Letter from Pastor’s Desk

Dear Parishioners of St. James:
Praised be Jesus Christ!
“The Almighty has done great things for me and
holy is His name.” We echo these words of Our Blessed
Mother these days after the dedication of our new church.
The Lord has truly done great things for us in giving us a
new church in which to worship Mary’s Child, Jesus.
I wanted to list some do’s and don’ts about the
new church so that we can take care of it properly after all
of the hard work we put into it:
-Please do not place keys on the pews because
keys will scratch them; rivets on jeans are not good for
pews, either (another reason not to wear jeans in church);
-Please do not chew gum in the Church because it
will inevitably find its way on the bottom of the pews on the
carpeting and on the concrete outside (all of which are difficult
places to remove gum;
-Please do not eat in the church. If parents want to
quiet their children with food Cherios are okay because
their crumbs are easy to clean;
-The northeast door (nearest to the Divine Mercy
Shrine) is for emergency exit only. The stairwell is steep
and made of deck boards that are slippery with rain and
snow.
-Per the order of the general contractor we must
not use salt on the new church entrance because the concrete
was poured very late in the year and will pock mark if
we use salt this winter. When it snows, the new main
entrance will be shoveled and sanded but not salted.
Please use the old church entrance or the new stair/
elevator tower when it snows (both are handicap accessible);
- The northwest door (closest to the Our Lady of
Guadalupe shrine) is for exit only. Entrance is available at
the other three locations. It is too distracting for entrance
at the front of the church when Mass is being offered;
- Please use the large narthex as a place for loud
children. Speakers allow the faithful to assist at Mass while
they watch their children. If your children need something
to play with consider a stuffed animal instead of your keys
or toy trucks. Children's bibles or holy cards can teach
them and keep them prayerful at the same time.
Please pray in our new, beautiful church. Respect it (and
yourselves) as God's house. Just as we do for newborn
babies at their Baptism, the Bishop exorcized the building,
washed it clean in water and anointed it with sacred chrism
to make it ready for divine worship. As we have consecrated
our new church in our 150th year as a parish,
may we preserve His temple for generations to
come who seek eternal life.
God bless you,
Fr. Geary