The westside Crucifix was installed this week. The West End inspection will be next week. We continue to have an issue with the fasteners in the soffit wall / load bearing wall. The structural engineer and the City Inspector see this in opposite directions which is impacting the schedule. The team continues to work to resolve the issue.

In our First Reading today, God calls on the prophet Jeremiah and sends him to tell the people of Israel to repent of their sins of idolatry and immorality and turn to God. The godless people do not want to hear the truth from God through Jeremiah, so they plot evil ways to get rid of him. Facing the opposition and the death threat against him, Jeremiah is tempted to keep quiet and let things be. Then God stirs up the fire of the Holy Spirit within his heart until he can no longer withhold the warnings of the Lord and continues to speak up on behalf of the Lord.

The final application of the EFIS coat of stucco is in progress. Bell tower should be completed soon. The team of workers are moving from the north side of the building to the west side. The brick veneer is scheduled to begin soon. The sheetrock is making progress: choir loft area, restroom, and north side staircase are done with the narthex, cry room and transept being worked upon. The new 20-ton A/C units will ship October 10 with the existing A/C units being utilized until they arrive.

Let me begin by wishing all fathers a Happy Father’s Day! The Gospel reading this weekend is quite timely. It presents Jesus as a father. We are told that Jesus looked at the crowd coming to Him, and His heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.” What an image that describes the situation of fatherhood in our society today. The joy of fatherhood is facing unprecedented challenges in our time. One can hardly talk about fathers these days without sounding “old fashioned” or off ending someone. We have seen, and studies have shown, that the absence of fathers, or father-figures, in a family has a signifi cant negative impact on the emotional, social, spiritual, and psychological development of many children leading to increasing stress, drug abuse, suicide ideation, and crime among young people. We have many young people in our society today who are like sheep without a shepherd.

The exterior doors and window frames have been installed. The final coat of EFIS is being applied to the bell tower. Interior drywall has begun to be installed. The new Ambo is complete. A special thank you to our parishioner, Frank Polimene of Arizona Custom Solutions, for donating the material, his talent and his time for creating such a beautiful piece of work. The first stained-glass window was installed: the exterior 6-foot stained-glass of St. Benedict was installed on the west-end of the building. It will be covered with plywood to protect it as the west-end is completed. Our 7-foot carved marble statue of St. Benedict is on his way from the art studio. The statue will be placed in the exterior front (west side) of the building. He will be positioned on a 2-foot marble pedestal.

The early summer liturgical “trifecta” of Pentecost, Holy Trinity, and Corpus Christi that follows the celebration of the Easter Season and provides focus on the three fundamental realities of Christian life: the Church, The Triune Godhead, and the Holy Eucharist is completed this weekend with the celebration of the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, the joyful celebration of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.

The annual celebration of the Solemnity of Corpus Christi gives us the opportunity to adore and expose the content of our belief in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, the visible perpetuation of Christ’s presence in His Church. The Holy Eucharist is the true Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, together with His Soul and Divinity, under the appearance of bread and wine.

You may have noticed that the west wall has not moved forward for a while. Many discussions have been going on about a structural issue. The architect and structural engineer continue to carve away concerns that the inspector has. Will continue to make progress with the inspector.

The celebration of Pentecost, the birthday of the Church fifty days after Easter, is immediately followed by the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. Thus, this weekend we celebrate the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, the liturgical feast that celebrates the central mystery of the Christian faith. This is the most singularly distinctive belief that separates Christianity from all other religions. For instance, Islam and Judaism hold firmly onto mono personal monotheism that does not admit the multiplicity of persons in the one true God. As a consequence, for strict adherents of Judaism, the doctrine of the Trinity is both erroneous and heretical, the same doctrine is judged extremely offensive to strict muslims.

I would like to thank everyone who prayed for me. I am happy to say I am gradually gaining my strength back.

As you can see the first coat of stucco is being applied to the building. Interior framing is progressing well. Framing has begun in the Chapel.

The office remodel is coming to completion. The staff will not be allowed in their offices as it is still in the construction phase. Their furniture will be moved back into the offices, freeing up a storage container.