St. Mary Magdalen Church Expansion June 13, 2004 BUILDING
GOD’S HOUSE IN OUR TIME CAPITAL
CAMPAIGN UPDATE Capital
Campaign Pacesetter gifts have raised $2,798,495.87 million in
pledges and $762,262.22 in
cash received. Together
our entire parish family can build the spiritual foundation to meet the
needs of our growing family. We
thank you for doing your best, so that God can do the rest.
If you are not able to contribute at this time or do not agree
with the project, know that we respect your conscience and ask for your
prayers. It would be
helpful to the solicitor to answer their phone call and tell them
whether you are able or not. We
thank all who have contributed and all who are sacrificing their time
and sharing the story of St. Mary Magdalen home to home.
St. Mary Magdalen Pray for Us! SMM
CAMPAIGN BOOK This is a remembrance of those who are providing a larger facility for our growing parish family to worship God, learn our faith, and practice charity. We are grateful to all who can and desires to contribute financially and for all those who do their best through prayer and charity. We need all your prayers and be assured of ours for our entire faith family. If any contributors do not want their name published, please advise us. We already have a number of anonymous donors. God bless you. E.
Farnsworth Bisbee, II Catherine
& William Casey Christine
& Kevin Coyne Ellen
& George Curran Dolores
Dinyon Zaber
& Thomas DuBois Frances
Lee
Florence
& Diodoro Minuti William
& Deborah Rafferty John
& Marie Sanders Erminia
& Hugo Zaccaria Julie
& James Zaccaria IN
MEMORY OF O.
P. Tedesco, MD
JOIN
OUR CAPITAL CAMPAIGN TEAM FUNDRAISING
CHAIRS Charles
& Jacque Aman, 610-627-5551 Bill
& Jean Cotter, 610-565-3563 PACESETTER
COMMITTEE Rudy
& Anne Chillemi, 610-566-3206 Larry
& Regina Donato, 610-353-9729 Dave
& Libby Franklin, 610-627-9985 Ray
& Eileen Wilson, 610-891-0618 LEADERSHIP
COMMITTEE John
& Bernadette Brokars, 610-359-8744 Bonita
& James Clark, 610-353-7930 Tom
& Rodie Henson, 610-892-7361 Bob
Roetz, 610-627-0326 ANTICIPATING
A DREAM FOR SMM By
Rodie Alvare-Henson It’s early winter, 2005 and the wind has turned bitterly cold. But, we aren’t full focused on the temperature today as we pull into the drive at SMM school. We are dedicating our new church this morning and our thoughts tend to be all over the place-on the past, and how we arrived at this moment; the present, with all the excitement in the air’ and the future, as we have built this church not only for ourselves, but for those who go after us. We look beautiful and handsome and our children are dressed as they would be for Christmas morning. One girl is lovelier than the next; the boys have belts on and their shirts tucked in-for a moment. As we leave our cars and walk to the entrance of this very handsome structure, we can smell the newness of wood and freshly applied paint. But this is nothing compared to the splendor within. For, the altar looks like a bride on her wedding day, glowing in anticipation; where vase after vase of white flowers and green leaves are artfully arranged, with an eye for beauty and an understanding of the earth. The sun streams thru the stained glass window throwing shadows of blues, reds, and greens on the walls and on the floor and tumbling into the pews. The music is celestial and speaks to each soul; and, the clergy and altar servers are dressed majestically today as they take their place behind the cross and wait for that special moment to process down the aisle. Burning candles bridge the gap from ancient Christian days to this very moment in our lives. This is the church that we’ve built in our time. We will all be lost in our personal thoughts that day. We will all feel a certain pride knowing that we helped shape this vision; and some of our experiences during the capital campaign will linger. We will remember the incredible people we worked with, grew to know, and now deeply respect and care about. We will be grateful that we now understand our community a little bit better because of those we called upon and learned about for the first time. We will remember the dissention and pray that it dissipates with time. How often during the past few months have I thought of our patron saint, Mary Magdalen. Here was this beautiful sinner who caused controversy in the world because she followed Christ; and who was sometimes envied from within, by the apostles. Yet, it was she who was first at the tomb on Easter morning and she who proclaimed to the world that, “He is Risen!” I have asked her on many occasions to walk with us as we call on and visit one another. My prayers have been this: that we have left those willing and able to contribute their time, talent and means, with a deeper appreciation of their faith. That we have left those who truly wish to contribute but for whatever reasons were unable, with empathy and gratitude for all they’ve done in the past. That we have left those who prayed on the subject and could not in good conscience give to what they didn’t believe in, with comfort and respect. And, that we have left those who vehemently oppose our plans, with tenderness and compassion. In essence, that we have left all those we have encountered, with love. And
here is the prayer I will pray on that crisp winter morning when we
dedicate our new church and celebrate its opening:
May this church that we have worked so hard to realize, be the
very place where we grow wiser and deepen our commitment to live as He
commanded us to do. May this
church be the very place where we decide to be different from the world
while living in it. May this
church be the very place where we become the saints we were born to be.
And may it be in this very place where they look at us and say, “See
how those Christian love one another.”
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