January 16, 2022

Dear Friends,

Grace and peace to you!

You may have heard or read in an email that on Tuesday, January 4th, we experienced a water line break in the school kitchen.  For those who hadn’t heard or were at either the 5 pm or 9 am Masses last week, a water line supplying the fire sprinkler system in the kitchen burst.  It was located above the walk-in freezer and refrigerator.  It burst during the second lunch period of school and caused quite an exciting moment as everyone was ushered out of the building as water was rushing into the kitchen and gym.  As the system quickly drained, it also caused a leak in the church portion of the system 40 feet off the floor. Fortunately, no one was hurt but we did lose all the food in the two walk-ins.  Since repairs could not be completed until Thursday, school and daily Mass were canceled as the building could not be occupied while the fire sprinkler system was out of service.

I would like to thank our staff and teachers for their quick response in moving all the children to safety out of the building as the situation unfolded.  Our gratitude goes also to the Maryland Heights Fire Department for their quick response and assistance in moving much of the water out of the gym and kitchen.  Their quickaction prevented any damage to the gym floor.

Monday, January 17th, is a federal holiday in our country, Martin Luther King, Jr., Day. The day honors the achievements of Martin Luther King, Jr. He was the most prominent and influential of African American civil rights leader during the 1960s and was instrumental in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlawed discrimination in public accommodations, facilities, and employment, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Martin Luther King Day first became a federal holiday in 1986.

If you are of my generation or older, you most likely remember Dr. King.  Growing up in East St. Louis I remember listening to his speeches in school.  I remember his I Have a Dream speech and his speech where he used the song We Shall Overcome as the outline of his speech. I also remember singing that song in church. Here is an excerpt of the speech he gave in the National Cathedral on March 31, 1968. "And I tell you why we shall overcome. Because the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice. We shall overcome because Carlyle is right, “No lie can live forever.” We shall overcome because William Cullen Bryant is right: “Truth crushed to earth will rise again. “We shall overcome because James Russell Lowell is right: Truth forever on the scaffold, wrong forever on the throne, yet that scaffold sways the future and behind the dim unknown standeth God within the shadows keeping watch above his own. We shall overcome because the Bible is right, “You shall reap what you sow” We shallovercome. Deep in my heart I do believe we shall overcome.”

As many of us will have the day off, I wonder, can we all pray that racism and prejudice can be overcome in our lifetime? Can we all pray that each of us look at each other as sisters and brothers created in the image and likeness of God?  Pray for the day that we look at each other not as different but as the same. Can we ever reach that day? Yes, we can.  Let us pray!

Blessings to all and let’s pray for each other this week.

Peace,

Father Bob