Pastor's Weekly Message

The Baptism of the Lord, 11-12 Jan 2025

HS
JMJ

My Dear Fellow Saints-in-the-Making,

Greetings in Christ in Whose Baptism we are made new!

As Holy Mother Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Baptism of the Lord as well as the official conclusion of the liturgical Season of Christmas this Sunday, we are reminded that our own Baptism vivifies and animates us with the very Life of Jesus Christ Himself. That is, the grace to live here and now as He Himself lives in order to be blessed with the grace to live forever with Him where He lives and reigns now: in Heaven. 

This should stir our hearts to desire this eternal blessing for others, which is why it brings me immeasurable joy to see parents bring their newborn babies and their children to be baptized as well as to see unbaptized adults present themselves for this Sacrament which is essential for salvation. Therefore, we ought to be on fire with the Holy Spirit to evangelize and invite others to come into the Church.

Part of that endeavor is to provide sufficient, comfortable and reverent space for all who come to worship Our Lord and Savior and God, which is what our Capital Campaign is aspiring to do. So, first and foremost, thank you for your considerable help in making this possible. Already we have raised $5.5 million of our hopeful $6.2 million goal. God is good. And you are, too! Your ongoing financial and prayerful support are moving us forward to achieving this noble end.

My intention, throughout this process, is to provide updates to keep you informed so that the campaign continues to be transparent.

We have selected Whiting Turner as our construction manager to oversee the construction phase of our church expansion and are presently finalizing the contract as well as preparing to submit our site plan and permit requests. This generally takes six to nine months for the county and state to approve, which means, should all go as hoped for, that we should begin to break ground by early Autumn of this year at the latest. Construction is projected to be completed within a year or a 18 months, perhaps allowing us to have the Bishop bless our completed expansion and renovation before Christmas 2026. This is, of course, an estimate. Nevertheless, we have our sights set and are moving forward.

Please note: The construction will begin with the transepts and widened body of the church from the outside in. That, therefore, provides us with the maximum amount of time possible to remain safely in the church even while construction is underway outside of the church building. Only once the construction crew is ready to join the transepts and widened body sections to the existing church structure will we be required to vacate the church temporarily. We are anticipating having this done for the shortest amount of time safely possible as well as at the most convenient time for our parish family.

Once completed and once we are, therefore, safely able to return into the church building, the vestibule will be expanded and safety measures will enable us to be able to use the church building during this phase of construction.

At the conclusion of all construction, we will plan to have a Sacred Liturgy with the Bishop to bless our expanded church, where I await with much anticipation many more will come to be baptized, join our parish family, and share in the immense blessing of being united to the one Body of Christ! May God be praised!

We have much to pray for as well as be thankful for. And in today’s Gospel, God Himself reveals to us the One to Whom we should go by speaking from Heaven to Jesus: “You are My Beloved Son. With You I am well pleased.”

God love you! I most certainly do.

Fr. Lewis