Last weekend at most of our Masses we heard testimonies from parishioners who recently participated in the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA. We were moved by heartfelt testimonies of how they benefited from this parish-based program.
The RCIA began as one of the reforms of the Second Vatican Council. As the name implies, it is a rite of the Catholic Church for forming adults who want to be fully initiated into our Catholic faith. RCIA participants and their sponsors meet on Monday evenings here at St. Raymond. At the RCIA the participants, Fr. Bob Mendonca and his RCIA team explore a different aspect of our Catholic faith each week. We touch on the reality of creation, the human person, sin, God’s intervention in our fallen world, Jesus Christ, the gospels, the Church’s sacraments, living rightly and other topics of interest. The meetings are interactive and questions are encouraged.
The RCIA is open to any adult who wants to know more about our faith, but is especially geared toward those who have not been baptized, those who have been baptized in another Christian denomination but are seeking communion with the Catholic faith, or those who are seeking to complete the sacraments of initiation including First Holy Communion and Confirmation. If you or someone you know might be interested we invite you to stop by the office to let us know. Or contact Fr. Bob via email. His email address is in the parish bulletin.
RCIA has a lengthy inquiry program and there is no obligation to complete it. Participants are encouraged to discern if this is right for them. We want everyone to follow God’s plan for them in the RCIA. So if you or someone you know may benefit from RCIA come and see about it. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed, and I’m sure you’ll learn some things about our faith that you never knew.
Now that we are back in our newly refurbished church I want to first thank all the generous parishioners who have supported our improvements through the “Building Our Future Together” capital campaign. God bless you! With your support we installed beautiful new flooring, lighting improvements, a spectacular new mosaic and a glorious new reredos and tabernacle. The reaction I saw when many parishioners entered the church last weekend was just, “Wow!” Many took out their phones to capture a photo of the new sanctuary area. We are still seeking donors to help us make up for the shortfall in the capital campaign. Thanks to some recent donations it has come down from $150,000 to $90,000. Help us get there! Whatever you can offer to help us meet this goal would be supremely appreciated.
I’m grateful to Maurice L’Strange and the many Knights of Columbus who came on short notice to move our pews in and out. I’m grateful, too, to our fantastic maintenance personnel: Jaime Salaverria and Cristobal Ponce for their extra hours of work. I’m thankful to our design collaborator CJK Designs for facilitating the design and construction of our stunning mosaic and reredos. Thanks also to Della Maggiore Tile for the great work on our new stone flooring and to Golden State Flooring who installed our new carpeting. Finally, thanks to Nancy McCoy, our lighting consultant, KAT Electric who installed the lighting and to Teamwrkx for doing a great job of installing our sanctuary improvements.
I’m very grateful to Anthony Cataldo, a parishioner and architect for designing our new trash enclosure and working to help get its approval from the city, the water company and the sanitation company. And to Mike Smith for his help in bidding process and getting permits approved.
God is good. We are blessed. Thank you for your support and prayers, and know of my prayers for you.
In Christ,
Fr. Lawrence D’Anjou