As I said, the last part of the renovation will be McMahon Hall. As we all know, when we begin a project such as this we run into unforeseen complications. Even though we just started in McMahon Hall, we have run into some items that need our attention. This has to do with the walls on the east side of the hall. We must remember that this part of the church was built in 1929, so in almost a century of use there are some things that will come up.
All of this comes down to the infamous BOTTOM LINE and we all know what that is. We want to do things correctly and efficiently so they will last a long time. Before we started this project, I asked that you consider donating toward the effort and some of you did just that and I am very grateful for your generosity. Unfortunately, I need to ask again for your help in this effort. Our parish has always responded very generously to any need that has arisen. We can look around our parish grounds and campus and see what your generosity has made possible for us and for our future generations. Over the years we have built, renovated, and improved various parts of our church and school facilities, and we did that without borrowing anything from anyone. I am confident that we can do the same this time so I ask you to prayerfully consider what you might be able to do so that we can once again improve our parish facilities as we strive to build up the kingdom of God here at Sacred Heart. You can make donations through our Capital Reserve Fund by using the designated envelope or using our online giving program available through the parish web site at shofjesus.com. I am a little hesitant to mention this, but I have decided to donate $5,000 toward the renovation of the lower level. May God bless you all for what you do for our parish family and the growth of the Catholic Faith among us. I am very grateful for the efforts and hard work of Pat Boyert and Holly Linger who have been working with me and Jeff Flaherty, our business manager, on this project. I must say that the Andes Room turned out very well thanks to their efforts.
On Thursday we celebrated the Fourth of July. I hope it was a good celebration for everyone getting together with friends and family to celebrate our great nation and the great gift of freedom that we enjoy in the United States. I hope that many had the opportunity to pray and reflect on this great gift that God has given us. There are many people in leadership positions in this country that think the freedom to worship God as one sees fit is confined to just the worship of God; to them it means the freedom to go to church on Sunday. The freedom of worship that is spelled out in the Constitution is much more than just going to church on Sundays. It means that we are free to live our lives according to what God has revealed; the freedom to make God the center of our lives and follow His commandments; it is the freedom to make sure that any laws enacted by our government reflect the law and the love of God. This is especially true concerning the inalienable God given rights spelled out in the Declaration of Independence: the right to LIFE, LIBERTY, and the PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS. In order that these rights be insured we must always be vigilant and prayerful. We must be willing to speak out and witness to truth that is revealed to us by God in His Word made flesh, the person of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. As always, we must be careful about who and what we vote for to make sure that our power to vote is exercised in the best possible way to further the kingdom of God on earth and not just for the material or economic welfare of our families or communities.
