Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Happy October! We are now another month closer to moving into our new church! The brick, the trim, and the windows are being finished up on the outside. And the ceilings, walls, electric, plumbing, and interior brick are being finished up on the inside. This is going to be so awesome! Pray for things to continue to go well.

If you have been to 9:00 AM Mass the last couple of weeks, you already know that we have a problem. There is new evidence that we have quickly outgrown our facilities and it is out in the parking lot. Parking has been extremely difficult these last couple of weekends. I apologize for this. We are in this very important in-between time where we desperately need the new church and its new parking lot, but while it is still a few weeks away. I would ask for your patience. Let us all do the best that we can to make things work in these next few weeks. We all know that we have a situation and we also know that the solution is close at hand. If we can be patient, hang in there, and work together, we’ll be alright until we get to December. If you are currently attending Mass at 9:00 AM on Sundays, and you don’t have to, perhaps you could help out in these next few weeks by attending Mass at one of our other Masses, either at 7:30 AM, or 10:30 AM on Sunday mornings, or even at 5:00 PM Mass on Sunday evening. If we could shift a few folks around a little bit on Sundays, it would be a big help and make things more manageable. Think about it! Could this be an option for you?

This is a good time for a reminder that our Parish Religious Education families really need to be attending Mass together. It is a TERRIBLE idea for Mom and Dad to go to Mass while the children are in P.R.E.. That’s not what our schedule is designed for. Our schedule is designed so that a family can go to Mass at 7:30 AM and afterwards let the children stay for P.R.E.; or that the children be brought earlier at 9:00 AM for P.R.E. classes and that the rest of the family meet them at 10:15 AM to go to 10:30 AM Mass.

P.R.E. is completely pointless if you are not making sure that your children get to Mass. The best P.R.E. class in the world can’t take the place, or meet the requirement for going to Mass. And yes, the Sunday Obligation does apply to children also, once they reach the age of seven (the ‘Age of Reason’). The whole notion of “killing two birds with one stone” is not a good principle in this case. These will be the same parents who will come to me in a few years, when their sons and daughters are teenagers, and will wonder why their older teenagers don’t go to Mass. Guys, this is not a matter of convenience. This is the Mass, our major encounter with Jesus each week, and we’re also taking about the religious education of our children. Shouldn’t we want the best in BOTH areas? How can we skimp? If you are sending your kids to P.R.E. and then going to Mass while they are in class, and not making sure that they are getting to Mass, stop it now. You need to be making sure that EVERYBODY gets to Mass. Our Parish Religious Education means nothing without the Mass. It takes both to bring your children up in the Catholic Faith. But Mass still has to be the priority. We shouldn’t be picking and choosing. We should be doing both!

This is not an easy matter to talk about. I assure you, that every priest in this country would like to write that last paragraph to his parishioners, but few would have the guts to do so. The intention is not to accuse anybody or hurt anybody feelings. The intention is to clear this up. This is not about guts, this is about the fact that young souls are on the line and nobody wants to say anything about it! I have to say something about this. I love you and I love your kids and want to get all of us home to Heaven. And maybe some of the blame needs to go to parishes, like us, who have P.R.E. during Mass times. The sure fire way to stop this, is for us to stop offering P.R.E. during Mass time. Maybe that’s what has to be done to stop this. Maybe we all need to think and pray about this.

This weekend we begin our pledging towards Part II of our “On This Rock…We Build Our Church” campaign. If you are new, or haven’t pledged to the campaign yet, or if you want to change your pledge, or would like to pledge again, please stop by the school narthex after Mass and fill out your family’s card. We need your help! Our new church needs to belong to all of us.

In Christ,
Fr. Kevin

Some people drink at the fountain of knowledge, others just gargle.