I have extremely good news that I would like to share with you all: Jesus Christ is truly risen from the Dead and has opened for us the gates to paradise! Amidst all of the preoccupations of our lives we can often lose sight of the greatest news of all, even during the Easter Season.

With that said, I would also like to share with you the good news that we have paid off entirely our Parish and School debt.  When I first got here in June of 2019 we were $2.7 million in debt from our last building campaign that gave us the St. Bernadette Center and Church expansion.  I am proud to say that our hard work and good stewardship have paid off and we are now debt-free.  The monthly Debt Reduction collection will now become a monthly Capital Improvement Collection to address the future needs of our Church and School.

It is now time for us to start planning for the future and to move into Phase 2 of our campus improvement plan by expanding our School.  Our five-year vision is to have a state of the art structure on the site of the current rectory which would accommodate Pre-K3 and Pre-K4 classrooms, an Elementary School cafeteria, Middle School classrooms with a Robotics and STEM lab, and other administrative and educational spaces that will enable us to address the needs and development of all our students.  

Effective immediately we have established a designated fund called OLL School Expansion: Building the Legacy, that people can donate towards.  Our initial deposit of $56,000 comes from a deceased parishioner who remembered us in their estate planning by listing OLL as the beneficiary of a life insurance policy.  I invite us all to make an investment in our future by investing in our children and contribute to this fund.  We will provide weekly updates via the Parish bulletin as we track the growth of this fund.  Within two or three years we should be ready to begin a Capital Campaign for this construction project and it would be our goal to have our new school facility up and running five years from now.  

We must also keep our focus on the needs of the poor and marginalized on the local and global level. I invite us all to use this Easter season as a time to remind ourselves of what Christ has done for us and share the Good News by recommitting our Time, Talent, Treasure, and Faith to the service and glory of God.  May God bless you abundantly and thank you so much for helping us move forward here at Our Lady of Lourdes.