A Departure, and Some Parish Property Updates

 
It is with sadness that I announce that Sr. Anne Marie Raftery, MFIC, has retired as chaplain at Norfolk and Pondville Prisons and will be moving out of the St. Martha Parish residence. She has lived with our parish for the past six years and has been involved in daily and Sunday Masses when she was not worshiping with or attending to the spiritual needs of those she served so faithfully.  We are grateful for her ministry with us as a Lector, and I have benefitted from her counsel on various topics - most recently her experience with the ChristLife program which we have started to run for our collaborative. Please join us for the 10am Mass next Sunday (7/22) when we will recognize her and pray for her sabbatical and future endeavors.

In addition to preparing the residence for a future religious tenant (we hope...), there are many other building and property projects going on this summer - thanks to generous support from parishioners and groups in both parishes. Regrettably one of the expenses this month will be removing several dead and dying trees from both properties. If you would like to donate a replacement tree to either parish, please contact your parish office.
At St. Martha, the best news is that an additional, sophisticated sump pump has been installed in the bottom of the elevator shaft to prevent the flooding that has become frequent in the elevator and church hall. Other small leaks may still be an issue, but won't be enough to interfere with parish events (I don’t want to miss any more K of C breakfasts!) The Knights of Columbus at St. Martha have always been generous in their service and financial support of the parish. We are working on a few other sprucing-up projects on all three buildings, such as repainting the front entrances of the church and offices.

At St. Mary, the gradual painting of the church interior will continue, soon completing all of the short walls. This project is being spread out because we cannot afford to do it all at once (especially the scaffolding for high places). It started, thanks to donations, specifically for church painting. We will also be repainting the church hall (thanks to donated labor from the K of C), and I am planning a little “sprucing up” down there, too. Finally, the Knights of Columbus ran a successful road race last year to raise funds for several causes, including a $2,000 donation to St. Mary Parish, allowing us to buy more durable window and roof trim to replace the rotting pine on the rectory & parish offices (can you believe the new rectory is 18 years old already?!)

As I prepare to leave this Sunday with the first week of Youth Service Missions, led by our Director of Faith Formation for Youth Bob Collins, we ask for your prayers for the 29 youth, and 4 other parishioners volunteering as Youth Ministers, and the people of the Houston area as they continue to recover from devastating weather issues.  Please be gentle on Fr. Bill while I’m away - he’s holding down the fort with a skeleton staff this week!