Dear brothers and sisters,
After Pentecost we get to celebrate the great mystery of the Feat of the Holy Trinity. This Feast once again challenges us to ask this question: “Who is God for us? What are his roles in our lives? One answer we do have from this celebration is that God is love; God is relation and community which is the only way he reveals himself to us. God can easily be known through and experienced in family, in the parish community and also in our group of friends because God is truly unity in the diversity. The true sense of the Trinity is being celebrated every day in our parish with the diversity of cultures confessing one faith and sharing one baptism in the Lord Jesus Christ. At this great Feast, we have been called to rediscover the presence of our God in our lives and to ask ourselves where exactly God fit in our lives. The first big project is the renovation of the Parish Hall. For those who have seen the Hall recently, it is very obvious that there is a great need to do some major repairs and upgrades and even to bring to code some areas. The hall is a great asset for the school and has been used for different purposes. For the restoration, the school was able to secure from two different Foundations an amount of $200,000.00. The total cost for the restoration will be $368,482.00 not including a new AC Unit and new furniture.
The second project is the installation of New Roofs at Four buildings: the Church, Cafeteria, Saint Joseph House (Old Convent), and the School Offices. All these roofs were damaged by hurricane Irma in 2017 and are covered under the insurance however our deductible will be $143,600.00. As stewards of your generosity, the finance council and I want to assure you of how careful we are in handling the day to day finances of the parish. For this reason, I decided to present to you today these projects that we are going to undertake and hope you can generously help us to cover part of the cost for the remaining balance we have to pay out of pocket.
Even though most of you might have an idea of our financial situation, it is imperative for me to assure you of my commitment to carry out my responsibility to the highest standards of accountability. I am very aware of the sacrifices you have made to provide generously for the parish in order to fulfill the corporal and spiritual works of mercy to the people entrusted to our care. I wish these projects will resonate with you since they are some type of urgency for our parish. I anticipate thanking you for your support and comprehension. I pray that God our Father will grant you and your families his countless blessing.
Fr. Ducasse François, Pastor