My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I hope you had a wonderful 4th of July celebrating our Nation’s 250th Anniversary of our Independence. As part of the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, on June 11, 2026 the U.S. bishops consecrated the United States of America to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Both St John Vianney and Mary Our Queen Parishes joined the bishops in celebrating the consecration of our nation to the Sacred Heart. We thank God for the blessings we have been given and pray that we too can be a source of blessing to all we encounter. We also pray for the safety of all who continue to serve our Country.
Our Family of Parishes will be offering the Totus Tuus Program this week – July 6th to the 10th at St John Vianney Parish. Totus Tuus (Totally Yours) is a fun and energetic parish based summer catechetical program, for both grade school and junior and senior high school youth. They gather together college students and seminarians into teams of four in order to train them and send them out on the road to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ in various parishes throughout the Archdiocese of Omaha. Their youthfulness, energy, and ability to witness to the Faith make the teachers particularly effective with children and young people.
Throughout the years Totus Tuus has succeeded in reaching out to children and youth in order to help them know and love the Lord Jesus Christ. They have also tried to help local parishes by providing a fun and strong catechetical program. We hope to continue this in the future as long as our Lord permits.
As I am writing this bulletin column a week earlier than usual I believe that the work for the heating boiler replacement for Mary Our Queen School and the Kenny Center should be completed by the time you are reading this column. Work for the control system for the new boilers and the upgrade for the control system for the HVAC system for the Kenny Center are ongoing.
Work to remove the old boilers and pipes in the mechanical room by the cafeteria should also be completed, with the relocation of the new boilers to the mechanical room in the Kenny Center. The mechanical room for the old boilers will be configured for storage for the Church and School.
Work is ongoing for the remodeling of four classrooms of the upper floor in the main school building at Mary Our Queen with new flooring, ceiling tile and lighting. Each classroom will also have a new projector and screen installed. We will also be installing a new PA system for our School to improve communication and safety. This new system will allow both our Parish Office and School to communicate with ease.
I am looking to plant a few trees at St John Vianney Parish to replace some of the trees we had to remove over the years. The cost of having a tree planted is about $600. I am hoping to plant four trees this summer. If you are able to help us defray some of that cost, I would appreciate it.
As always, we continue to make improvements and updates to our Parish facilities. We will keep you updated.
Please note that with our summer schedule, our Parish and School offices will be closed on Fridays. Our office hours at the Family of Parishes will be Monday to Thursday from 8am to 4pm and our school office hours will be Monday to Thursday from 8 to 3pm. Please note that for the month of July the School office will be closed.
Blessings for the summer,
Fr Marc
