Richard Tuckey passed away suddenly and we celebrated his life and funeral Mass last Tuesday, August 25th. I was shocked to hear of Richard’s death because I had just talked to him a couple of times just days before. A reminder to us all that we know not the day or the hour. He was good about calling me either to tell me about his wife or to tell me that he saw me walking my dog or appreciated something I said in a homily. Richard was also very faithful to attending Mass. We extend our sympathy to his wife Delores and to all the members of his family.
Gratefully our new livestream camera is working very well with no issues. We did have an intermittent problem with our church logo covering the whole screen but that has been resolved. On our website I added the ability to view & listen to past homilies through the on-demand page (as if one a week weren’t enough!) and there is usually a link to the most recent one on the homepage. We are also adding the ability to view closed captioning during both live and on demand video. This means you can read the text of what is being spoken on your mobile device or television if it is difficult for you to hear. Just click the CC icon in the lower right hand corner while the video is playing and you will see the text appear at the bottom of the video. It’s not perfect, especially with some of those names in the Old Testament or with the words of a song, but it’s very helpful to see what you cannot hear well.
For those who may have missed the end of Mass announcement, now that we have relieved our maintenance personnel from standing at the doors of the church as people are entering and leaving, we no longer have the collection basket there on the table. We have installed a metal lock box in the two front entrances of the church. The one on the tabernacle side of the church is on the right when you first come in and the one on the pulpit side of the church is on the right when you leave through that door. They are very secure so there is no chance of anyone being able to remove them from the wall. Please drop your collection envelope in the slot at the top along with anything else that would save you a trip to the rectory office. They are not suggestion boxes but love notes and tips are always welcome LOL.
You will not see me this weekend as I’m taking a car trip to North Carolina before school starts. Specifically, I wanted to see the Biltmore estate which one of my sisters visited last year. I’m hoping to get some ideas for a new rectory (just kidding!). I really enjoyed watching the Downton Abbey Series and they have a Downton exhibit going on there now and I wanted to see that before it’s no longer available. It should be a beautiful time of the year to visit, given it’s 8000 acres of land with beautiful gardens. It’s always wonderful when people can create such stunning buildings and beautiful gardens using the God-given gifts bestowed on us.