Sunday, July 18, 2021 - Our BIG MOVE IT SALE Next Saturday, July 24

A few thoughts about this enormous project: first of all, MANY THANKS to all the helpers. You have worked off ALL your time in Purgatory!! Thank you!!!

Secondly, what a huge amount of STUFF we have accumulated over the last century or so. For a long time (and even now) resources in the parish have been tight, not a lot of room for waste or whimsy. So the natural inclination was to SAVE anything that someday might come in handy. Why pay good money for something you already have? Way too much stuff was kept - now we need to dispose of it. 

My hope for our future is that, as a parish (and as individuals), we can get better in recognizing the cost of saving things we’ll likely never use again. That is a tough one. I hope this exercise of disposing of so much stuff can be a lesson for us all.

This work also created an opportunity to share with other parishes across Central Texas. Having priced the cost of warehousing and storage to find it prohibitive, we made a tough decision to let go of, rather than store, roomfuls of stuff. As a consequence, parishes are benefitting from our great giveaway. Tables, chairs, dishes, and other things that we have way too much of, that we will never use again, have been or are being donated. That is a very good sign of our membership in the wider Church of the Diocese of Austin and one that makes me both pleased and proud.

And lastly, there is inevitably a little (OK, more than a little) nostalgia in going through all the accumulated detritus of the last several decades. It brings back memories of various events, and more importantly of  parishioners and Paulists who worshiped and served here and have moved on, and of our own selves when we were younger. Even fairly new parishioners of St. Austin can get a sense of some of the involvement that occurred here as they go through these now unneeded items. A lot of it is just junk, but some of it serves as keys to unlock memories and connect us with our past as a parish.

So I hope you will join us both in setting up the sale on Friday, July 23, and that you will come prepared on Saturday, July 24 to buy items and give them a good home.

God bless!