Anyone who thinks that the church stops running after Sunday is clearly not around here too often!  We have so many things going on right now in our parishes.  First, next weekend our 8th - 11th grade students will be making their retreat in preparation for Confirmation.  Please remember them in your prayers.  Our Confirmation Mass with the Bishop is Sunday, March 2 at 2:00 PM at Christ the King.                                                               
    We continue our good work in the St. Vincent DePaul Society by preparing food boxes.  Because the Athens County Food Pantry was flooded recently, we have been preparing boxes for that organization as well.  We are all aware of the needs locally, and this is one of the ways that you can help out!  If you would like to volunteer to deliver food, please contact the Parish Office.  In addition to these ways of helping, in our  parishes offices we continue to help those who find themselves in difficult situations.  This past week, we helped stranded motorists, someone who was homeless, and a young couple with baby supplies.  Your generosity to the parishes helps cover these expenses.
     Recently, I was reading about the Annual “Sacra Liturgia” Conference held in Rome every year.  Dom Alcuin Reid, a Benedictine monk and famed liturgist living in France, stated, “If we take seriously that fact that we are bodily, sensual creatures whose connection with Christ is by means of created signs...we will celebrate the liturgy as well as we possibly can so as to optimize our connection, as bodily and psychological creatures, with the person of Jesus Christ.”  Liturgy matters, he said, because “that connection is the foundation of all evangelization. Where the liturgy is celebrated well, fully, making use of the multivalent riches of Catholic liturgical tradition, I am likely to be more engaged, better connected, with Christ,” Dom Reid concluded.   In our buildings and our prayers, in our social life, family life, and work life, what we do in our churches matters.  Everything in our churches speaks to us physically, mentally and spiritually.  From walls to people, from hard kneelers to padded pews, from blaring trumpet to calming silence, we experience Christ in our bodies and souls.  Our churches are the buildings and places where our spiritual lives begin in baptism and transition in funerals.  Here is where we touch heaven day after day, celebrating the Mass or just coming in for quiet prayer.  Our buildings speak to us of dedication to God, of heaven, of peace and tranquility.  Any time we enhance our buildings or liturgies, we do so to grow in our love and understanding of Jesus Christ, and in our connection to one another as brothers and sisters in Christ.  Some people say, “oh, the Catholic Church should sell its art and give that money to the poor.”  It is not an either / or sort of situation with our buildings and liturgy.  It is a both / and situation.  We reach out to educate, house, medicate, clothe, feed, shepherd, nurture and nourish all in need. We also preserve our fine historical and artistic treasures.  As a Sacramental people, both spirit and body, we worship and come to know God and grow in Him through architecture, art, music, smell, touch, and taste.  Liturgy, in the fullest sense of the word, from body to building, is both human and necessary for who we are! 
     That being said, you may notice that the second window was removed from St. Paul’s this past week.  I learned that the uniquely colored green glass in the windows was made by using arsenic—something that is no longer permitted.  The company doing this work for us has several old windows in that shade of green that were taken from closed churches, and will do their best to match broken pieces in our windows as needed.  But, please, do not lick the green glass windows!  Also at St. Paul’s there is a little enhancement being made to the sanctuary apse (ceiling). This is being done by the liturgical art company doing the window work for us. The enhancement is a little nod to our past at St. Paul, and will give a more finished appearance to the sanctuary.  This enhancement is being paid for by a special donation to the parish, and the window work is being paid for by this year’s DPSC return.
The new cry room at Christ the King is now open.  Also, in the next couple of weeks, Christ the King will be getting a new piano for the church.  This new instrument will enhance all of our liturgical celebrations.  This piano has been donated by a parishioner who wishes to remain anonymous.  So, please say a prayer for the generous benefactor!  
     Some of you may be wondering why St. Paul’s was chilly over the past month and a half.  Well, we have had just about every heating unit break down in part or whole during the past months.  Starting before Christmas, we had to repair the furnace which heats the chapel, sacristy, and downstairs meeting room.  Then, we had to repair both boilers in the church, one which was completely broken and the other which was working at half capacity.  Then, when the cold snap hit two weeks ago, the furnace broke in the rectory!  After two weeks and four service visits (and two large holes in the ceiling drywall of the garage) the heat is back on. Fr. Peter is grateful, but he wishes I would turn up the thermostat!  In other repair news, roof leaks at Christ the King have been identified and are being addressed, as well as other smaller maintenance projects. The ice rinks (parking areas) that have formed this season at our parishes are starting to thaw. I do apologize for the state of the parking areas, but we have been working with various snow removal people to get our problems addressed.  
     I am happy to report that Rick Sirois, a  parishioner, is now serving as a facilities coordinator for the parishes.  Rick and his wife Eileen moved into the area last May.  Both he and his wife are retired from military service, and Rick most recently served as the facilities director for the city of Jacksonville, North Carolina.  My thanks to Rick for stepping forward to help, and taking a load of work off my plate!    
     In future news, we are going to have a new photo directory!  This will be one book with people from both parishes.  Photo sessions have been scheduled for the first two weeks in April.  Details will be coming soon. 
     Also, on Mondays during Lent, I am going to lead a Bible Study on the Gospel of Mark at 10:00 AM and 7:00 PM (same class, different times to accommodate people).   
That’s about all for now.  More to come in the weeks ahead! -Fr. Mark