Dear Fellow Parishioners, We have been the “Frozen Chosen” these past two weeks and I must say you have all been good sports about the situation with the heat. Some of the memorable comments were, pun intended, “heartwarming!” Among the many, “Listen, we have sat in the cold for hours at Foxboro with no complaints, an hour at church should never hurt anyone!” “The good news is that the cold is keeping me alert and I am able to pay attention to what is going on!” “This is nothing compared to what our brothers and sisters in Ukraine are experiencing!” As your pastor, I am focusing on my role as leader of prayer and ministry of the Word. I leave the Buildings and Grounds attention to people who are experienced in that area, as I do all areas of parish ministry. We need to remember, we are all in this together, and this is your parish. Kevin Maldarelli had been in constant communication with the Gervais, our heating and plumbing company; as well as the Diocesan Director of Facilities; Rob Callahan, our Parish Finance Director, and of course, me as pastor. Our currant radiant heating system is made up of pipes encased in cement beneath the pews. It is not repairable. So, we need to look at all other heating options. The mini-splits you see in our church are not connected to heat pumps. They are more than 20-year-old air conditioner units that were warranted for ten years. When we did our renovations, we did install heat pumps in the Day Chapel and the Family room. So, here is what we are going to do. To give us more time to investigate the best solution to our heating problems, we are going to install a temporary heating system to help us make it through the winter. It will blow hot air from the front of the church using our current boilers that are providing heat to the center and auxiliary rooms. In the meantime, we will have more time to decide exactly what is best for the future. If any of you wish to join the Buildings and Grounds Team and share your wisdom, please call the office and we will get you started. What ever we do will be costly. As several parishioners noted, “It is our parish home, as we have done for the last eighty-eight years, we will rise to the occasion and take car of the needs of our campus!” How wonderful that was to hear from several people. As always, transparency is essential to the life of our community. I trust the wisdom of the many people involved in all our ministries that we are always doing that which is beneficial for all. The bottom-line! We will gather together this weekend to warmly welcome all! Fr. Bill