Slowly I have been sifting through some of the historical information from the beginnings of a simple Newman club on the WSU campus in 1949 to the establishment of our parish in 1970 and everything in between.  In the near future we would like to create a historical wall in the hallway by the parish office.  If you would be interested in helping put this together or if you have any information or pictures please let Janet, JP or I know.   Many parishioners and students have told me that one reason they love to be a part of St. Paul’s/Newman Center is because there is such a friendly and communal atmosphere.  I will say that this has been my experience too.  And so, we need to honor and celebrate the 40 years that our parish has been around.  So many lives have been touched throughout these 40 years.  We are planning a parish dinner on the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, which is on January 25, 2011.  So please mark your calendars!!!  Dinner will be at 6:30 p.m. and I will ask some of the Newmanites to wait tables and serve so that the parishioners can meet some of the students (and this will hopefully be an annual event!)

We have been busy this summer, but the summer updating is winding down.  You will notice the image of the Pious Pelican that adorns the Altar in the adoration chapel.  There are several images and symbols that emerged in the early Church to communicate different aspects of Christian life and worship.  This particular image, where the mother pelican pecks her flesh to feed her young with her own blood became a symbol to acknowledge the self-sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross and His giving of His flesh and blood to us in the Eucharist, the Sacrifice of the Mass.  And the two quotes from the Book of Psalms surrounding the Chapel of Divine Mercy calls to mind the loving care that God has for each of us and that all our hope and trust is in Him.

In Christ’s Love,

Fr. John N. Hay

It was February 10, 1970 when Bishop David M. Maloney canonically established our parish of St. Paul’s.  We are in the 40th anniversary year of the establishment of our parish!  Last summer, Fr. Eric Weldon began to update that recreation area of the basement which turned out great.  And so, we are going ahead with some additional updating, such as: fresh coat of paint in the Christopher room and the basement, reorganizing storage space and moving furniture around to change it up a bit, and painting the stair-well.  You’ll notice the stenciling in the Christopher Room and the large chapel.  All of these things are ways we can give our parish facility a cost-effective updating.  And in honor of the 40th Anniversary of the establishment of St. Paul’s Parish, as you walk in the front doors you will see a new picture of St. Paul.  It is only appropriate that St. Paul would be front and center in his own church.  To the left of St. Paul a picture I found in the basement of the Blessed Virgin Mary and to the right our pictures of the Pope and Bishop.  This depiction of St. Paul displayed in the center of the entryway is quite famous.  It is a picture of an icon written (they refer to the making of icons as “writing” because it is a spiritual process) by Andrei Rublev, a famous Russian iconographer.  This image of St. Paul is around 6 centuries old.  We have a wonderful parish, and it is not the building that is most important but the people that will use it.  This is a great time in the history of our parish and we have to work hard to maintain the beauty and purpose of this place.  The actual amount that we need each week to do that (without the diocesan subsidy) is $4,058.38.  As I said last week, we have a lot of work to do, but we will do it together.  God bless you.

In Christ’s love,

Fr. John N. Hay