Greetings in Christ, all! I am typing this up a couple weeks ahead of its appearance in the bulletin so I won’t be addressing anything recent.
The timing of it all is pretty good, as it gives me a chance to catch you up on the situation with my knee. So, a couple Fridays ago, I was genuflecting at Mass when my knee gave a good pop. That knee has always been trouble and so, when it really started to hurt, I figured it would go away. As you know, it did not. It got a lot worse. I ended up going to my doctor the next Tuesday and she sent me for an MRI that Thursday. The MSU football guys have always taken care of my knee and they got the results of the MRI. They called me. We had an appointment and they advised me to come in for a procedure that they believed would provide me with some relief. This was done on Thursday, November 10th.There is further need for a scope to clean out the knee and make repairs, which I will have done on Thursday, November 15th. I will be off Thanksgiving week, but hope to be back after that, although I may be moving slowly.
I feel bad about this…I hate not praying with you and being present, but I really can’t get around it. The good news is that Fr. Bill jumped right in and is going to cover me: what a blessing that man is!
In the meantime, it hurts, but I can deal with it. I just can’t do steps that well.
We’ve begun a lot of different meetings about our Restoring the Temple campaign and I am simply amazed at the level of commitment that you show. Thank you with all my heart! I know there is a lot of bad information out there and a lot of that seems to be from the inevitable lack of communication that came with a shocking transition…I keep telling people that the starting pitcher for Holy Family got traded in the middle of the third inning! Kristin and I, along with the great team Msgr. Vincke assembled, are working very hard to give you as much information as we can so that this campaign succeeds.
In the end, it’s rather simple: our beautiful temple needs a lot of work. More and more of our budget is expended in maintaining a building that hasn’t had any major work done on it in over 50 years. The plan that Msgr. Vincke left us will allow us to step into the next generation with a beautiful, well-constructed Church that will allow us to worship in peace and beauty, as well as meet the challenges of a growing Catholic population coupled with a shrinking number of priests.
For me, the key is to have accessible bathrooms, expand the seating area and have a much more efficient and helpful heating/cooling system. I’m also impressed with the way the very design of the Church is catechetical: entering by baptism, continuing through reconciliation, all moving toward Christ in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament.
Please help us as you can: this goal gives us all of these things and a restored, expanded parking lot. I believe with all my heart that this is what the Lord is calling us to and I ask you to pray and give as you can.
I am blessed to be your priest. I am blown away by how encouraging and prayerful my two parish families are. Thank you with all my heart!
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