January 28, 2023

From your Pastor 

Re-Visit St. Anthony Abbot

In last week’s bulletin, I included a mini-bio of St. Anthony Abbot, whose feast day in the Church was January 17. I mentioned that he was one to live out his faith, not just hold it in theory.  

In 3rd century Egypt, he gave away his sizable inheritance in exchange for a life of prayer, fasting, and manual labor.  Ultimately he moved out into the desert, where a number of men followed and assumed his lifestyle close by.  This marked the stirrings of monastic life, which continues to this day.

I ended with a burning question, the contemplation of which would surely take us deep into our spiritual recesses.  But, alas!  The question accidently ended up on the editing room floor!  It was inadvertently snipped in the haircut of reflective ventures.  Never fear, it is repeated here--below:

“St. Anthony Abbot moved faith into living a life.

Those of us coming after him do not have to move out into a desert.  

Where we are planted, we simply ask ourselves:

“do I ‘think’ faith in God, or do I ‘live’ faith in God.”

Hopping Back on the Train (or Crane) OLL Building Study

Periodically, parishioners everywhere are tasked with maintaining or upgrading church facilities in order to assure the legacy of faith moving forward to future generations.  In McCall, Catholics are in the 107th year of providing the opportunity for practice of the Catholic faith.  In that time, during Mass alone, Jesus Christ has been present upon our altars at least 39,055 times.

The 1916 Our Lady of Perpetual Help was replaced 48 years later with Our Lady of the Lake (1964).  The nave and sanctuary of Our Lady of the Lake were renovated 29 years after, in 1993.  We are now 30 years beyond that renovation date.  In the midst of this, we have not had the advantage of an adequately sized gathering hall, and there have been ongoing challenges with parking and access.  Currently, many issues are connected with the ongoing feasibility of our office building.  
 

Upon my arrival on July 01, 2022, a project was successfully underway to replace the rectory. (My broken ankle thanks you!)  
 

In the fall of 2022, a study was conducted concerning improvements/updates for the OLL campus.  Rough estimations were made for two options:

• Option 1 – the viability of relocation of Our Lady of the Lake to accommodate issues such as parking, access, and customary parish facilities.  

• Option 2 – the review of OLL remaining in her current location, with the addition of various facilities, plus improvements for parking and access. 

The short answer?  

Relocation costs are roughly 3 to 1 higher 

than making additions/improvements to OLL’s current site.

Per my direction, a study is now underway 

to look more closely at additions and improvement to our current site.  

Ultimately, the findings will be presented for discussion with the entire parish.

The “Broad Strokes” to be Considered:

• Sale and removal of A-frame Rectory

• Additional parking, front and back

• ADHD compliant access, focused primarily from the upper portion of the property.

• Sale and removal of modular portions of current office building

• Building of a new addition off the north side of the church, to accommodate: overflow seating for liturgies, social hall with commercial kitchen, rest rooms, classroom(s), meeting room(s), parish offices, storage, and garage. 

While the primary reason for this parish is gathering as a faith community to give God what is due in worship, 

Our Lady of the Lake can shine for the glory of Christ 

with beautiful facilities amidst a growing medical area in a well-traveled community.

Welcome to Confirmation Class!

• What: Confirmation Classes began on Tuesday, January 24, and are being presented by Fr. Neely & Deacon Floyd

• When: Tuesdays: 5:00pm - 6:15pm for 8 weeks (Jan 24; Jan 31; Feb 07; Feb 14; Feb 21; Feb 28; Mar 07; Mar 14)

• Where: Classroom - Top floor of Our Lady of the Lake Office Building. If you have questions, please contact the office, info@ollidaho.org.