I am a bit late reporting this in the bulletin because of the publishing schedule, but as many probably know, due to the heavy rains earlier in July, our church main hall, bathrooms and boiler room were flooded. Water came up through the men’s bathroom drain and rose to about an inch high off the ground. It was quite a mess. Fortunately, staff and volunteers sorted out the mess. A company called Enviroclean has been restoring the area and cleaning up the damage. It looks like we should be back to normal shortly.
In other news I heard that the missionary preacher Fr. Jeremy was very well received. Thank you to everyone for your generosity and hospitality toward him and his community. Here in DC I continue my studies. I am currently taking two courses: one on the Sacraments in general and one on Marriage in particular. I am enjoying the courses and the material; a few papers here and there from the professors to keep me on my feet. I also help out with the liturgies at the local parish in which I am staying. While all goes well, I miss being at St. Teresa and I look forward to returning at the beginning of August.
Behind the scenes, besides the flood, work continues on the painting and window projects. A new door was delivered this past week and final approval was received. Other smaller projects are going on as well. Our landscapers did an excellent job putting in new mulch in the beds. In the school, we replaced many of the old lockers with new ones from the old St. Pius X School in Westerly, RI.
There is one issue I am debating: it is our clothing donation bin in the Newport Avenue parking lot. As many of you have noticed, often it is overflowing. Despite that, people continue to drop off clothing in the surrounding area. In addition, people drop off items not meant for the bin at all (the strangest piece was an old fish tank). While the bin and the clothing donations have helped those in need, it is very quickly becoming a dumping ground. I would ask that if you see the bin full, please do not leave your clothing donations on the side of the bin. Instead, come back at another time when the bin is empty. Likewise, please do not leave non-clothing items (like fish tanks). All that having been said, I will continue to evaluate the situation and how best to help those in need, while ensuring that our parish stays orderly and beautiful.