Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Dear Parishioner,

At our recent Parish Council meeting we had the last consultation with Linda Wastyn who guided us through the strategic planning that we started two years ago. The parish council is tasked with driving the plan that was drawn up and we have made progress. We are trying to respond to the desire that parishioners put forward when the plan was written. Two important aspects to the proposal are a desire to reach out to young families and a sense that we need to renew our aging buildings.

The facilities committees of our parish and of Seton School have done an extensive study of our buildings and many needs have been identified. Our grade school building should have its windows replaced, for instance. The windows are literally falling out of their frames. It was also found that extensive work on the boiler system to the south half of Culemans Hall must be done. This is the heating system for the gym, cafeteria and kindergarten classrooms. Our rectory has many issues including a roof that must be replaced and windows that leak and are obsolete. We have a fifteen-room house for two priests which is much more floor space than is needed. We should have handicapped access to our church and we need bathrooms for those in wheel chairs. The air conditioning of the church needs extensive repairs. The list continues from there.

The next step, as we move forward, is to conduct a feasibility study where we describe the difficulties with our buildings and ascertain the level of concern of our parishioners. The parish development commitment and the leadership of Seton School will be interviewing companies who might assist us with the study. In the next few weeks we will be moving ahead with this step.

I write all this to keep you informed. Let us pray that we can continue to more forward so that we can address the needs that our physical plant has. According to the strategic plan, we must progress in this direction so that the future of our parish and Seton School will be assured.

I thank all the parishioners who have stepped forward to lead these efforts. I am edified by everyone’s concern for Sacred Heart.

Blessings,

Fr. Mark

P.S. Congratulations to all our married couples who celebrated a significant Wedding Anniversary in 2016 and are participating in World Marriage Day.