My Dear Friends,

Summer is here! The move to Comber Hall, so that we can make the necessary renovations to our church, is now a little more than a week away. This beautiful church dreamed of and constructed by the founders of our parish stands a beacon of light rising among the canopy of trees of our beloved city. We have been entrusted with making sure that the Church of the Little Flower continues to shine and be a worthy house of prayer for the next century of our parish’s history. New pews, a fresh coat of interior paint, the reinforcement of our balcony, restoration of our glorious reredos, and a much needed fourth confessional will all be done during the summer months and stretching a bit into the fall. This work which is sorely needed will require us to move into Comber Hall, as I have previously announced, during the next few months to celebrate Mass and the sacraments in our original church, where our founders worshiped for the first 25 years of our parish’s existence. 

Now I can continue to wax poetic about this move and how beautiful our church will look when we reenter it this fall, but I am compelled to be honest with all of you, my beloved parishioners, this move to hall will be a major sacrifice. We have worked hard to make this transition seamless, but the fact of the matter is that we will be moving into a space that is half the size of our church, with no pews and no kneelers like the original church had. We are making every effort to make it a worthy space of worship as it was a century ago, but we will always have our beautiful church in mind with its majestic dome and glorious altar. 

But sacrifice is part of Christian spirituality, and sacrifice is a discipline that all too often we run away from or avoid. Jesus could not rise from the dead if he had not sacrificed his life on the cross for our sins. Our faith would not have spread to the rest of the world if the apostles had not left the Upper Room and left the familiar to go to all nations to spread the Good News. Sometimes escaping the familiar resets the way we see the blessings that we sometimes take for granted. Our love for the Eucharist increased during the pandemic five years ago when we were sadly separated from the celebration of the Mass. 

So, this summer will be a period of holy sacrifice for us worshiping in Comber Hall as we upkeep our church for future generations. The last time this happened was in 1987 when repairs were done. I have every faith in the resolve of this extraordinary community to overcome the “shock” of this move, and to embrace this cross that we have been called to carry. A long time ago, the saintly Bishop Roman told me: “all we need is an altar.” And that is precisely what we will have. The wooden altar from our chapel in the parish center will be moved to the hall so we can offer the Divine Sacrifice of the Mass on it every day. There will obviously be a tabernacle right behind the altar, and the statues of the saints will be moved into the hall along with the candles that we light. We will be able to come and go into this temporary worship space all day as we currently do in our church. As I mentioned above, the space is smaller so we will be closer to one another which is not necessarily a bad thing. On Sundays, we will need the second floor for overflow seating where the Mass will be livestreamed to a large screen TV and Holy Communion will be brought up to worshippers on the second floor. 

But in all of this, we must give thanks to God that the celebration of the Eucharist will go on uninterrupted. As glorious as our church is, as St. Peter tells in the Scripture, we are “living stones.” You are the Church, and we will offer worthy sacrifice to the Lord in our temporary home. 

Finally, I ask for your prayers and support. Prayers that all this work to be done in the church will be completed well and in a timely manner, and support for our Centennial Campaign which is funding that is sorely needed to complete work in the church. Early last week, I personally finished paying off the pledge of $10,000 that I made when we launched our campaign on October 1, 2023. I do not share this to brag, but to be able to lead by example as a servant leader. This campaign to upkeep our church and build a multi-purpose center for our school is so important that I felt that it was my duty to make a sacrificial gift beyond my means forcing me to go into my personal savings to support the work of our parish. I humbly implore you to do the same. The bills for all the work that is about to begin will now be coming in at a feverish pace, which is why I ask you: if you made a pledge, please follow through with the commitment you made. If you have not made a sacrificial gift to this campaign, please do it today by visiting cotlf.org/centennial. We are not just doing this for ourselves and for our children and grandchildren, we are doing all of this for the greater glory of God so that Little Flower can continue to preach the gospel in what is the most beautiful church in South Florida.

May God reward your generosity and your patience in the coming months. We must always remember that no matter where the Mass is offered, Jesus Christ is truly and really
present.

God Bless You All,