Dear Parishioners,

It’s time for an Open House! For the last several weeks, replacement furniture and beds and contents that were saved by the disaster recovery team were arriving at the rectory. You may have noticed the picture from the living room of the rectory that had around 100 boxes filled with items. Thankfully, there was a lot of packing inside and not all of those were filled with contents. It was still difficult to figure out where all these things belonged. Then we also had to make a list of all the things that didn’t arrive back in the boxes that we needed to replace. Once again, insurance has covered most of these contents and we have everything that we need.

Please join us for a Rectory Open House after the 11 AM Mass on February 23rd (today). As we can’t fit everyone in the rectory for the tour all at the same time, I would suggest that you first please stop by Marian Hall for a light reception to celebrate the return of your priests to the rectory and then go to the Open House. The Open House will run from Noon until 2 PM on Sunday. Of course, Fr. Joseph won’t be back from his trip to India until later this week. Due to the timing of his departure, he wasn’t able to move his items into the rectory and will have to do so when he returns. (But we will still let you walk through the rooms where he will be staying).

I find the rectory is a lot more fitting for the life of priests after the rebuilding effort. It’s a great comfort to know that I won’t slip on the ice when I walk out to the garage, and we had the opportunity to enlarge some doorways and take down a few walls. We have an accessible suite available for a priest who may have some disabilities and a handicap ramp to enter the rectory from the outside and inside the garage. In a few places, you still may see that it was originally built as a convent in the late 1960’s but now can comfortably house our priests. Thanks for your patience during those months we were living offsite and to my staff who were a great assistance to me and to our parish during these months of active construction.  

Let’s start hoping for Spring so we can replant the lawn around the rectory! 

Thanks for reading! 

Fr. Mark