What's been going on around here?

From the Pastor: Things you should know


This week I would like to catch you up on some of the goings on around here. First of all, the termites are supposedly gone. It was amazing to see the entire church draped in black tarps to hold in the fumigation gases. A great group of volunteers came and removed all the food, as even such things as salt and pepper and coffee and creamer had to be either put into special bags and double sealed or removed completely from the premises. There was more than you would imagine. Thank you volunteers! Of course, there was also a group of volunteers who came to clean up all the dead bugs and critters afterwards, and to rewash all the dishes, pots and pans, coffee pots and urns and carafes that a previous group of volunteers had already scrubbed when they scraped years of nastiness out of the parish center kitchen. Those who have been coming in to clean have really had a hard job of it, but the place is looking so much better! Thank you all. Another volunteer, Mark LeMay of Spotless Carpet Cleaners (727-409-0233), brought in his scrubbing equipment and brought the tiles in the kitchen and the sacristy back to a squeaky clean shine. Anybody interested in pitching in for the greatly discounted cost of doing the same thing to the floor in the parish center can donate to the “floor fund.” You can see what a difference a good scrubbing makes by checking out the section of terrazzo flooring next to the kitchen entryway. It becomes brown and lighter brown rather than brown and black.

And, while all the cleaning was going on in the church kitchen, the rectory kitchen was getting a scrubbing, too. I don’t want to go into too much detail, but the rectory kitchen utensils and cabinets made the church kitchen look sparkling clean by comparison. The second round of sanitizing should complete that phase of work sometime this week. Then maybe I’ll be able to stop eating out each meal and get rid of the extra pounds I have put on while doing that.

During this time period, we got a new organist for the Saturday evening Vigil Mass. Ryan Jones stepped in to help us out. He is a very gifted young man whose piano and organ skills are beyond his few years. Along the same line but for a different Mass, our 10:30 Latin Schola is growing as people hear the beautiful prayers they chant and want to be a part of it. Our schola director, Anders Bergmann, has the wonderful problem of needing additional space for the growing choir!

Last week as morning Mass was being celebrated and the unusual morning rains came down quite heavily, a loud and fast DRIP, DRIP, DRIP came through the chapel ceiling and, before Mass and Adoration were completed, managed to twice fill the large glass vase which had been quickly put under it. A temporary patch has been put in place but the flat roof over the chapel has multiple holes in it and water is already forming puddles below the surface, just waiting to find a way into the building. So we have one more project which must be done fairly quickly. After climbing onto the chapel roof and seeing the condition it was in, I was afraid to go up to the next level, the rectory roof, to see if it was just as bad. I know it must be checked out soon, too, but I dread doing it.

This week (Saturday, September 19) we begin a new program for high school kids. Two Saturday nights a month or thereabouts (check the website calendar for dates and contact information) the teens will meet in the church and pray Vespers (Evening Prayer) together before heading out to the “parish room” or what used to be labeled “classroom number 1” for a simple meal followed by either a catechism lesson on a topic of their choice or a game night.

Finally, along with the Latin class for both youth and adults being offered by Most Holy Redeemer parish, we will soon also have a Latin class being offered here at Epiphany for junior and high school youth. Our own Barbie Bauer will be teaching these classes Sunday mornings between the two Traditional Latin Masses. Stay tuned for more information about when this will start!

You know there is a lot more going on but no more room in this bulletin. Please read the bulletin every week and check the website for updates regularly. Photos, calendars, schedules and odds and ends change quite often even if most if the site looks the same.


With prayers for your holiness,

Fr. Edwin Palka