On February 27th Bishop Michael Cote blessed the new Blessed Sacrament Parish Administration Center and the renovated St Bernard Parish Center.
Father Rick, pastor of the Blessed Sacrament Parish addressed the parish on this great occasion. From his homily at the Mass of Blessing Father Rick shared these words.
Jesus speaks of our need to bear good fruit. We are called to use our time, talent, and resources in a way that we make a positive difference in the lives of others. We pray that our words and most especially our action positively impacts our world, homes, Church, and community.
The call to make a positive difference goes beyond our individual need to grow and bear fruit – Christ also directs us to make His Church 
strong, vibrant, growing, and welcoming.
Strong parishes, however, don’t just happen. It takes a concentrated effort from our entire faith family. Granted, God’s Grace is always available, but we need to cooperate with it. We need to offer up our time, the talent God gave us, and our resources to build up His Church. And that’s the key phrase -His Church.
I believe we are truly blessed as a parish. We have two vibrant campuses and wonderful people that willingly step forward and sacrifice for the greater good of our worshiping community. One of our strengths is that we realize we are a work in progress. We embrace the fact that we need to grow – that we don’t have all the answers, but we know who does and so we always first turn to Him. When we cooperate with His Grace – we will bear good fruit.
Certainly, through the new Blessed Sacrament Administration Offices and the New St Bernard Parish Center, we recognize that an example of good fruit is found in the work we do for our parish. The necessity of this two-year project became most evident when we reflected on our Parish Mission: As a Catholic family, we are called by Christ to prayerfully create and nourish a vibrant community centered on the Eucharist and dedicated to service, spirituality, and evangelization.
Plain and simple, we outgrew our aging buildings. Many of our people couldn’t participate in our programs because we had aging buildings that were not handicapped accessible. It was also very challenging trying to administer our parish with its two campuses from a building that found staff crowded into a Rectory that – no matter how hard we tried – could never be an effective central office for our large parish. We had buildings that were held together with duct tape and a prayer – not to mention the constant cost of repair work. Bottom line, achieving a vibrant growing community was getting harder and harder with our facilities. And so, we prayed and planned, and worked very hard and planned some more – until we found ourselves where we are today.
Our dream of having what we now have was only made possible by the generosity of some kind benefactors who loved their God and His Church, the diligent work of our Endowment and Finance Committee, and the generous sharing of your time, talent, and treasure. As the Gospel shares, “A good person out of the store of goodness in his or her heart produces good, for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks.”
I love that!
Our Churches are more than places to meet on Sunday mornings – they are a beautiful oasis of God’s Grace filling our hearts, strengthening our resolve, and inspiring our dreams and hope for a better future. Now more than ever we need to bear good fruit for a world that is starving.
Thank you everyone for all your prayers and support and encouragement during this exciting expansion of our Parish. The interesting thing about bearing fruit, however, is it’s not a one-time-only event – it is, in the eyes of Christ, a lifelong commitment. So, stay strong as faithful individuals and have the courage to be a witness of that faith in your community and in your Church. Let’s fill this new Parish Center with life, creativity, good works, education, laughter, faith, vision, and compassion.
The addition of an administration center provides office space for the parish staff and moves the parish offices out of the rectory which is now the residence for the priests. The renovation of the Parish Center reused many elements of the school and incorporated the stained-glass windows from the former convent.
by Deacon Michael Berstene
