On the left (east) side of the church is a chapel dedicated to the Holy Family, the focal point of which is a marble three-quarteHelief of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph mounted on the wall. The large octagonal marble baptismal font was transferred to this chapel from its original position off the vestibule of the church. Outside the Easter season, the Paschal Candle is kept here as a prominent part of the appointments around the font. Along the left wall of this chapel is a bank of votive lights.
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While the words and art forms cannot contain or confine God, they can, like creation itself, be icons or "avenues of approach" to the numerous presences of the Lord Jesus in Word and Sacrament, and they can multiply the ways of coming in contact with the Mystery without totally grasping or comprehending.
In flood, fire, rock, the sea, mountains, clouds, as well as in political situations and calamities, the Israelites in the Old Testament sought the Face of God and found help in discerning the way towards the reign of justice and peace. Biblical faith assures us that God binds Himself to His people through human events and calls His people to shape human events for time and eternity. God sent us Jesus. In Jesus the Word of God becomes Flesh:
This is what we proclaim to you: what was from the beginning, what we have hears, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked upon and our hands have touched: we speak of the Word of life. (I John 1:1)
Christians have not hesitated to use every human art form in their celebration of the saving work of God in Jesus Christ, although in every age they have been influened, and at times even inhibited, by cultural circumstances. While upholding that no human words or art forms can contain or exhaust the Mystery of God's love -- but that all words and art forms can be used to praise God in our liturgical assembly -- then the criteria to judge what is good and beneficial and conducive to worship at a given time and under particular circumstances is always changing.
Our parish church is a magnificent tribute to all who have worked so long and diligently to bring it to completion. Thanks must be extended to all our benefactors, both living and deceased, and to all the people of the parish and community whose generosity and encouragement have made this dream come true. The material progress of a people within a parish often establishes the demand for services and needs. It is important that the material good of the parish community try to match, at least in some small way, our spiritual and educational needs. This contribution was most certainly given by the generations before us. Their sacrifices made possible our spiritual and educational systems of today. Our sacrifices must continue to make such progress possible and give to each of us the assurance that there will always be a proportionate spiritual advance toward personal union with the Risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is He who will reward such loyalty and generosity with an ever-increasing faith and with His choicest blessings.
2 Born in Brighton, England in 1883, Gill's greatest artistic achievement was the Stations of the Cross for Westminster Cathedral, the Roman Catholic cathedral in London, England. He was constantly looking for new expressions for living his life and his artistic passions, and his reading and investigations led hi111 to the Dominican Third Order. It was to become one of the great forces of his life. After a long career of artistic merit, Eric Gill died during an air raid, though not as a result of it, in 1940.
3 In 1979, a fourth U.S. Dominican province was formed under the patronage of St. Martin de Porres, OP which serves in the southern United States.
4 This Madonna and Child was brought back from Florence, Italy by Father Joseph Allen, OP, in 1980, to be hung in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel. It has been mounted on wood covered in gold velvet, then framed in an antique gilt wood frame.