If you had been in the rectory last week, you would have seen me and Ron Farias crowded into Norma’s office, staring out the back window with fascination and delight. We were watching the truck-and-crane combination remove the leftover shingles from the roof, wirelessly manipulated by a remote panel affixed to a workman’s belt; I think the current descriptive expression for what we were doing is “nerding out.”
Our delight was not inspired solely by the technology on display. We were both excited that the new roof had been installed so quickly, and so well. The shingles were delivered the day after Easter, though rain prevented much else from being done that day; everything was finished by Tuesday a week later. That roof presented a vast area to be covered with shingles, but no less important was the other work done. Relining and resealing the built-in gutters was vital, as was repairing, resealing, and carefully integrating the vents that had been new about six years ago. Both of these areas were identified as culprits in the persistent leaks we had been fighting for the past few years. Those leaks, and that fight, postponed for a couple of years the interior renovation for which we raised funds in our capital campaign.
The good news is that to replace the roof we did not need to use the money you contributed to the campaign. We were able to scrape together the necessary $150,000 (approximately) from our operating budget for the parish. Looking now at the work that was done, a buck fifty seems a very good deal for what was achieved. I look forward, as you do I am sure, to proceeding now to the interior renovation.
The new roof may come in handy to protect our First Holy Communion Mass this weekend. Forecasts are calling for rain on what should be the most beautiful day of the spring. I can’t really complain too much, as the past few months have been so dry that the rain is much needed, but it is bad timing. Look for our beautiful kids in their snappy clothes to have their official milestone photos taken indoors this year, unless there is a miraculous break in the weather. All the more reason for the kids to don their splendor again on Sunday for the May procession, when the forecast is slightly less menacing.
All this, and Mother’s Day too. Don’t neglect your mom, and make sure to honor the Mother of God and Mother of the Church with prayer, procession, and flowers for the May altar. May she share her abundance of grace with all the mothers of our parish in response to your petitions! It is a big weekend, and one of the best of the year. The series of crowded, exciting weekends that marks May actually began last week with a wedding, and continues through the first in June for graduation. It’s the time of year I call “May-hem.”
But since Catholic University’s classes exams already ended this past week, Father Santandreu has departed for the frigid shores of Lake Erie, whence he came; and Father Novajosky will be disappearing too, though he will graciously stay until midday Sunday to help with weekend Masses before racing home to Connecticut to spend part of Mother’s Day with the honoree. They will both return by Memorial Day for intensive coursework in June and July, but in the meantime, you’ll be seeing a lot of me, juggling the mayhem. At least I will have a good roof over my head!
Monsignor Smith
