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Parking Suggestions We are a parish blessed with growth. With growth comes more traffic. Construction on the new Childhood center. Has caused us to lose some parking spots. I have a few suggestions that might make our parking situation better. First, the post office is not open on Sundays and those parking spots are available. It is an easy walk from there to the front door of the church. Second, the new plaza that The Village built just around the corner from the parish on Vineyard Boulevard has tons of parking spots. If you want to get a nice walk in on Sunday morning, and go to church, that would be a great place to park. Please remember that we may not park in the fire lane. For a $1000 gift to the early childhood center I will be happy to reserve you a parking spot at the rectory. Finally, you might consider carpooling to church. Find someone who lives near you and take turns driving each other to church.

As someone who gets a bit gooey about Christmas, I want you to know of my prayers and best wishes for you and your family. I hope the Christ child will gift you peace, and good health. May you be surrounded by the love of family and friends.

ADVENT 2024 I've always thought it a shame that Advent is such a brief season. In fact, it once lasted forty days but was shortened in the ninth century to its current four Sundays. Sometimes called the Little Lent, the Masses of Advent do have a somewhat somber tone. The color is purple, as in Lent, and the Gloria is suppressed, again, as in Lent. We are asked to use the season to prepare for the coming of Jesus Christ. We reflect on the inevitable end of all things and the coming of Christ at the end of time, and we reflect on the Lord's coming as the child in Bethlehem. Our souls must be prepared for these appearances; at the end of time, Christ will return as judge of the living and the dead.

Currently, we have electrical lines running between the main school building and the new Early Childhood Center. They are unsightly, but, more importantly, they pose a hazard to our property if a storm were to take them down. We want to bury them. OG&E has offered to help pay the cost, but it's still an expensive project. We need to raise $400,000. We are collecting cash and pledges toward this project. I would ask that every family contribute something to the cost. Special envelopes for this collection are available in the pews. Thank you to those who have already pledged or given. I appreciate your gift.

Catholic Charities has raised approximately $3 million of its goal of $3.5 million. If you haven't given, let me encourage you to do so before Thanksgiving. There are so many people here in the Oklahoma City metro who live on the fringes, especially the homeless. Catholic Charities has many services they offer to the poor and working poor of our area. It's holy work, and I know that you will be blessed if you make a donation.

How great a multitude! Women and men, husbands and their wives and their children, priests and prophets and mission workers and bakers and tailors and baristas and fire fighters and the homeless ones, the refugees, the trafficked, and the abused leading the march into the celestial celebration of their new found healing and wholeness. See the purple clad martyrs awed by their Spirit-given courage, the white robed virgins dancing with their Spouse, the gilded trains marking the daily holiness of mothers and fathers from every generation.

Our parking challenges continue. One idea I would toss out is allowing visitors and the older parishioners to park in front of the church. The expansive back parking lot should be used by younger and more mobile parishioners. Visitors would not be aware of the back parking lot.

OG&E has reached out to us with an offer to help us bury the electrical lines running between the current school building and the new Early Childhood Center. While, their "grant" money is significant (over $70,000), the cost to bury the lines will add approximately $400,000 to the cost of the project. We've met with some of our staunchest supporters, explained the opportunity, and asked for their feedback. The reaction was very positive. This is the moment, the opportunity, to get this done.

We are finalizing plans for the new Marian Garden and shrine. The statue is being crafted in Italy and the updates they've sent us look great. We've had over 100 people contribute a commemorated brick to the project (we have many more available). Fundraising is going fine, mainly due to the beauty of the project and the fact that we Catholics love any opportunity to honor our Blessed Lady.

On Wednesday evening, October 9, at 6pm, Fr. Jerome and I are hosting a newcomer gathering at the rectory. It's a great opportunity to introduce you to the parish and let you know of the many ministries that we offer you. It's also a great opportunity to meet your priests and for us to get to know you better. If you would like to attend, contact the office.

I am trying to put together a team for volunteers to help with Children's liturgy on Sunday mornings. If you are interested, join me on Monday, Sept. 23 at 6:30 pm in Ross Hall. If we can attract a good number of people, we could offer children's liturgy for two different age groups.

We are still accepting donations for our new Marian garden and shrine to be constructed on our east lawn. The company building the Early Childhood Center will also construct the garden, saving us on costs. If you donate $1,000 or over, your gift will be memorialized on a plague; gifts of $150 or more will be offered a brick to memorialize.

Our new Early Childhood Center is going to be an incredible addition to our school and physical plant. We hope to attract new families to our school and our parish. Alas, there is one glaring eyesore we currently don't have the money to address. Between the new Childhood Center and our main School building, power lines run the length of the property. We had hoped to get them buried while the new building was being constructed. Burying the lines is more than a beautification project; if those lines came down in a storm, they could do serious damage to our school building.

I am looking for six to ten people that will be willing to help coordinate and staff children’s liturgy of the Word. Ideally, I would like for us to offer this at the 9:30 a.m. Mass and the Noon Mass. We have been blessed with so many young families, and so many wonderful children, I think it’s important that kids be allowed to move during the Mass, and hear the word preached for them.

August 15 is the Feast of the Assumption of Mary. It is a Holy Day of Obligation, by the way. A collection is always taken up on that day. This year, all of the money given on that day will be used to build a beautiful new shrine to Mary and Jesus on our grounds. It will be located on the east side of our church, on that sweeping lawn that faces Hefner Road. The Shrine is being designed by Laud and Associates, who designed the landscape renovations done after the One Church, Many Disciples Campaign. The shrine will match the architecture of our church.

This summer has been one of the best summers of my time in seminary because I have had the great opportunity to live the life of the vocation Jesus has called me to share with Him. I have lived this out by accompanying the priests on sick calls, house blessings, and communion visits, but also in the day-to-day interactions with all of you, the parishioners of Saint Eugene’s.

Couples of all ages and stages whether dating, engaged or happily married are invited to our first date night at 6:30 p.m. on July 26 in Ross Hall. A short presentation will be offered, then couples are free to go and enjoy a date night together. Child care will be available through Kid Care Collective. This program is part of our new outreach to married couples. We hope to help couples strengthen their bond and offer them a chance to spend time together while their kids are looked after.

Thank you to the many who contributed to this year’s campaign. As I have written previously, the monies collected help the Archbishop fund his various ministries throughout the Archdiocese. St. Eugene is among the parishes served by these ministries.

Is there anything more calming than time spent in Eucharistic Adoration? Beginning after evening Mass on July 15, we will offer 48 hours of adoration in our chapel. Signup sheets are available in the narthex, or you may sign up on via a link in the Epistle. We’ll have security on site during the night hours. Families are welcomed to sign up together!

It’s not breaking news to share the fact that many young people are 1.) Foregoing marriage altogether; or, 2.) Cohabitating for a significant amount of time before seeking a sacramental marriage. Marriage rates have fallen dramatically in recent years. With that, the birth rate has also fallen.