Search
Closer To Heaven By 65 Feet!
-
September 4, 2020CLOSER TO HEAVEN BY 65 FEET!
Our parish is getting closer to Heaven by 65 feet! As you come to Mass this weekend, you will discover that our church has been rising toward Heaven. In the Old Testament, climbing to the top of a mountain was seen as a way to pray to God in solitude and get closer to Him. At Masses, the rising incense is an image of our prayer reaching out toward God. Come and see our new architectural look!
We have just come to the end of all the activities originally proposed under our 3-year Capital Campaign. From the very beginning, we had planned the installation of a steeple as the last project, the one crowning the renovation efforts of the last three years. You may recall that the steeple was the new architectural design serving as a logo of our campaign. It was meant to emphasize the importance of evangelization. A new external look was meant to make us more visible as a church. Our parish council had talked about the parish goal of architectural evangelization. We would like to take this opportunity to express once again our thanks to all of you for your generous support to the successful implementation of this 3-year construction and renovation program.
As you know, we did face some unexpected delays in the last few weeks. But with the help of the Holy Spirit and with good weather this week, our steeple project is now completed ...just in time for the two concluding celebrations of our 40th anniversary: the 40-hour Adoration (one hour for each year of our existence) beginning on Thursday, September 10th at 10 pm and the visit of Archbishop Gregory at our 5 pm Mass Saturday, September 19th! We have talked about these two events for the last few weeks. Now the time has come for you to sign up for them:
If you go to this link (click here) you can choose which hour or hours of those 40 hours you wish to come to spend time with Our Lord Jesus Christ exposed in the Blessed Sacrament in the main church (be prepared for another surprise, a new, amazing, epic set-up for Adoration of our Lord in our Sanctuary). We invite you to come and pray in thanksgiving for all the blessings the Lord has poured upon our parish over the last 40 years, a Lord of Love, a Lord of Hope, a Lord of Mercy! We invite you also to come and pray for an early total re-opening of our churches in Maryland, an end to the coronavirus pandemic throughout the world, for peace and justice in our country, and for God's blessings upon our parish and parishioners over the months and years to come!
You can also already sign-up for the 5 pm Mass on Saturday, September 19th (click here). Please sign up early if you want to be able to have a seat in the main church. We will be prepared for an overflow, if necessary, in the Father Martin Hall (with Mass shown on two large screens). We are encouraging long-time parishioners to attend. We also encourage families with children to sign up early. Our children and youth not only represent the future of our parish, but they are already our joy and strength. Also note that even if you have secured a church seat in the sign-up, you may lose it if you do not arrive at least 15 minutes in advance of the Mass. From 4:45 pm, you can also pray and enjoy a beautiful song on video recorded virtually by the members of our various choirs, followed by some instrumental music prior to the beginning of the Mass.
If you come for our First Friday Mass tonight, you will be able to see the top of our church from St Charles Parkway, the new steeple and Cross will be shining in the darkness! At 65 feet above the ground, the Cross on top of the steeple elevates our church to the height of a three-story building! It is to remind people that we are a church and that everyone is welcome to join us and pray with us. We are all invited to evangelize, to bring to everyone the good news of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the motto of our parish: Bringing All to Christ, Sharing Christ with All, Being One in Christ!
May Mary, our Patroness Saint, continue to protect all of us and lead us to Christ!
May the Light of Christ keep shining in our hearts and be reflected on those we encounter in our daily lives, especially those most in need!
One in Christ,
Fr. Alain
