Two weeks from today will be our last Sunday for Masses in the church as we move our worship into the hall from Monday July 24 until Thursday August 17th.
As you may have read here not long ago, we will begin by replacing the flooring in the church. Beautiful travertine stone as we have on the floor of the church entrance and the sanctuary will be installed inside the church from the front entryway to the sanctuary, connecting the existing two stone surfaces with similar stone (thankfully we found a very close match!). The complimentary multi-color tile work which we see on the existing floor at the entrance and at the sanctuary will be carried onto the new stone at the borders of the main aisle. These will pick up the theme of complimentary brown concrete bands on the plaza which lead from the parking lot to our church doors. Carpet with hues of browns, blues and reds will replace the existing carpet in the rest of the church. Additionally, we will be installing a new altar furnishing called a reredos into the sanctuary which will house a newly refurbished, somewhat larger tabernacle. The reredos is made in Crete by master carvers. It will be finished in a wood tone to match our processional cross and the raised, carved portions will be accented with gold leaf. Surrounding the reredos under the central arch will be a new mosaic. This mosaic will be an abstract form with ‘rays’ of colored stone radiating from the heart of the ascending Jesus. The combination of new flooring, the new mosaic under the arch and the new reredos with the new tabernacle will be quite striking and attractive. With a little luck we will be able to have lighting improvements, which include new accent lights at each station of the cross, installed before we open the church on August 18th. Sound system improvements will follow after the church reopens in August.
A grand THANK YOU to all those who participated in the 2015 capital campaign to help us bring so many wonderful improvements to St. Raymond church and school. We are truly blessed to have added the new early childhood development center (pre-school and kindergarten building), the new plaza, the new school office and the new St. Raymond media room during this past year, thanks to you. And as we look forward to adding more wonderful improvements in the church, I keep you all in my grateful prayers.
Switching gears, you may have heard that I will be leading a pilgrimage in February of 2018 to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico. This is one of the premiere Marian shrines in all the world, and is OUR shrine. What do I mean by that? This rare appearance of our Blessed Mother happened on OUR continent. She is “Our Lady of the Americas” and is the patroness of north, central and south America.
I have been to Mexico many times in my life and I have never been disappointed. The warmth of the people, their rich cultural heritage, the sights, sounds, and smells of this special land have always been a rich experience for me. We will celebrate Holy Mass at chapels directly related to the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The highlight of the trip will be a visit to the Shrine and Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, built on the spot where Mary appeared to the hermit Juan Diego in 1531. In addition, pilgrims will see the Cathedral of Mexico City and the world-renowned Anthropology Museum (a truly amazing place). We will visit the ancient city of Teotihuacan, the city of the pyramids, and learn of how the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe brought about a peaceful end to the pagan ritual of human sacrifice there. We will see some of the beautiful countryside of Mexico another day as we travel to the lovely colonial city of Puebla to see their amazing Cathedral and famous pottery works.
Each pilgrimage brings with it a special blessing – something only God can give. Perhaps you will join us for this memorable encounter with Mary and the land and people she came to visit.