Dear Parishioners,

Last Monday I celebrated the Mass of Christian Burial for Tannie Cosiano. Tannie, whose baptismal name is actually Gaytano (and I never knew that!) lived a very full and faith-filled life. I remember expressing my condolences to her just 2½ years ago when we celebrated the funeral Mass for her husband Ralph. They were married for 62 years but knew each for over 70. They have 6 children, 11 grandchildren & 2 great-grandchildren. Tannie was a teacher for 25 years, and taught 23 of those years at our neighboring parish, St. Charles. So much could be said about her life and her faith, like that of her husband. Please pray for them both that they nay be reunited now in the presence of their Creator.

Hopefully you are noticing the new windows that are being installed in our school on the Broadview Road side of the building. They are replacing very old and worn windows that go back to the beginning of our school in the 1950’s, and will be far more energy efficient besides attractive. They are tinted to keep the heat of the sun out and have screens on the bottom panels which of course will keep the bugs and rodents out when they’re open. These windows will modernize the look of our buildings all around. The 2nd set of glass block windows are being installed on the south side of the gym as well and will include some venting (required for the grants we were able to get to help pay for them). This will complete the work in there and will again go a long way not only towards the look of this large room but toward the efficiency of the heat and air conditioning as well.

The landscapers were here for several hours this week, ripping out weeds, mulching and making everything look beautiful for us to enjoy during the summer months. I am very grateful to the parishioner who has generously provided us with several yards of mulch free of charge again this year. Our thanks to you for this annual gift! I believe you will find that the holes that were created in the parking lot over the winter months have all been filled in. Let us know if you see anything we may have missed.

We have contracted to have the sloping roof repaired and painted this summer…everything you see of that gold-ish color will be replaced with the original grey color. We are happy to have a former parishioner doing this work for us.

As we take care of many inside and outside projects on our property this summer, let us remember that God desires not only that we enjoy the rest and beauty of the summer months, but that we also continue to express our gratitude to him as we gather each week for Mass. I know it’s easy to let vacation and just the laziness of the summer days keep us from being faithful to that, but remember that God calls us to do this not for his sake but for our own. God is not in any way in need of our praise, gratitude or worship. The beauty of God is that He needs absolutely nothing from us. But we are the ones who need God, who need to acknowledge daily that all good gifts come from His hands & that we deserve nothing of what is so generously given to us. What God asks of us is so little compared to all that God gives us. Why do we hesitate to give back so little of our time, our attention, our love? Please continue to remain faithful during these summer months so that the fullness of God’s gifts may be enjoyed.

Fr. James P. Schmitz