Well, in case you haven’t noticed, we as a parish/school community are involved in building a brand new building on Guadalupe Street directly north of the church. Actually, it is pretty hard to miss.
A lot of folks are working on it, and it is moving right along. Our plan is to have the building substantially complete by the middle of August and we begin moving in furniture around that time. We will commence the new school year on Tuesday, September 5, the day following Labor Day. At the same time that we are moving to the St Austin Catholic School, we will also be moving to the Parish offices. We will be looking for volunteers to assist us with packing and moving in August. Of course, we are doing this during the hottest month of the year! When else could we possibly do it? But know that anyone who volunteers to help at that time will have at least a commensurate amount of time off of Purgatory. Watch for information on volunteering coming out soon.
Then on Sunday, September 24, Bishop Joe Vasquez is scheduled to be with us to celebrate the 11:30 a.m. Mass. It so happens that the 70th anniversary of the dedication of our beautiful church, our worship sanctuary, is on Sept 25. So we will anticipate a bit, and at the 11:30 Mass we will have a short ritual of thanksgiving for the noble and impressive worship space that is ours. Following the Mass we will process to the new parish hall (Paulist Hall) and have a ceremony of blessing of the new Parish Ministry and School Building.
So not only do we want to focus on the future, but appropriately also celebrate where we have come from by recognizing the 70 th anniversary of our worship space. It has come to my attention that, remarkably, we have a number of parishioners who have been part of the parish longer than the current church. I think it would be a good thing to recognize them on that occasion, as the church is certainly more than the building, but really the people who gather and worship in the building. I am not sure exactly what that recognition will look like on September 24 (to be determined) but I would appreciate your help in gathering the names of those still with us who were parishioners even before our 70 year old church came to be. If you know of someone who matches those requirements, please send me their name. Please send me an email at [email protected].
Please include the 70+ year parishioner’s name, their contact information if you have it, and any interesting details, such as they attended our school, were an Altar Boy here, served on the Parish Council, sang in the choir, lived in Newman Hall, were part of the Scouts, etc. I think recognizing these 70+year parishioners will make our celebration on Sept 24 even more special.