Tonight we will
formally close out the calendar year and at the stroke of midnight we will
formally begin another. While as
Catholics we celebrated our new year with the First Sunday of Advent, the new calendar
year does provide us an opportunity to once again evaluate our lives in search
for ways to make some improvements. It’s
an ongoing process and we are called for daily conversion.
(a view from the choir loft taken during Father Carroll's Mass of Installation as Pastor of Saint Patrick Church)
(Father Carroll being welcomed by Sister Monica at his Mass of Installation)
(Since taking over Father Carroll offers confession 6 days a week and 7 days a week during Advent and Lent)
Looking back in 2014
a lot has transpired. In May of 2014
brought my formal appointment as your pastor. On Pentecost Sunday a new
weekend Mass Schedule was introduced to the parish. Change is never easy and you responded to
that change well! Although we have lost
a Mass, from the sanctuary we as a parish never looked
healthier. Thank you for your generosity
demonstrated by your prayers and monetary contributions. If it wasn't for your generosity nothing
would be possible.
(A view from the altar from the priest's perspective)
(Members of Saint Patrick Church gather for the Parish Picnic)
(Saint Patrick School 6th grade class of 2015 visiting the Compassion Project)
(Saint Patrick School students participating at the Saint Patrick's Day Parade)
(Our Parish Library in the back of the cafeteria in the basement of the Church...and it keeps growing thanks to your generosity.)
During the summer
months brought change to the school with the departure of Ms. Mary Elizabeth Muir. We are truly grateful for her years of
dedicated service to our parish and school.
It was with her help and vision that we were able to establish a New
Board of Education for our parish. Her
departure left us with a void which we were able to fill with the appointment of
Mrs. Kathleen Smith as our interim principal.
Under her leadership with the help of Mr. Joseph Stein our Board of Education
President we were able to constitute our New Board of Education. A lot of wonderful things have happened and
are still being planned for our parish family.
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| (Ms Mary Elizabeth Muir and Mrs. Kathleen Smith with Father C.) |
(Father C. with the Saint Patrick School 6th grade class of 2014)
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| (Father Carroll with the first grade class after their Saints Program) |
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| (2014 Race for Education) |
Also during the
summer of 2014 we began updating our security around the parish plant. Since June cameras have been added around the
property, the alarms in the church and school have been updated, the security
alarm was once again activated in the rectory.
Those who worshiped with us on Christmas and this past weekend might
have noticed the new addition to our lower parking lot…the new lights!!! These new lights help add additional security
to our property. In a few days cameras
will be added to those light poles providing us four different camera angles of
our parking lot.
(the new lights were on in time for the Christmas Eve Services)
In September 2014 updates were made to the boilers, which were required for it to pass inspection. At the same time we switched the rectory over
to force hot air by replacing the cooling units on the roof of the rectory with
heating/cooling units. This was done to
make the cooling and heating of the rectory more cost efficient taking into
consideration there is only one priest living in the rectory.
(Image of Our Lady taken after our Living Rosary and Marian Procession back in October)
(Image taken from the Virtual Pilgrimage to Lourdes)
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| (Altar Set up for Divine Mercy Celebrations) |
(Bishop Gainer praying before the Blessed Sacrament)
(Bishop Gainer giving his homily at the 20th anniversary Mass)
(Our Eucharistic Lord)
Looking back at 2014
a lot has been accomplished and a lot more exciting things are in the
works. In your new packet of envelopes
you may notice some new envelopes…one marked for the Msgr. Thomas Brenner Fund
and the other a maintenance envelope. Msgr.
Thomas Brenner was our pastor from 1981 – 1995.
He accomplished a lot during his tenure.
A fund was established in his honor to assist with the educational needs
of our parish. In recent years with the
rising cost of education a greater need is now being recognized within our
families. Your generous contribution to
this fund will go to assist us in helping to provide a Catholic Education to
those families who truly desire it. The
maintenance fund envelope was placed in your packet to specifically help us
cover the additional maintenance cost that may arise. Last year, in particular, was a rough year with
all the snow. Finally in January our parish children in religious education and the school will be receiving envelopes. It is important for us to teach our children the importance of sacrifice and giving back to the Lord.
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(the winter of 2013/2014 was a bad one for snow)
(Although many of us don't want to remember the winter of 2013/2014, here in a beautiful photo taken by Miss Rose Devlin)
For your planning
purposes in the next couple weeks I will be coming to you to address a concern
that has been brought to my attention several times since my arrival and that is the
condition of our kneelers and pews. You might recall me making an announcement about this a few weeks back. We
are currently in the process of investigating what it would cost to reupholster
our pews and replacing our kneelers. As
information comes in I will be consulting with the Parish Finance Council and
the Parish Pastoral Council. Once we
present them with the plan we will present it to you. As we
move forward into 2015 I personally look forward to working with all of you as
we work always to grow and support our parish family!
(Images from the Church of the condition of some of our pews and kneelers)
Merry Christmas and a
Happy New Year!!!
Fr. Keith M. Carroll
Pastor of Saint Patrick Church
Pastor of Saint Patrick Church
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