Dear friends,

“We thank you now for this house of prayer in which you bless your family as we come to you on pilgrimage.  Here you reveal your presence…  Here you build your temple of living stones and bring the Church to its full stature as the body of Christ throughout the world.” 

These words are from the Preface of the Mass of Dedication of a Church.  They express to us a double reality, church as a building, a temple for worship, and Church as the Body of Christ, the living temple for worship of the Father.

In October of this year, the living temple, the parish of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, will celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the dedication of the material temple.  As many may already know, this “brick and mortar” temple is actually the third church.  The first church was built on Union Street in 1890 and could seat 250 people.  By 1915 it had become too small to accommodate the growing congregation and a second church was built on the present site, seating 500. In 1959 that church, which itself had become too small, was demolished, to be replaced by the third church, constructed on the same site.  The present church has now outlived either of the two previous church buildings.  For those who may not have ever noticed, pictures of all three churches hang in the lobby, near the doors to the Adoration Chapel. 

A couple of years ago I shared with the Pastoral Council my feelings that we should somehow celebrate this anniversary, and in celebrating it, celebrate also who we are who worship here, the living Body of Christ.  Countless visitors to our church, for weddings or baptisms, or people just passing through, marvel at its beauty, its simplicity, its richness.  And people who come here new, to worship in this place and call it their home, also marvel at the diversity, the richness and the giftedness of the parish community our church building represents and symbolizes.  Both stand as witness to Jesus Christ, to His love and to His grace in our presence and in our world. 

Today, members of an “ad hoc” committee will speak very briefly after all the masses simply to ask you to save the date – October 16, 2010 (the actual dedication date was October 29, 1960) and to tell you that in typical Mount Carmel style, anything raised for the event will go to another people struggling to build for themselves a larger church to accommodate their growing congregation, as OLMC did, twice.  What the event is really meant to be is a celebration of ourselves, which is really not a bad thing if we truly see ourselves as the “People of God,” and the “Body of Christ” in our world today. 

Please plan to join us on Oct. 16th.  Details will be coming all summer long, so take your laptops and website address with you when you go away.

God Bless,
Fr. Ron

PS.  And speaking of electronics, I hope you’ve been considering electronic giving as a way to provide the parish the resources it needs to continue its mission.  E-giving helps us better plan for the future and manage the present. It also cuts down our collection envelope expense. If you’re already doing on-line-anything, please consider e-giving as the rational next step into the electronic age.  Just go to the website and click on the parishpay link on the home page.