Dear Parishioners,

     May the Lord Jesus Christ bring you grace and peace!

     In John’s Gospel, Jesus says, “Unless the grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.” (Jn 12:24)  The grain of wheat is a symbol for every person, every ministry, and every parish.  The only way for us to bear the abundant fruit of God’s Grace is to die to ourselves, to sacrifice our wants in favor of the Lord’s Will.  Because of our parishioners’ willingness to sacrifice themselves in order to allow the Lord’s Grace to abound in our lives and in our community, we have been blessed profoundly for nearly 125 years!  Although we have many examples of these blessings, I would like to highlight one particular sacrifice which has produced abundant fruit for our parish and the community we serve: our school building.

     Over the years, thousands of children attended our school, receiving a good education and a strong Catholic upbringing until it closed in 1970.  After the school’s closing, the building continued to serve our parish by housing offices, our Service Center, counseling services, a food pantry, a MAC program, religious education classes, the Charismatic renewal, space for prayer, space for those with addictions, a home for a Thanksgiving Dinner and many other wonderful ministries which brought God’s grace to all of us.  Even though we did not always have the money to repair our school building, it continued to serve us so that we could attend to others’ needs.  This year, I was informed by the City that the building is no longer safe enough to use regularly and that it must be torn down.  After consulting with the Archdiocese, we determined that the costs of repair are too great and that the size of the building is too small for our needs.  This grain of wheat will no longer be able to bear fruit for us.  Our ministries will need a new home if we want to continue bringing God’s abundant grace to our people and our community.

     I am asking you to consider making a great sacrifice over the next three years.  For all of us, this sacrifice will require some “dying”—giving up some things we want in order to allow God’s grace to be more abundant in the years ahead.  Making a significant pledge toward building a new parish center for the next three years will be the grain of wheat which will once again bear abundant fruits.  I know you will need to pray over how much of a sacrifice you can make.  May you trust the Lord as you discern how much you can contribute, and may God bless your sacrifice many times over!

Growing and Sharing in Jesus Christ,