At a principals’ meeting last week at the Church of the Resurrection in New Albany Bishop Fernandes quoted Charles Dickens. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”
If you have not been to Resurrection Parish, it is a monument to the success of the Catholic Church in the Diocese of Columbus. I don’t know how many parishioners there are, but the church building is grand. It is a large and beautiful sacred space. We hold our meetings there in its parish hall. There is so much parking space that New Albany High School takes a portion of it for its students during the week.
In addition to what is already there, as I drove in that morning, the steel beams of a large addition to the church were gleaming in the sun. Its apparently planned footage for the addition itself is larger than the Our Lady of Peace school building. The cost for this addition, which I have no doubt they are in need of, must be in the millions.
After the meeting I had an errand in Columbus. I took a small detour into the heart of the south end. Just recently, Corpus Christi Church on Stewart Ave. was demolished. It was a grand parish made of stone and brick built 110 years ago as one of four parishes serving the people of South Columbus. Time and demographics and priestly manpower were the death knell of the parish. Now the church building itself is gone, to be replaced, it is reported, by low-income housing.
I make no political commentary about the fact that Corpus Christi Church is no more while Resurrection thrives. It is well above my pay grade to have any input on decisions necessitated by the shift in population in central Ohio during the last 110 years. But I was reminded that just four years ago, our own Our Lady of Peace Parish was recommended to be closed, absorbed by the larger parishes to the north and south of us.
Fortunately, we were given a reprieve. Both our school and parish are thriving with people. But the portraits of Corpus Christi and Church of the Resurrection are a reminder to us that while God is eternal, parishes are not.
Father Anthony has made it known that the parish offices, the church and the school all need new roofs. The parish office is an immediate need. One only has to look up at the skylight of the church to know that the roof must be replaced sooner than later. Our school’s roof can hold out for a bit, but in heavy rains we look for the new places that the water finds to come in.
Father Anthony has a clear vision for our parish and its needs. At some point we must step up and support him and those needs. This does not simply mean opening up our checkbooks, although that will certainly be required soon. It means supporting the life of our parish and school in myriad ways.
We need to support the sacred life of Our Lady of Peace by attending Mass on a regular basis. We need to continue to support the outreach programs of our parish whether it be St. Vincent De Paul, our various spiritual enrichment programs, or even our family activities such as the recent tree lighting and our parish festival.
Our school is a vital part of our parish as well. It houses educational activities six days a week with both our school and PSR programs. It hosts sporting practices and many other events throughout the year. Every child of our parish should either be attending classes at Our Lady of Peace School or coming on Sundays for PSR. As parishioners we should help to encourage our friends and neighbors to attend.
Our needs are many at Our Lady of Peace. The reputation of our parish is that we are positively vocal in our support and financially generous. Our parish leaders, Father Anthony, the parish staff, the school staff, the heads of our ministries all pledge to keep Our Lady of Peace vibrant in it love for Christ and His mission to build the kingdom.
We may never get a multi-million-dollar addition like Resurrection Parish (although I wouldn’t bet against that possibility one day) but I don’t want to see our campus leveled to the ground like Corpus Christi. May we support each other and our parish in prayer and in support. We are soon celebrating our 80th Anniversary. May there be many more!
Jim Silcott