blessed sacrament church

1890 Washington valley Rd 

Parish Updates

As mentioned, a few weeks ago, our air conditioning unit requires repair. The job is to replace two condenser coils and evaporator coils on the AAON Unit. Per diocesan policy, three bids were obtained, and the Board of Consultors will approve the project at their October 16, 2019 meeting. The reason why the diocese is involved is any project over $25,000 is considered an extraordinary expense. Fortunately, we do have the funds to cover the cost of the project, which will be approximately $43,000. Also, many of you are aware of the irregularities in our parking lot, in particular, the middle parking lot. The problem is the ponding of water, which is hazardous during the winter months with freezing and refreezing caused by rain and snow. I am currently in pursuit of three bids from paving and excavating companies to solve the problem. The physical safety of fellow parishioners is a top priority. I will keep you posted on this project.

Also, the parish staff and fellow parishioners have had an opportunity to gather with Darrin Nelson, our Parish Life Consultant. On Thursday, October 3, we had our parish life gathering. The focus for the evening was on “Our Thirst” as Catholics. Parishioners were led through a reflection and discussion on the scripture passage “The Samaritan Woman at the Well” (John 4). Then we had a lively conversation on how our parish provides ways to quench our ‘thirst’ as Catholics and what we all seek in our relationship with God. I left hopeful for our next gathering on Wednesday, November 13. Our next parish life gathering will focus on the theme of “Community.” All are welcome to join us. Darrin will be speaking at Mass on the weekend of November 2 and 3, clarifying the purpose of these gatherings to help me and staff to understand the needs of our parish community to better. I hope that you will consider joining us and helping create a vision that is lifegiving for our Catholic community. 

Blessings,
Father Brian

Our Annual Picnic was a huge success. We all enjoyed the Mardi Gras theme and we thank all our volunteers: Teresa Rusmisel for decorating the Parish Hall, to all the ministries for the fair, Ro Bersch and the Hospitality Committee for setting up the Parish Hall, the 8th grade confirmation class Youth Group and Kyle O’Hara, Michael Ghabrial, Vinny Scafuto, Michael Sabella, Vernon Smith for help wherever needed, nurse Bernadee McGovern and the Rescue Squad for being available if needed. Thanks to Michael Burns for being our DJ and the Staff for making this whole day possible.