Our Future
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
This week, the construction crew continued working on the church ceiling while also beginning to address the floor around the sanctuary/altar area.
As you may remember, the renovation calls for lowering the large single-step platform that surrounds the sanctuary to make it level with the pews. Removing this single step will allow the new pews to move slightly closer to the altar, help us improve the flow during Communion, and create more room for the casket at funeral Masses and for chairs and people at wedding Masses.
Here is the image of the sanctuary with the single-step platform removed, opening up additional space:
In the rendering above, the new medallion and decorative terrazzo are located where the raised platform step is being removed.
The photo below shows the crew's work this week as they remove the single step. As you can imagine, it is messy work that requires a lot of jackhammering. The original altar platform (the raised steps in the center of the photo below) will mostly remain in place since the new altar platform can use much of the existing concrete.
Above the altar platform, you can see the ceiling work that has been accomplished: the abatement of all the asbestos and the removal of the original ceiling. The metal supports will be reconfigured to create the structure needed for our new coffered ceiling and the shallow dome above the altar.
While it is messy now, the end result will be beautiful. The crew hopes to begin pouring the new concrete flooring late next week. Stay tuned for more photos!
As all of this work progresses, please know how grateful I am for your generous gifts which are making our renovation possible. Hundreds of families have made sacrificial gifts toward this work, and I am deeply touched by your faith and generosity.
Our Past
As we look forward to what is to come, I want to share a beautiful letter that Msgr. Joseph Raley wrote at the dedication of our church in 1964. Father Raley was the first resident pastor appointed by Archbishop Keough when we became our own parish in 1959. The letter is found at the beginning of the Memorial Book (seen in the photo below), which holds the names of those who gave so generously to build our parish church in 1964.
The 1964 Memorial Book Containing the Names of Parishioners Who Helped Build St. John the Evangelist Church.
Fr. Raley's letter reads:
IN PRAISE & GRATITUDE
It is the realization of how important this building is to the people of this Parish that causes the deepest joy of our hearts! For them this Church is destined to be the most important building in the world. It serves them in the fulfillment of life's most exalted purpose. It is the dwelling place of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. How consoling it is for us to know every time we see the noble outline of this building etched against the blue sky: “There is the House of My Saviour, there God has chosen to dwell among us."
Because of this Church which they have built Christ belongs to them. No wonder they have worked and sacrificed for it! No wonder then with loving care they have watched it rise brick upon brick. And now that it stands here in all its glory, they can truly say: “This is our Church – we could never build a more important building."
In the far distant future visitors and parishioners of another era will find in this Church a monument to their faith and zeal. They will always see, like Jacob at Bethel, a ladder rising from earth to heaven with Angels ascending, bringing to God man's prayers and descending, bringing to man the still more precious burden of God's grace.
The pages of this book contain a partial list of noble people who set out to accomplish the arduous task of building a church to the honor of God and the sanctification of man. The pages of this book may fade but their names are written eternally in the mind and heart of God.
We urge you, kind reader, to remember them in your prayers and, above all, pray that future generations will love God as they do and always be willing to sacrifice for His honor and glory as they have.
Rev. Joseph E. Raley
Pastor
1964
These beautiful words remind us of the purpose of our church and rightly honor the prayer, sacrifice, and generosity of those who built it. Their gifts have given us the church we have called home since 1964. They spent years celebrating Mass in the school auditorium while the church was being designed, funded, and built. We have received the inheritance of their generosity.
Now, due to your generosity, we are able to build on what they have given us. Each of the bricks mentioned by Msgr. Raley still stands, even as the interior is transformed. And the exalted purpose of our church remains the same: "To the honor of God and the sanctification of man."
May Msgr. Raley's words, written of those who helped build our church sixty years ago, also be spoken of you who are making its renovation possible:
"Pray that future generations will love God as they do and always be willing to sacrifice for His honor and glory as they have."
May God bless you all!
Sincerely in Christ,
