In our journey of faith, we are always called to grow in our love of God and of others. Jesus in the gospel this week teaches us all how we are called to live. We are all called to love God and love neighbor ‘with all your soul, with all your mind and will all your strength.” Even during the time that the gospel was written, Jesus was surrounded by various political and religious differences that caused divisions in the nation. the mandate that Jesus gives us means that we must work towards moving beyond our differences to be in unity with each other and God.
When Jesus speaks of love in the gospel, he does not speak of the warm and fuzzy feelings of love. Too many people feel that love is a feeling and not an action. Show me love with out showing me any action. Love is a matter of what someone does than how someone feels.
As you know we are currently undertaking the renovation of the main Church. You can go online at Sthyacinth.org to see the progress of the renovations.
The 1st phase of renovations was to install new HVAC and Heating Systems for the Church. The 2nd phase of renovations has delt with the demolitions, and preparation of the Church with painting, replacing light fixtures, adjusting the altar, and generally improving spaces and flooring. The 3rd phase of installation of the new flooring. The 4th and final phase are the installation the new pews. If the phases get out of order, then it effects the schedule of the next.
As you are aware the United States and the world are facing supply chain issues. There are container ships off the east and west coast of the United States that are waiting to be unloaded ant there is a backload.
Currently, our new flooring is on its way from South Korea and is due into the port of Savannah the first week of November, and the renovation contractors are very concerned about the backlog of merchandise in the ports. If there is a delay in the shipping and delivery of the flooring, this will delay the instillation the pews when intern would delay our return to the main church for worship. This may mean that we will not be able to enter the Church until after the beginning new year in January 2022.
Once again, I will ask everyone to pray that all these supply chain issues can get resolved. In the coming weeks I will keep you informed as to any changes to the renovation schedule. Please check our website for updates on the renovations. November is right around the corner. First, The Feast of All Saints in not a Holy Day of Obligation, however we will celebrate a special Mass on Monday November 1st at 7:00 pm.
There will be a special Luminaria Mass for All Souls Day Tuesday November 2nd at the 7:00 pm Mass.
One of the principal goals of 2021 is to increase the number of people that are contributing to the Church to Faith Direct, our electronic giving platform. We have over 1000 registered families here at STHY that maybe giving to our parish in the Sunday collection; however, we don’t have a record of them using their envelopes or Faith Direct. The Church spends close to $10,000 a year to print and mail our parish offertory envelopes. The easiest way for us to significantly reduce these printing expenses is to sign up as many people to Faith Direct and parish online giving. You can enroll for online giving through Sthyacinth.org/onlinegiving. As always, know that your generosity is truly a gift from God.