2019 PSA MessageNext weekend I will be speaking at all the Masses for the annual Pastoral Services Appeal. I will be “appealing” to you for your financial gifts to support the “pastoral services” provided by the Diocese of Orange. If you have not already, you will be receiving a letter from me along with a brochure and pledge envelope. (If you do not receive mail from the parish it means you’re not registered: I invite you, if you consider St. Hedwig your home church, to go to our website and begin the registration process!)
Every parish in the diocese is asked to give a certain percentage of the total monies needed to provide the vital services we all benefit from in Orange: clergy formation, faith formation, ministry to the poor, among others. I have dedicated all the money we collect beyond our diocesan goal (which is $117,000) to be used for the remodeling of our sanctuary. We will place a new Tabernacle behind the Altar (under the Crucifix) and move the statues of Mary and St. Joseph to either side of the Crucifix. I estimate we will need an additional $100,000 to do this. These costs include buying the Tabernacle, refurbishing the statues, building what’s needed on the back wall, and demolition of the drywall in the Blessed Sacrament chapel to prepare it for other uses. The pictures are only a “thumbnail sketch,” concepts that are still in the design phase, but I think it gives an idea what’s coming! Along with the remodel we will have to talk about what it means to have a Tabernacle in the sanctuary and not in a separate space. It will require a change in behavior, in reverence, and in liturgical procedures. I hope you will assist in funding this project through the Diocese of Orange 2019 Pastoral Services Appeal! - Father Christopher Heath
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Concepts for the Sanctuary Renovations
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