The ‘day’ has finally arrived! The construction has begun. The land, once unoccupied with exception of the trees, deer and wild hogs, has now taken on a ‘new’ and long awaited look. The large machinery has invaded the property and begun to remove trees that were not designated to be preserved, leveled the land where the first building, called a worship center surrounded by eight classrooms, will take up ‘residence’! The driveways have been fashioned from the rough terrain that has been there for many years. The dust is in the air and the ‘spirit’ of the people of the Shrine of Padre Pio of Pietrelcina are ecstatic, to say the least. After a long and patience wait, amounting to almost six years, we have arrived at the crossroads of our lives. We will never have to look back with regret, as we have joined our prayers and dreams for this moment in the ongoing growth of this parish. I know many of you have kept up with our progress by keeping in touch via the web site. We are grateful for you interest, prayers and financial contributions you have made to help us get where we are today. You remain in our prayers and we continue to petition yours as well.
The official groundbreaking ceremony will be Sunday, March 25 at 2:30 PM with Archbishop Jose H. Gomez officiating. Please accept this as your ‘personal invitation’ to join us. One of the highlights of this ceremony will be our children. We have special commemorative spoons, shaped like a coal shovel with a picture of St. Padre Pio on the end of the handle of the shovel. As the Archbishop, along with four other representatives of the parish turn the first spade of dirt, the children will surround this area and help us with this ‘special’ and ‘unique dig, if you will! Since the children will be the future of the parish, it is felt their participation is important.
Once the ceremony of groundbreaking is complete, we will begin to call out to those who might want to participate in our efforts to seek donations for the furnishings for the worship center. The center will have the same dimensions of a gymnasium, with a projected seating capacity of 750. We assure you the liturgical atmosphere will not even appear as a ‘gym’ but a place for the faithful to gather for the celebration of Holy Mass. At the same time, we do not intend for this first building to be the ‘end’ of our dreams. We will immediately begin preparing for the next step in our overall master plan, the construction of the shrine. Because of the expense of the shrine it was deemed more advantageous to have a site for people to call ‘their own’, which is what this first building will be for us and those who come to visit and pray with us. One of the classrooms will be converted into a day chapel for daily mass and Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament. I will now be able to remove the Blessed Sacrament from our chapel-bedroom in the rectory to a place where all can come to spend time in quiet reflective prayer.
So, how can you help us reach our needs for this worship center? There are numerous ways. If you would like to donate a chair; a beautifully wood and fabric covered chair, the donation is $ 75.00 each. Remember, we need 800 to cover the seating for the congregation and others for our choirs. Unfortunately we are not going to have kneelers on the chairs at this time as the movement and storage of chairs of this nature with kneelers are too cumbersome and difficult to maintain. Be ASSURED, we WILL HAVE KNEELERS in the Shrine! I hope you understand our decision in this manner.
In addition, we are looking for donors for our main altar, pulpit, candle sticks, processional candles, processional crucifix, presider chair, altar server chairs, and even linens for the altar of sacrifice. I do not have the cost of each of these items, but if you are interested just send me an email at stpadrepio@sbcglobal.net and I will keep you abreast as the prices come in. If you would prefer to talk to me you can reach me at the rectory at (210) 481-2576, or my cell (210) 317-1729. One thing I do know is that our children, who have been bringing up their offerings over the past five years have collected over $25,000.00 towards the purchase of the tabernacle that will be used in this worship center and later in the shrine. I am so proud of their contributions and promised that their offerings would be kept separate from the regular collection for this purpose. So, if your heart moves you to help us with any of the above items, please let me know as soon as possible. We want to have the above items as our move in date in mid December of this year!
There are some pictures you might enjoy viewing of the progress in our building program. As time marches on, we will add more so that you can become as excited as we are about this ‘new home’ for St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina.
God bless you all,
Rev. Msgr. Patrick J. Ragsdale
Pastor
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