The new (temporary) church, at long last!

Last night was the Consecration Mass at our new temporary church building, complete with a herd of altar servers, a bunch of priests and the very tall bishop in his very tall hat. I took this photo before Mass when there were only a few people gathered inside so there's a nice, clear shot all the way up the main aisle. About half an hour after this, though, there was standing room only.

I was very glad we got there early!

A moment of levity occurred when Bishop Higi and Father were moving around the church doing the Rite of Blessing. I was on the right side, sitting in a pew back near the piano, directly across from the doorway that leads to a conference room, which leads into Father's office, which leads into the main hallway. It was so crowded, there was just no room for the bishop to get through via the aisle -- many of those blue chairs you see in the picture had been lined up against the outer walls -- so when he stepped through that doorway with his neatly-tied bundle of ferns and dipped them into the aspergillum (fancy Latin word for "decorative bucket used to hold holy water"), he scored a MAJOR DIRECT HIT on me and all I can say is 1) I'm glad my parents insisted on swimming lessons when I was young; and 2) I am well and truly blessed.

This is just the first building on the church campus, with the "real" church, Gothic in style, to be completed in about five years. Someday, then, this will be the youth center/gymnasium, although it doesn't look much like a gym right now. "It almost looks too good," Father said last night at Mass. "We have to remember that this is just the beginning of all God has called us to do."

Yes, just the beginning. But what a beautiful beginning it is.