Bishop’s Note
Sickness is still ravaging the school and church. Miss Mikesell, one of our schoolteachers and the school choir director, pretty much lost her voice and could not sing for a week. I hope she gets better soon and can return to singing. Fr. Simpson came to the rescue and sang the propers on two separate school days, and even sang the Rorate Mass on one of those days. He didn’t seem to mind at all.
Speaking of singing, the choir has been hard at work preparing for all the Sundays and Holy Days which are bunched up this year. We have the best choir that I have heard, and I’ve been to many places where they have excellent choirs and superb voices. The choir as a whole rarely receives the thanks that they deserve. It is true that they will receive a great reward in heaven because, “He who sings prays twice.” Still, it must be nice to hear a compliment or to receive a simple “thank you.” So, thank you to each and every one of you who sacrifices so much to add beauty to our liturgical services. Your hard work and labor of love never goes unnoticed, though at times it might go unmentioned.
You might know that two of our cars have been out of commission since July. When Fr. Cekada died, the title should have been switched and put in Bishop Dolan’s name, but because life is busy here at SGG this never happened. Now, since Bishop Dolan’s death, the cars have to go through two separate stages in probate. The first is to switch the cars from Fr. Cekada’s estate to Bishop Dolan’s; the second is to switch them from Bishop Dolan’s estate to the church. It has taken a while, but we should conclude this business sometime around Christmas and then be able to use those two much-needed cars. Say a prayer that it all works out soon. If all goes well with my mother’s estate, I may be able to attain another car to lend to the Sisters to drive back and forth to church. We will see if this pans out.
Our four seminarians received the cassock on the feast of the Immaculate Conception. You can see a photo of the event in the bulletin. Pictured in the front row, from left to right, are:
Alfonso (Poncho) Capetillo, a second year seminarian from SGG; Joshua Balancio, a first year seminarian from the San Francisco Bay area; Roberto Gorbea, a second year seminarian who is from Puerto Rico, but had been a seminarian at Sacred Heart Church in Lawrence, MA; and finally, Miguel Jomarrón, a first year seminarian from Cuba, but who has more recently lived in Michigan. The priests in the picture are Fr. Carlos Ercoli (on the left) and Fr. Hector Romero (on the right), both originally from Argentina. Fr. Ercoli was ordained by Bishop Dolan and taught at Most Holy Trinity Seminary while I was still a seminarian there.
Today is Rejoicing Sunday. May Our Lady of the Smile bring you some peace of heart and a cheerful disposition this last week before Christmas.
– Bishop McGuire