Next Sunday: Twenty Third Sunday in Ordinary Time Celebrant: Fr. Tharp
Labor Day
Monday, September 2, 2024 is Labor Day. The parish office at St. Ann and the parish office at Sacred Heart will be closed. Morning Mass at Sacred Heart will be at 7:30 a.m. as usual. There will be NO 6:30 a.m. Mass at St. Ann! Mass at St. Ann will be 9:00 a.m. as per the usual holiday schedule.
Demolition of the Old Convent at St. Ann
Before the old rectory at St. Ann was renovated into the parish office building, the parish offices were housed in the old parish convent. The decision to move the parish offices to the renovated space in the rectory building was necessitated by the failure of the heating system in the convent. The hot water system functioned with pipes running through the walls of the convent to convectors. Virtually all the piping had deteriorated and was leaking inside the walls. Only about 33% of the building was used for offices. Another 33% are storage garages dedicated to parish maintenance storage as well as festival storage. The final 33% is the second floor of the convent consisting of multiple small nun cells (bedrooms each the size of a closet) with a bathroom in-between. This was the sleeping area for the religious sisters. It has been abandoned and unlivable since the nuns left teaching at St. Ann. To replace all the piping and install a new hot water boiler would cost around three quarters of a million dollars. The windows are all non-functional with sever leaks. The roof would have had to be replaced for hundreds of thousands of dollars. The electrical system was antiquated. Much of the plumbing is non-functional. A forced air system could not be used as there is no ducting. By analogy, the convent was like paying maintenance for a ten foot bed ton and a half truck when all you needed was a two seat economy car to commute to work.
We examined the possibility of renting the building to an eleemosynary group, but the best scenario rent versus maintenance numbers showed the rent would be less than half the projected cost of maintenance. As my property manager at the Archdiocese used to tell me, “Buildings eat while they sleep.” The problem is that the parish has been paying the cost to feed it, or said another way has been deferring maintenance, that is failing to feed it as it was starving to death.
The Archdiocese is self-insured for property and casualty. The Archdiocese buys essentially high deductible reinsurance as a stop-loss measure. As these reinsurers see abandoned buildings like the old convent on their list of our assets, St. Ann became less of a good risk. Thus, about a year ago, the Archdiocese offered to pay St. Ann the cost of demolition in order to eliminate the risk. Parish Council has approved every step of the process. The City of Hamilton has now issued the proper permits. Demolition is scheduled to begin the day after Labor Day. It should be completed in or around six weeks. Please bear with us through the inconvenience.
Please remember that for St. Ann as a partner with Sacred Heart in the new parish family of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, this removal of an unused abandoned building makes the St. Ann campus far more efficient. The fact that the Archdiocese is willing to pay the bill to make our operation more efficient tells me that the experts foresee a bright future for both the St. Ann and Sacred Heart campuses as we move to complete the Beacons of Light process and form one parish in two locations. I know it sounds simplistic, but it is a “win…win for everybody.”
Beacons of Light: Phase Three: “Culture”
The next step in the Beacons process is to identify and lift up the various cultural adaptations that have evolved in each unique parish and determine how these can be incorporated into and maintained for the combined “Family of Parishes.” More to come!
DO NOT FALL FOR SCAMS!!!!
I keep running this article because there are new scams everyday
Remember I NEVER solicit funds, donations, favors, or any request of any kind over the telephone, text, email, carrier pigeon, drone, etc. NEVER! Do not allow yourself to be taken in by scammers. Even if they have my recorded voice, be assured it is computer generated fake! It is not me!!!
Reminder for volunteers who work with or around children
Please be aware that failure to register with and complete the requirements of Safe Parish will result in your inability to continue to work with or around children in any parish and/or school setting. We have been informed by the Archdiocese that there can be NO EXCEPTIONS.
Live Streaming for Precept Masses
Please remember to access the Sacred Heart / St. Ann Pastoral Region You Tube site by clicking on the following link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVLLqbEY5hKWinwz069MVcg
Reflection on Scripture:
It is not the ritual….it is what the ritual produces that counts. In the Book of Deuteronomy, there are 613 commandments of the Jewish law. Many of these laws are dietary ritual or custom. Today, we would call many of these laws “rules for safe food preparation.” Obedience to the law symbolized worship. But following the law must mean more than empty ritual. It must be a sign of submission to the lawgiver.
In today’s gospel, the Pharisees are worried about cleaning and sanitary procedures for cleaning dishes and washing our hands before a meal. Jesus says that they are missing the point. Sanitizing utensils leads to good physical health. Purging ourselves of selfish sin leads to good spiritual health. Jesus is not interested in rules of etiquette, or even sanitization rules to prevent the spread of disease. Jesus is concerned about purging sin from their lives. Sin robs the soul of life. Remember why you do what you do. Then ritual becomes spiritual precaution. Precaution has a purpose. Remember the purpose and you will see things as God prescribes.
NEXT SUNDAY Twenty Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Is 35:4-7a
Jas 2:1-5
Mk 7:31-37
Theme: Jesus heals the deaf man.