Diary of a Parish Priest

More Church Please

Workmen began installing the sheathing on the exterior north walls of the nave and transept today. It is possible that roofing will begin next week.

 

Summer 50/50 Raffle Tickets are Back!

Please consider taking a monthly or weekly raffle ticket during the summer months when you worship at Holy Cross. Not only might you win some spending money in the 50/50 raffle, but you will help us meet expenses during the customarily lower mass attendance in the summer months.

 

Also, if you're travelling, please remember to use Electronic giving as a means of supporting your parish with weekly offerings during the summer months.

Memorial Day Weekend

Not only have sacred holy days been commercialized almost beyond recognition in recent years, but neither can the more somber notes be heard in the gleeful celebrations of some our national holidays.

Memorial Day is now taken to mean the official start of summer, more than a commemoration of those who have served to protect our country and lost their lives in sacrifice.

Please take some time to join the Holy Cross contingent in the Rumson parade, or to observe the day at the service in Sea Bright. I hope to see many parishioners at both events.

Enjoy a peaceful and refreshing Memorial Day weekend.

 

Summer Mass Schedule in Effect at Holy Cross

Just a reminder that our summer mass schedule starts this weekend: our masses move to an earlier time.

Saturday     5PM

Sunday        8:00 AM, 9:00 AM, 10:30 AM

                        Latin Mass 7:00 PM

Faith Seeking Understanding Adjourns for the Summer

Last evening we held the last of the discussions on Comby's volume 1 of Catholic Church history, which left us at the "autumn of Christendom" and just before the Renaissance.

We'll take a break for the summer vacation while we decide what topics to tackle next year.

Meantime, keep reading and praying!

The Lost Sheep (one of them anyway)

Rumson police returned one of our lost lambs from the evidence locker at Police Headquarters. We hadn't seen this lamb for a while. This was part of the theft in the first of three lambnappings. In this 2005 caper, two sheep were stolen: this one was recovered from a mailbox in Middletown with two fractured back legs. It was successfully dusted for fingerprints and returned to us these many years later for possible repairs. 

The lamb taken from in front of the rectory in 2006 by a young girl who wrapped it in a garbage bag was never recovered, but was last seen headed toward Pond Road in Rumson.

Of two lambs most recently stolen in 2011, one had been returned within days of the original theft.

Oh, the pastoral challenges of tending a flock!

 

Little lost sheep on the mend

Rectory Scraped, Bleached Clean and Ready for a Coat of Primer

The painters have finished scraping the flaking paint off the rectory and powerwashed the wood in preparation for a coat of primer paint. The weather forecast for this looks good next week sometime.

Remember please, that no money from the Capital Campaign is being used to complete this necessary maintenance of the rectory and that no interior alterations are being done at all. 

 

New Baptism and Baptism Blessings

It was a joy not only to be able to celebrate a baptism at our 10:30 AM mass last Sunday, but also to welcome many of babies (and their families!) whom we have baptized over the past year for a blessing and celebration of their membership in our Catholic faith community!

Resurrection and Ascension Windows for Holy Cross

How timely that the final renditions of our Resurrection and Ascension stained glass windows are completed and ready for fabrication at Beyer Studio.

Most of the glass comes from the windows we purchased from St. Francis of Assisi Church; Beyer Studio added borders and additional glass so that the windows would fit the frames in our new church. 

These windows will be located on either side of the Sanctuary facing the congregation in the North and South Transepts. You can now see the frames for these windows on Ward Avenue on either side of the frame of the old church.

 

Typepad Blogs Down Again Yesterday

Sorry that the blog has been intermittently offline over the past few weeks. There seems to be some kind of cyberwar against the Typepad servers.

I'm considering moving the blog to another service.

 

Spectacular Day, Spectacular Pictures

The weather was so beautiful yesterday I couldn't resist taking some pictures from a relatively unique location. You know that I have routinely taken photographs from the "old" choir loft, but I never have taken pictures from the "new" loft.

Part of Holy Cross campus

The Old from the New

 

God's Creation and Ours

 

Could you guess there is a bird's nest in the corner?

 

The roof from the loft

Some Repairs to the Rectory

Parishioners and neighbors alike will see some work being done on the rectory over the next few weeks. 

The rectory has obviously been in need of painting for some time. The hope was that siding could be applied and stained to match the new church construction, or that the same vendor supplying the church could extend a good deal for the additional siding. 

Far more important than the paint, however, is the condition of the windows. All the framing around the windows is in poor shape, but some has actually rotted leaving the hinges free. 

At this time, the parish budget can sustain neither replacing all the windows, nor installing maintenance free siding on the rectory, but something must be done.

Competitive bids have been received for replacement of the seven worst window frames and for scraping and painting the rectory.

No funds will be applied to this work from the capital campaign funds and no work is being done on the interior furnishings or appointments in the rectory. The windows are ordered and will take some time to arrive, but the painting should be completed in a few weeks. It will be nice to see the rectory looking its best again and comforting to realize we have acted as responsible stewards of parish property.

 

 

 

Piece by Piece

To paraphrase Pope Julius II's question to Michelangelo, "When will there be a roof??" Whatever Michelangelo's actual answer, there eventually was a Sistine Ceiling painting...patience.

 

Memorial Brochure Updated

Our Memorial Brochure booklet has been updated to include the St. Michael and Events in the Life of St. Francis windows available for donation.

Brochures will be available after Sunday masses, in the Parish Office and in the information box affixed to the fence in front of the church.

Thank you for your generosity. Let everyone know we haven't finished raising funds and still need everyone's contribution for the parish church!

 

Download Memorial Brochure 051214.pdf (2967.5K)

Seeking Donor for St. Michael the Archangel Window at Holy Cross

Here is the latest rendering of the St. Michael window for Holy Cross Church. The window is brand new and is being fabricated by Conrad Schmit Studios to match as closely as possible the pattern and spirit of our windows from St. Francis Church.

If you would consider sponsoring this beautiful and timeless window, please call Lori at the Parish Office for particulars. 

 

 

Preliminary Sketch of St. Michael Window for Holy Cross Rumson

Day of Grace and Joy

Many blessings to our First  Communicants and their families. How wonderful it is to be able to receive the Body and Blood of Christ to be nourished and encouraged on the path of Christian discipleship.

The weather was a bit turbulent, but the rain held off until shortly after the last ceremony. It looked like most people were able to get to their cars without getting soaked in the rain. 

Thank you to all those who prepared the children so well for this special day - our parish staff, especially Mrs. Kabash and Mrs. George and the second grade teaching staff of both our school and our Religious Education program.  Mr. Beluzzi, our principal, was beaming as spiritual grandfather to so many of our school's second graders. The most important preparation of all is done by the parents. Let us pray that they are inspired with resolve and perseverance in the handing on of the Catholic faith.

Let us pray for a continued reverence and joy for the Eucharist whether we celebrate it at a sickbed, in a gym or a brand new church. 

Two Sessions Remaining of Adult Faith Formation: Church History

There are two more chapters in How to Read Church History: Volume 1, so two more weeks of "Faith Seeking Understanding" meetings until a summer hiatus. The final two chapters in Volume 1 concern the middle and late Middle Ages and the so-called age of Christendom.

Join us on Wednesday evenings at 7 PM in the school's St. Michael Media Room for an interesting exploration of Church history and some insight on how the Church arrived in the Modern Age.

 

Seed Packets for Mother's Day

Mothers will be gifted with a small token of esteem for them after all the masses this weekend. Please take a brochure "10 Things That Make for a Great Catholic Mom" along with an attached packet of wildflower seeds. The mix contains daisy, red poppy, Baby's Breath, Forget-Me-Not and Sunflower seeds. Plant the seeds and let us know how they grow, or take pictures, or bring them (...perhaps only "it") to display before one of Mary's statues in our chapel.

 

Priesthood Vocation Poster

Well, I had never seen an interactive vocation poster before until now. You step behind this 5 foot tall poster and substitute your face for the priest's face. Spiritual imagination plays an important role in the development of morals, leadership and spiritual maturity. In order to think about priesthood, a young man must imagine himself as a priest and this is meant to help stimulate young imaginations for vocations.

Someone must take a screenshot or photo of the poster so the "priest" can see himself.

I haven't road tested the poster yet...stay tuned!

Church Finally Goes Under Cover

There isn't much of it in place yet, but a work crew began sheathing the roof today, screwing the plywood onto the steel trusses. When there is an actual "interior" space in the church, many more work crews can begin their separate tasks.

A delivery of air handling ductwork was received and placed into the basement. The concrete block work for the elevator shaft looks to be complete.

Work continues on the roof over the choir loft and gathering space. 

A Rim Around the Roof

Air Handling Ducts (and a Vizsla)

Elevator Shaft from the First Floor

The Sky's The Limit