Our renovation is now moving into a new phase. All of
the old stone has been removed from the front of the church and the rectory,
and replaced with new stone. That is why the scaffolding in front of the church
is gone. Now the workers are building the new lobby and bathrooms that will
occupy the space between the church and the rectory. It is really happening.
Another part of the construction is the remodeling of
the front half of the first floor of the rectory, where the nursery is. The
nursery will be back, with a new bathroom and a new emergency exit onto the
courtyard. The rest of that floor, where the old offices of the parish were
years ago, is being remodeled to be meeting room space. We can certainly use
more meeting rooms! It could serve as a bride’s room for weddings, a place for
the family to gather prior to a funeral, as a location for children’s Liturgy
of the Word, for adult education gatherings, and as a meeting space for
committees and small groups. We will have no problem finding many uses for it.
But how to designate this new space? It needs a name.
Instead of saying let’s meet in the first floor of the rectory, we should give
this space a name. We already have Paulist Hall, Hecker Hall, Our Lady of
Guadalupe Room, St. Augustine Room, Sts. Joan and Raymond Room and so on. In
this manner we should also name this room next to the nursery.
I have several suggestions, in keeping with the
overall Paulist theme in names. St.
Barnabas Room. An early disciple, the church in Jerusalem sent Barnabas to
check on the church in Antioch, which was the first to admit Gentiles into
Christianity. Barnabas, from Cyprus, is described as “a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith.” (Acts 11: 28).
It was Barnabas who got St. Paul involved in missionary work. He was a faithful
companion of St. Paul on several of Paul’s missionary journeys. So he would be
a good choice for naming the room.
Another option would be St. Phoebe Room. She
too was a companion and helper to St. Paul. In Romans 16:1 St. Paul commends
her to the Romans and refers to her as a deacon. Paul comments “she has been a benefactor of many and of
myself as well,” so she is a good patron for donors.
Sts Priscilla and Aquila were sort of an advance team for St. Paul. He met
this wife and husband in Corinth (Acts 18:2). They had been in Rome but the
Emperor Claudius had expelled all Jews from Rome. They became very close to St.
Paul and accompanied him on his missionary journey to Ephesus. Later they
became an advance team preparing the way for St. Paul in Rome, where they were
known. In Romans 16:3 St. Paul wrote:
“Greet Priscilla and Aquila, who work with me in Christ Jesus, and who risked
their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the
churches of the Gentiles.” I think they should be better known, and it
would be interesting to have a room in the rectory named after a married
couple.
Another possibility, especially since this room will
be adjacent to the nursery, is to name it after the Holy Family. You
can’t go wrong with that.
I invite all those who have participated in the
renovation effort to express your preference to a member of the Parish Pastoral
Council. You can find the PPC members at church wearing their blue PPC name
tags. Or you can email your thoughts to the PPC at pastoralcouncil@staustin.org.
The Parish Council will consider your input and early next year choose a name
for this renewed room.
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