February 20, 2022

My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Our Eighth Graders in our Parish received the Sacrament of Confirmation by Archbishop George Lucas at the Cathedral on Wednesday , February 16. Congratulations to our Confirmation recipients.  I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all our teachers and facilitators who took the time to guide our students to this day.

Next Saturday, February 26, we will be gathering to celebrate and support our wonderful Parish in our annual fundraiser, MARQUEE. This year we will be honoring Dan and Janelle Reeder and Dan and Mary Ann Tietjen with the 2022 Spirit of MOQ Award in recognition for all their time and commitment they have made to our wonderful Parish. This year, we are hoping that the proceeds for our upcoming MARQUEE Raise the Paddle will help us upgrade the lower-level west wing hotwater piping.   We started to address the heating of our school given that all the steam pipes are over 50 years old last year.  The current estimate to upgrade the system is about $300,000 ($75,000 per wing of each floor).  Thanks to last year’s MARQUEE Raise the Paddle, we replaced the hot water piping of the lower-level east wing of the school last summer with a variable volume terminal unit with a heating water coil in each classroom which connects to the existing ductwork. This included new temperature controls for the rooms and extension of the heating water  piping from the lower-level mechanical room to each coil.  We are grateful for your generosity that helps continue building up our Parish Community.

Quick update on our remodel of our Blessed Sacrament Chapel.  The base cabinet that our Tabernacle will be placed on has been built.  This includes the relief sculpture of the Last Supper which is mounted on the cabinet.  This sculpture came from a Church Altar that has since been decommissioned.  The countertop for the cabinet was installed on Wednesday and the Tabernacle with the new insert was installed on Thursday.  The next step is to frame around the Tabernacle and install new lighting and carpet.  A temporary Tabernacle is currently being used.  We had to temporary close the Blessed Sacrament so that we can do the necessary work for the remodel.  We hope to have everything completed by the end of February.

We continue to pray for all those affected by COVID-19.  I know that this has not been easy for everyone.  We also continue to do our best to keep everyone safe.  Our Parish continues to remain open for meetings and for groups to gather.  We have made available the left side of our Church for those still wanting to social distance.  We continue to request that mask be  used when coming forward to receive Communion.  Thank you for kindly working with  us.  We will reevaluate these protocols on a week to week basis.  As a reminder, please monitor COVID-19 symptoms.  As always, if you or a family member has a fever, chills, body  aches, headache, sore throat, cough, and loss of taste and smell, they should stay home from school or church until symptom free.

Please check out our Weekly Updates via email.  If you have not received an email, kindly call our Parish Office and we will add you in our email mailing list.  Thank you again for sup- porting us during this time. We continue to keep all those affected by this virus in our prayers.

God’s Blessings,

Fr Marc