It’s been quite a whirlwind for the past two weeks with the crazy weather! Despite the hassles and the interruptions that inclement weather has caused, I hope we seized it as opportunities to slow down a little bit, found time for inner reflection and more quality time with family. Even these seemingly troublesome interruptions of nature can be transformed into an occasion of grace and blessing. This reminds me of the canticle from the Book of Daniel that we usually pray in the Liturgy of the Hours:
“Every shower and dew, bless the Lord.
All you winds, bless the Lord.
Fire and heat, bless the Lord.
Cold and chill, bless the Lord.
Dew and rain, bless the Lord.
Frost and chill, bless the Lord.
Ice and snow, bless the Lord.
Nights and days, bless the Lord.
Light and darkness, bless the Lord.
Lightnings and clouds, bless the Lord.”
It’s a beautiful prayer that recognizes the abiding presence of God no matter what the circumstances may be. It also reaffirms our strong confidence that whatever the situation, God is ultimately the one in control, and we should not worry too much while staying prudent and responsible.
On a different note, I have an important announcement to make in this bulletin article for this weekend that has been part of my active conversations with the Pastoral and Finance Councils of the parish. Both councils are the official and closest advisory bodies of the Pastor in the pastoral and temporal concerns of the parish. As your representatives, they help me arrive on prudent, practical, informed and intelligent decisions on crucial things that affect the current and future direction of our pastoral programs as well as the
maintenance and improvement of our facilities. One of the steady (weekly) maintenance concerns that I receive without fail is the condition of our pews. Something falls apart or breaks every weekend! Most our kneelers are in bad condition; they constantly break. Some of you were punctured with the small nails that hold the padding of the kneelers. Some pews are also missing missal racks. When I started the conversation with both councils about what is the most practical and prudent thing to do, several suggestions were made. Initially, I was leaning towards replacing all kneelers and refurbishing our current pews. We did some research and contacted a number of companies that specialize in pew repair and refurbishing. They all suggested that it’s not practical to refurbish them since the surface of our pews is so used up already that they would no longer hold any new staining and refurbishing. It’s understandable because our current pews are at least 55 years old! We also learned that the cost of refurbishing them is 70% of the cost for new pews. With that information, we unanimously decided to pursue replacing our current pews with new ones—both councils agreed and supported this decision.
The question that you probably have at this point is how are we going to pay for the pews? Well, I am pleased and proud to announce that we will NOT be doing any fundraising for this project. It’s a big bill for sure. But for the past two years, we have saved money from our normal operations and ended the last two fiscal years with an income due to increased offertory collections and sound fiscal management. If the trend continues this fiscal year, we should be able to cover the project without tapping into our reserves. But, tapping into our reserves, if needed, is perfectly justifiable for extraordinary needs like the pews. I have made it known before that, as much as possible, I don’t want to ask for money more than your offertory commitment. The first and last time that I asked for your collaboration was for the new HVAC system at the parish center last year, which a lot of you generously supported.
Some members of the councils suggested that if some of you want to help out with the cost of the new pews that opportunities should be provided. Of course, anyone is welcome to help out! We are still figuring out how these opportunities would take place so as not to confuse it with a fundraising effort.
As the conversation on this issue continued, it was also deemed practical to include the pews at the Adoration Chapel. There are only four pews in the chapel that will be replaced as well, thereby saving labor and transportation costs if they were to be replaced separately in the future.
The pews are a necessary fixture in the church. Without diminishing our personal disposition and solid understanding of the liturgy, pews do affect the ambiance and the over all experience of the liturgy. That’s why there was a careful, conscious, informed and prudent process in determining what would fit best inside our worship space. A comfortable worship space that includes pews does help facilitate to enter into the mysteries of faith. I am very excited about this major project. It’s amazing how much “science” (kind of screws, design, materials of kneelers, etc.) and research are required to decide what is the best pew that would work for us here. We have a team, composed of staff members and parishioners, who are actively working on this project. We should have the new pews installed before Holy Week.
If you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions, please don’t hesitate to let me know. I would appreciate a frank, honest and sincere conversation and dialogue so that this will be a blessed and uniting experience for all of us. Thank you in advance for your support on this major endeavor! – Fr. Cary