Fr. Simon's Letter - July 2, 2023 - Queen of All Saints

A Happy Fourth of July to all! As we celebrate with cookouts and fireworks along with family and friends, let us make it a day of reflection, remembrance and gratitude. May we remind ourselves that the freedom we enjoy comes at a price: it does not give us the license to do whatever we want whenever we want, but rather to do what we ought to do.

We know that our Founding Fathers had to fight many battles to obtain the freedom which they believed was our God-given right. Independence Day is always a day of gratitude for all those who battled for freedom, and a reminder that the battle for freedom endures today. Although there are disagreements and varying opinions on a lot of crucial issues, we have to be grateful that we live in a country that allows for disagreement and debate, and hopefully constructive dialogue, to take place.

Please use the following prayer for our nation and its people as we celebrate God’s gift of freedom and protection to us and to our nation.

God, source of all freedom,
this day is bright with the memory
of those who declared that life and liberty
are your gift to every human being.
Help us to continue a good work begun long ago.
Make our vision clear and our will strong:
that only in human solidarity will we find liberty,
and justice only in the honor that belongs
to every life on earth.
Turn our hearts toward the family of nations:
to understand the ways of others, to offer friendship,
and to find safety only in the common good of all.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

A word about the temperatures in the basilica: Last year I had mentioned that we are

looking into a new air-conditioning system for the basilica. The reason we have to do this is:

The current system is about 70 years old and installed in the Lemont building of the school and it cools either the basilica or the gym and cafeteria in the Lemont building. We cannot cool both buildings at the same time.
The cold air is piped in from there with no controls to regulate the temperature. We have to either turn if off or keep it on. Since the basilica is a large volume of space to cool, it is better for us to keep it running. It takes an hour to cool the basilica. Secondly, the more often we turn the system on or off, we risk it not starting up again.

We began looking into isolating the basilica and updating its cooling system with advanced controls. We engaged the services of a reputable company to give us a master plan to air-condition our buildings in a phased manner. They presented us with preliminary proposals, and in August will present us with the costs and timelines.

When we decide, after consultation with the finance council, we will bid out the project and sign a contract to go forward with the plans, hopefully in the fall at the latest. Please be aware that due to supply-chain issues, the lead time for procuring equipment is about 60 weeks. Based on this timeline, we anticipate the installation of a new air-conditioning system for the basilica in the fall of 2025.

In the meantime, based on the recommendations by the company that takes care of the repair and maintenance of the air-conditioning system, we will turn it off when the outside temperature is below 78 degrees. We will have to keep the air-conditioning system running over the weekend due to weddings and the volume of people entering and exiting the basilica. You may find it a little cool on Sunday mornings. Please bear with us as we go through this summer and next before we get the new system.

Thank you for your patience.

Blessings!!