My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
We enter into the Fifth Sunday of Lent this weekend. In the Gospel Reading, we hear Jesus raising Lazarius from the dead. It leads the Sanhedrin to make the decision to kill Jesus. We are rooted in God’s love and the calling of Lazarus to come out is to tell us that Jesus calls us each by name and wants to draw us to himself. Next Sunday we will begin Holy Week starting on Palm Sunday. We will be invited to participate in the Passion Narrative. The Passion Narrative invites us to see how Jesus fought evil with love and to tell us that that sacrifice is worth it.
Once again, in addition to our Lenten offerings, we will be praying the Stations of the Cross on Wednesday at 6pm at Mary Our Queen and on Fridays at 4pm at St John Vianney. Please note that there is an added bonus attending the Stations of the Cross at St John Vianney as you will get the opportunity to skip the line to the Fish Fry at St John Vianney after the Stations of the Cross.
This Friday will be our last Lenten Fish Fry for the season of Lent at Mary Our Queen from 5 to 7pm and St John Vianney from 4:30pm to 8pm. Please join us if you can. We would like to thank our Knights of Columbus at both Mary Our Queen and St John Vianney for hosting the Fish Fries.
Mary Our Queen was awarded a matching grant of up to $200,000 through the Lavigne Foundation and the Archdiocese of Omaha late last year. This opportunity will support important campus improvements and security upgrades, including security software, door and access-control enhancements, improved communication systems between the Parish Office and School, and the replacement of aging boilers. This grant will significantly strengthen the safety and long-term infrastructure of our parish community. If you would like to contribute to our matching grant, kindly contact our Parish Office.
We are in the midst of planning to replace our steam boilers on Mary Our Queen’s Campus with new hot water boilers thanks to the matching grant through the Lavigne Foundation. We will also be upgrading the control system in the Kenny Center which was installed when the Kenny Center was built. The old steam boilers will then be removed to allow the space it occupies to be used as a storage area. We hope to complete this project this summer.
We are also in the midst of planning to update a few classrooms of the upper floor of our School using funds that were raised from our MARQUEE Raise the Paddle as well as to update the flooring and ceiling tile on the lower level of the School that leads to the elevator and used uniform room. In addition to the funds that were raised from the MARQUEE, the Men’s Club of Mary Our Queen and Mary Our Queen’s Knights of Columbus have each graciously donated $10,000 towards the upgrades. We are grateful for their generosity. The hope is that we are able to update all the classrooms on the upper floor in three to four years time.
Blessings for the week,
Fr Marc
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