Dear Parishioners,

         I noticed that it was a bit chilly in the church last weekend so I turned the thermostat up by a couple of degrees. Of course everybody has their own preference with regard to temperature. Personally I tend to like it colder but those who do not have as much insulation on their body as I do may like it on the warmer side. I remember my dad always complaining to my grandfather that it was so hot in his house so my dad would turn down the heat (even though it wasn’t his home!). But then as my dad aged, his house was so warm that I thought I died & didn’t make it to heaven. I want to make as many people as comfortable as possible when in the church so please don’t hesitate to let me know if you find it too warm or too cold. I’ll do my best to find a happy medium but I know you can’t please everyone. And if more people like it warmer in the church, I will accept the suffering that comes from sweating underneath my vestments and the warm lights in the sanctuary. But I warn you…I do tend to preach longer when I’m warm.

Besides our parish picnic this Sunday which will be from after the 11am Mass until about 2pm (we’ll be inside with the air conditioning if it’s raining or too hot or humid outside), we have our 4th episode of The Chosen this Monday in the Parish Center. We’ve had great turnouts so come and join us if you haven’t seen it yet. It really helps you to feel what it must have been like to listen to Jesus and to see his miracles.

Mr. Jones, our new Principal, and Ms. DeAndre Branner, our new Assistant Principal, are working hard to get everything ready for the beginning of school which will begin the day after Labor Day, September 3rd. We have all of teachers in place, registrations are coming in from both new and returning students, and the school has been cleaned thoroughly. Even the school office has been given a new arrangement. We should all feel very fortunate and blessed to have a parish school that is still open, educating children and doing so in the atmosphere of our Catholic Faith, even though many of the students are not Catholic themselves. Our school allows us to evangelize, to let these students and their parents know who we are as a Catholic community. And so many of you have made donations for the new crucifixes and statues of the Blessed Virgin Mary that we will be getting for the classrooms so thank you again for your generosity for these images are also a form of evangelization as they show both the mystery of the Incarnation through the cooperation of the Blessed Virgin and the mystery of Redemption through the cross of Jesus. 

I was in a store at Southpark Mall which does engraving. They had there a small piece of granite on which you can have something engraved & it’s weatherproof so I had them put this on it: “In Memoriam…Father Russell Lowe & Father James Vesely” both of whom died within weeks of each other two years ago. Since both had a devotion to the Blessed Mother, I thought a small memorial stone in their memory should be placed by the shrine of  Our Lady. The lady at the counter asked if I wanted a dolly so that I could roll it out of the mall to my car. Since I consider myself a strong man, I gratefully declined. Then I walked a long distance through the mall hunched over as the weight of this granite brought pain to my back. I thought that surely some strong gentleman would see my suffering and help me carry it to my car, but I thought wrong. I had to sit down 3 times. But I’m proud I didn’t drop it & break it. I hope my small penance, which I offered for these two fine priests, will help them to heaven.

 Fr. James P. Schmitz