Fr. Chuck's Column, March 19, 2017

I hope you all had a relaxing and enjoyable Spring Break!!!

Hopefully you will notice that our project to renovate the exterior of our church and rectory buildings has entered a new phase. It is kind of hard to ignore.

Traffic flow and entrance/exit from the church is affected. This will go on till the middle of next February. YIPES! So just settle down and get used to the dust, the disruption, the noise. Your patience and cooperation are very much appreciated.

But when we are done things will be MUCH BETTER. First and most importantly of all, we will have a safe church. You will not have to worry about a stone falling off the wall and crashing on to you. That alone makes this whole project, and its cost, and its disruption, worthwhile.

But that is not all! In addition, we will get BATHROOMS! Real handicapped accessible bathrooms for both women and men, just like in a grown-up church! We will have MORE bathrooms and BETTER bathrooms. It will be WONDERFUL!!!

But that is not all! We will have a refreshed and renewed nursery in the front of the rectory, and NEW usable space for meetings, classes, Children’s Liturgy of the Word, and many other activities. And believe me, we need more meeting space, especially on Sunday during Faith Formation (formerly “religious ed”).

But that is not all! The appearance of our church will be vastly improved. Instead of being mistaken for abandoned buildings (as has happened), we will be noticed as one of the most attractive and attention grabbing houses of worship on the Drag! Instead of at every wedding and funeral people tell us “I have driven up and down Guadalupe for a dozen years and never knew there was a church here,” now people will tell new comers to Austin that UT is near where St. Austin is, because we will be so well known.

Yes, we have much to look forward to. But in the meantime, we must all practice some patience. There will be confusion, dust, noise, parking difficulties, but we can handle it. Indeed, we can thrive!