Laetare Sunday! Rejoice! This Sunday is the 4th Sunday of Lent, known as “Laetare” Sunday (Latin for “rejoice”). We add elements of joy into our austere Lent this Sunday. The optional color of “Rose” (which looks like pink) can be used this day, flowers can adorn the altar, and the music can be more joyful. Lent is past the halfway point this Sunday.
God’s House, Our Home Capital Campaign is also a reason for joy as we try to push further toward our goal. We are currently just over $3.9M out of our goal of $6M. Thank you so much to all who have pledged and given to the campaign! This weekend is our Commitment Weekend - this means, we REALLY DO NEED COMMITMENTS THIS WEEKEND! I will explain why.
Timeframes
Our campaign officially kicked off on December 1, 2024. Campaigns are best when they are short but sweet and do not drag on forever (you don’t like to hear about giving money nor do I love talking about it all the time). So our plan was to conclude active campaigning about now (end of March). Also, we really want to complete these projects sooner than later. We are working to finalize designs so that we can confidently begin work on all projects starting in about one year, after Easter 2026. I previously mentioned the possibility of completing the teacher bathrooms earlier, but learned from the construction partners that we will save money doing all the projects together. I know we all want to do that in order to get the best bang for your bucks! All these things do have to be arranged well ahead of time to finish architectural designs, to get proper permits issued, to acquire all the right materials, and get on construction team’s schedules.
Commitment Weekend-Now is the Time!
Therefore, since we are going to tackle all our projects in a year, we must know now how much funding we have so that the project costs will match the funding. Now is the time! We have to make decisions, and if we don’t make our goal (or at least get much closer) we will have to cut things which would be terribly disappointing. I am confident we can accomplish all our goals still, but only if we get a great response this weekend. Please turn in a pledge card. Give within your means but make a sacrifice for God.
New Teacher Bathrooms!
This is the smallest project on our list. We have a design ready. This is a must project. Years ago when these wings of the school were built, it wasn’t as big of a concern for adults and students to share a bathroom. Today, however, we just can’t do that. So teachers either have to go across the whole building to get to a bathroom (which they don’t have time for), or use a special walled-off stall within the kid’s bathroom, which is a poor compromise.
New School Cafeteria!
The next biggest project is this. There is a new image of what it might look like (see the rendering in the Narthex or in our emails/website). This too is simply a must. Security today is a far bigger concern than in the past, and we continue to have space issues here at POP. Creating this cafeteria in the basement of the school will keep our students more secure, give them a beautiful cafeteria space that serves also as a storm shelter, and then frees up our parish hall for funeral dinners and adult studies. We aim to reduce mixing these populations and too many times we have had to tell families we just can’t have a funeral dinner because of our space issues. This project will fix all of that!
Church Renovation!
Finally, the biggest project by far is taking care of God’s House. Again, I say this is a must. Can we really say we ever have done “enough” for God and His House? Pews and kneelers are worn out. The altar (and all the things that should match it—ambo, tabernacle altar, and baptismal font) has been discussed for years as needing to be upgraded and some funds have already been given. So too, all the surfaces - floors, walls, ceilings - could use refreshening while we have the pews out. Lighting and sound need upgrades. New accessibility accommodations (a lift to the sanctuary, wheelchair pew cutouts) are needed. And while we are at it, now is the opportunity to add to the beauty and liturgical design of the church. I have inquired about the past, and it is clear to me that in the initial construction of the church there just wasn’t enough money to do all that was hoped for. Over the years, there have been a few minor upgrades. But the hope is now, while we are doing all this, is to bring out a new level of clarity of our love of our church and Patron—Jesus, the Prince of Peace. We then will not have to revisit church renovation for many years - until some things wear out and need simple replacements of course. This also frees us, after giving God our best first, to tackle other possible future projects in coming years.
Every Pledge Now Truly Makes a Difference!
This is our commitment weekend and decisions will be made following this weekend’s results. So what you do now impacts all these needs and plans. Thank you so much in advance for responding, pledging, and giving! All this expresses our faith in God, and is a true reason to rejoice this Laetare Sunday!
Peace,
Fr. Greg
