As you know since Catholic Priests only work on Sunday, I have been keeping busy with my weekday job with Fransen-Pittman, and this week moved a lot of dirt!

Seriously, between the great crew from Lightning Ventures and the great team at Fransen-Pittman a lot of earthwork and preparation happened this week!

So – we are now ready for Flow-fill and the footings on the Corner of our existing building.

The work continues around the back of the building to the new eastern access to the driveway

Finally, the western corners of our new church take shape!

Great Job Team and thanks St. Francis Parishioners for your generosity, support and love that enable us to do this wonderful project!

Fr. Brad

This past Tuesday I had the great opportunity to be with the Permanent Deacons of our Diocese, my brother priests and our Bishop as we celebrated the Feast of St. Lawrence Deacon and Martyr. Our Bishop gave a wonderful homily about the importance and the role of the Permanent Diaconate. It was a great experience for me as I sat behind the altar and could look at the faces of each of the permanent Deacons as they recommitted themselves in the life of the service to the Church. What a tremendous blessing our Permanent Deacons are! What a blessing their wives and families are in support of their ministry!

I know that my own priesthood has been very blessed by the opportunity to work side by side with our Permanent Deacons! I certainly apporeciate the friendship of Deacon Chuck Matzker and his wife Barb who has walked with me since my ordination as a transitional Deacon and Priest. I was very blessed to work with Deacon Dick Brown, Deacon Rick Antinora and Deacon Ken Huard at St. Pat’s! I am especially blessed to work with Deacon Tom Liotta and Deacon George Linehan here – Deacon Tom has been a real blessing in my life here! After the Mass on Tuesday all of the Permanent Deacons of our Northern Region, and their wives, joined Fr. Gus, myself and Gene (my Sacristan) for a very nice meal. It was truly great to be around such a great group of very holy, compassionate and energetic people. I certainly ask your prayers for those men who are preparing to be ordained as Deacons in June – such as Pete McCann.

Finally, as we celebrated our Permanent Deacons, we also pause to remember those permanent Deacons who are now with God and are at Peace. I certainly remember Deacon Bob Hunter who served so well here in the Northern Region, and our daily prayers go out to Carol his beloved wife. Deacon Bob was such a model of inspiration and really embodied what a deacon should strive to be. Thanks Deacon Bob for all of your great work. I certainly join my Bishop Michael Sheridan in thanking God daily for the restoration of the Permanent Diaconate!

In Christ, Fr. Brad

Now that we have our building permit in hand and our contract finalized with our Fransen-Pittman General Contractors, it is not time to get our Construction Project going!!! I know that you have been waiting for this for many years – and here we go! Our old parking lot has been removed – and the old asphalt has been sent for recycling. St. Francis had a care for the environment and so do we! This week we begin the process of excavation of the dirt and recompacting the dirt under what will be the new church. The shop drawings for the post tensioned slab should be nearing completion as well as the shop drawings for the glu-lam beams. This week we should also see progress in cutting in what will be a future access loop to the back of our existing building and regarding the current driveway to the rectory. In the very near future we should see foundation work begin and the under the slab electrical conduits and plumbing lines.

Here we go!!! I certainly love being with you and certainly appreciate all of your support, patience and perseverance during this process!!!

Thanks, Fr. Brad

Since we know have a contract in place, and a building permit in hand – here we go!!!

This coming week, we will see:

• Completion of new egress stairwell on the South side of the building.
• Building and completion of a new emergency egress door by the office and new ramp by the front outdoor gathering area.
• Power and phone line run to the construction trailer.
• Erosion Control Measures put in place.
• The construction fence will be put in place.
• Removal of asphalt from the old parking lot, behind the building, removal of the asphalt driveway from the east side driveway down to the back, and removal of dirt berms near the Our Lady of Guadalupe Garden.
• Moving of the garbage dumpsters.
• Because of this access to the back of the church – will be limited to Emergency Fire Department calls and construction only. You will not be able to pull around back as of this Monday. Please park up front and walk down the stairs to the below.

Please check the web page each day for current progress.

As we begin this Holy Journey called Construction – please remember to stay out of the construction site and away from any affected areas. Only on Pre-arranged visits, with the proper safety equipment worn can people be on the construction site.

Thanks for your faith, hope, your generosity, your perserverance and love that has brought us this far. You truly are the best parish that a Priest could ever serve in!!!

In Christ, Fr. Brad

Just wanted to let everyone know that on Friday July 16th, I received a call from our General Contractor, Fransen-Pittman letting us know that our Building Permit from Douglas County was available for pickup. I immediately wrote the check for the proper amount and we now have the Building Permit!!! Early this coming week we need to finish some contract issues and then we are ready to go! My personal thanks to all of our parishioners, Fransen-Pittman and Architectural Innovations for getting us to this point. I also want to personally thank those in the Douglas County Building Department for all of their hard work and dedication to detail. I personally look forward to this build!!!

Each Day for the next several days, I will give you the updates that I receive from Julie and Greg who are with our teens and adults at the work camp – so keep checking here for the latest updates!

Fr. Brad

Father,

The crew is doing good and is staying the night at the University of New Mexico Newman Center in A. They had the opportunity to celebrate mass with Father George and then had a wonderful dinner with Father. They were able to find showers at the abandoned Rectory They are now setting down for the night.

I will keep you posted as the week goes along. I have attached a couple pictures of the crew and the bus leaving.

God Bless You,

Greg

What a great day!!!

Our Bishop Michael Sheridan was able to be with us for the 9:30 am Mass on Sunday June 20th and then process outside with our parishioners for our Groundbreaking! It was so great to have our Bishop with us as he has been so supportive to us over the years. Bishop delivered a wonderful homily and thanked our parishioners for their faith that brought them through may obstacles, for their perseverance, for never losing hope and for their genuine love of the church. Joining us for the ceremony was Monsignor Ricardo Coronado- Arrascue who is the Judicial Vicar for the Diocese and who so wonderfully serves our parishioners who speak Spanish each week. We are indebted to him!

Our Special thanks go to Commissioner Steven Boand from Douglas County who was with us. Sheriff David Weaver our Sheriff from Douglas County was with us as well. I really appreciate them being with us and for their support – especially their presence since our groundbreaking was on Father’s Day.

My personal thanks to the team from Fransen-Pittman General Contractors for their great work over the years. This is my second build with them and they are a remarkable company to deal with in terms of value engineering and building a beautiful building that stands the test of time. My personal thanks also to Architectural Innovations – Brett Prather and Tom Leuders for all of their hard work and perseverance over the years as well. My personal thanks to my predecessors as well – Fr. Bill Vollmer, Fr. Herb Hayek and Fr. George Reynolds. They are remarkable men of faith and vision.

Most especially to each of the parishioners here at this very vibrant parish of St. Francis, my heartfelt thanks and genuine love and affection go out to each and every one of you. You really are a people of deep faith, genuine love and warm hospitality. We are going to be able to build a beautiful church that will be a legacy to generations – just like the legacy of the people back in 1888 when our church was founded!

You’re the best!!! Fr. Brad

I am very pleased to announce that our Bishop Michael Sheridan will join us for the Groundbreaking of our New Church on Sunday June 20th! He will be the principal celebrant for our 9:30 am Mass and after the Mass he will lead us outside for the Groundbreaking! I am very grateful to our wonderful Bishop for all of his support and care during this project and for his ability to be with us on June 20th. Our Bishop maintains such a busy schedule!

After each Mass on the weekend of the 19th and 20th we will have food and music on our new church site. This is a great family event and we certainly invite the kids to bring their shovels to help out! Personally, I again want to say thanks to this wonderful
parish for your great support and faith! You’re great people of faith to walk with!

In Christ, Fr. Brad

I announce to you – with great joy! We have permission to build our New Church!

Yesterday I had the great joy of making this announcement at all the Masses! Our Bishop sent me an email on Friday letting me know that the Consultors had approved the building project. I am so very grateful to my Bishop Michael Sheridan for all of his support during this time of preparation. I am so grateful for the help of the Diocesan Staff especially Bob Doerfler and Janis Balentine. I am very grateful for the wisdom and insight of the Diocesan Building and Property Commission, the Diocesan Finance Council and the Consultors! Thanks You!!!

As I said yesterday, it is such a great joy to be in this parish. Our parishioners have such deep faith, trust and love in the Lord! I see that everyday. I want to commend our parishioners, architects and General Contractor for having such perserverance in the midst of many obstacles. I certainly want to thank my predecessors, Fr. Bill Volmer and Fr. Herb Hayek for their vision in this most holy project.

Pope John Paul II was asked if he believed in coincidences. He said no. He believed in God’s Providence. Looking back at this process it is so cool to see God’s Providential Hand in all of this. We formally did most of this permission work in the Month of May, a special month devoted to our Blessed Mother. We presented our materials to the Diocesan Building and Property Commission on May 11th. Our materials were presented to the Diocesan Finance Council on May 18th and approved on that day. May 18th is the Birthday of Pope John Paul II. I received the email from Bishop Sheridan on June 4th that the Consultors had approved us – The Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and we announced it at all the Masses on Corpus Christi Sunday.

I look forward to getting word out to you about our groundbreaking and the anticipated date of the construction of our new Church Sanctuary. Personally, thanks for all our support and love!!!

In Christ, Fr. Brad

First, Happy Feast Day of the Visitation of St. Elizabeth! Today we remember the joy that was present in our Blessed Mother’s visit to her kinswoman Elizabeth and how she lived out that joy in serving Elizabeth for three months! Joy in Service! What a great theme as I begin today’s blog. I have just returned home after having been to three great events (two in Colorado Springs and one in Phoenix) in three days.

Friday I had the joy of being with a extraordinary young man named Cameron Halverson as he was officially honored as an Eagle Scout. Although I do not have a picture as yet, Cameron is the CSFD Fire Explorer standing with me after climbing the Qwest Building (twice for a total of 110 floors) on September 11. We climbed along with other firefighters for a total of 343 honoring those who gave their life in service. I am very proud of Cameron and all the hard work and dedication that he has done for the many years on the road to becoming an Eagle Scout. I am also very proud of his hard work and dedication over the many years as a Explorer with the Colorado Springs Fire Department. He has great joy in serving others and is always thinking of the needs of others! Congratulations Eagle Scout Cameron!!!

On Saturday Morning I had the joy of being able to concelebrate and welcome Fr. David Price to the presbyterate as he was ordained at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Colorado Springs. It has been a real joy to have been with David over the last year. He is very comfortable on the altar, he preaches well, and it is a joy to hear him sing. He has an outstanding voice. I know that Fr. David will do a great job at his new assignment at St. Paul’s Parish in Colorado Springs. Our Bishop, Bishop Sheridan gave a very beautiful reflection on the role of the priesthood today and really spoke to David from the heart.

On Saturday Afternoon , I flew to Phoenix and on Sunday Morning I had the joy of being able to concelebrate and to witness the Ordination to the Diaconate of Thomas Cody McDonald. Cody is a seminarian for the Diocese of Phoenix and has been working here for the last two school years. Cody is a wonderful young many with so many talents, and has related so well to our parishioners. He played football for ASU and I know that our young people really up to him. His Bishop, Bishop Olmsted gave a beautiful reflection on the important role of the deacon in the life of the Church and also spoke to Cody from the heart. It truly is a life of service, Service to the Lord and his Gospel, Service to the Altar and Service to the poor and the disenfranchised.

Part of the joy of the priesthood that I always love is what I personally experienced in Phoenix. The priests and deacons that I met there, along with Bishop Olmsted really made me feel part of the family and exhibited great hospitality. I truly met some very dedicated holy men there. That is to me one of the great joys of the Priesthood and the ability to be part of the universal Church.

Please pray daily for Cameron and all those who are Eagle Scouts! Please pray daily for Fr. David and for all priests that we may be truly be priests of joy and faithful servants! Please pray next week for the three young men who will be ordained as Priests in Phoenix! Please pray daily for Deacon Cody who I know will do well and especially for this year of preparation for the priesthood!

I am just getting ready to head down to Colorado Springs to be with some of my brother priests on this Memorial Day Weekend. Please remember those brave young men and women who have give their lives in service to our Country.

Please remember today Father Emil Kapaun who died in service to our Country. The Wichita Eagle has a beautiful section on his life, military service and death in a POW camp. I would invite you to look at Kansas.com/kapaun to read his very fascinating story. Again, a story of Joy in Service.

Have great joy in serving our Lord!

Fr. Brad

Just to let each of you know that I just received a phone call from Bob Doerler, the CFO of our Diocese. He called to let me know that the Diocesan Finance Council has recommended approval to our Bishop for us to proceed!!! We have one more step of the approval process and that is the recommendation of the Consulters to our Bishop! Two of the Consulters have already seen our material and our Diocese will send them their materials electronically and will poll them. We will not have to wait until the June Meeting of the Consulters.

I again, want to express my profound thanks to all of you for all of your hard work, dedication and perseverance on this project. You are all a joy to work with! We continue to ask our Lord and his Most Blessed Mother for their continued help and assistance!

Totus Tuus!

Fr. Brad

“CONGRATULATIONS ON COMING THROUGH WITH FLYING COLORS WITH THE FIRST OF THE 3 STEPS TO APPROVAL OF YOUR NEW CHURCH PROJECT!!!”

This was the opening sentence of a great email that we received on Tuesday May 18th at 6:56pm from Janis Balentine, the Director of Properties of our Diocese of Colorado Springs. At 3:15pm Deacon Tom, Chris Scurto, Mark Cucarola, and I along with Brett Prather and Tom Leuders (Architectural Innovations), John Pittman, Dave Eddy and Josh Davis (Fransen-Pittman General Contractors) met with our Bishop, Msgr. Jaeger (Vicar General), Bob Doerfler (Diocesan CFO), Janis Balentine and the members of the Diocesan Building and Property Commission. We gave them an detailed overview of the work accomplished in Phase One, the scope of the work to be done in Phase Two (Our new Church Sanctuary), a detailed overview of other projects, a comprehensive look at the pro-forma and had time for questions and answers. After that meeting it was great to get that email at 6:56pm with the good news that we were approved by the Building and Property Commission and by our Bishop!

We have two more important steps to go so please continue those prayers! On Tuesday May 25th the Diocesan Finance Council reviews the Phase Two project and the Pro-Forma in detail makes their recommendation for approval (hopefully) and recommendation to our Bishop. Then this matter is referred to the Consulters of the Diocese for their approval and recommendation to our Bishop.

These are certainly exciting times! I will let you know as things progress! Keep up the prayers and thanks for your perseverance!

Be not afraid! Duc et altum! Totus Tuus!
Fr. Brad

As you know I have a great affection and love for our Late Holy Father Pope John Paul II. I was ordained a Priest in 1999 and have very much been inspired by the way in which he lived his life, his depth of prayer, his wisdom, his love for the Eucharist, his strong love for the people to whom he ministered, his closeness with his friends, his many writings (in particular on the mercy of God) and his great love for our Blessed Mother.

Pope John Paul II said three things that have strongly influenced my living out of the Priesthood and they are:

• Be Not Afraid!
• Duc et Altum! (put out into the deep!)
• Totus Tuus! (Totally Yours. May I totally be yours!)

This wonderful painting was a gift from the Eddy family and I love this particular print because it shows Pope John Paul II’s determination and inner strength. I keep in it my private chapel at home and draw strength from it.

Tomorrow on May 18th we as a parish go before our Diocesan Building and Property Commission and humbly ask them and our Bishop for permission to build our new Church Sanctuary. I am personally so grateful to our parishioners for their abundant generosity, love for the Church, great support for this project and perseverance over the years to turn this dream into a reality. I am grateful to Father Vollmer and Fr. Herb Hayek for their vision and all of their hard work. The leadership of this parish has been a blessing to work with, as well as my most excellent staff.

May 18th is the Birth date of Pope John Paul II. What a providential date to meet and talk about our future! It is so easy to be afraid, especially in this economy – Be not Afraid! It is easy to say that it is a good time to stay close to the shore and in safe waters, Duc et Altum! And like Pope John Paul II you and I entrust everything to Our Lady and his most Blessed Mother – Totus Tuus!

Praised be Jesus Christ, and Mary Immaculate!

Fr. Brad

5.1 Million dollars*

*reflects hard cost for phase 2 the Church only. Does not include Soft Costs.

On Monday May 3^rd Fransen-Pittman (Our General Contractors) and Architectural Innovations (Our Architects) presented our Actual Bid Numbers to a group of parishioners, including members of the Staff, members of our Parish Building and Property Commission, members of our Finance Council, and members of our Pastoral Council. What an exciting night it was! Our original bid numbers were thought to be in the 6.6 -6.2 million dollar range. It was just a joyous time when the bid number for our new Church (hard cost only, not including soft costs) came in at 5.1 million dollars! What a great gift from Almighty God!!!

On Tuesday May 11^th, a Committee led by Deacon Tom Liotta, including Dan Cook, Bill Goedken, and Chris Scurto, met with me and Bob Doerfler (the CFO of the Diocese of Colorado Springs) to go over our Pro-Forma and to review the bid numbers. It was a great meeting and I appreciate the wisdom of this group and am indebted to Bob Doerfler for all of thoughts. A subcommittee of the Parish Building and Property Commission (Mark Cucarola, Tony Sbarra and Ray Schieferecke) will meet with Fransen-Pittman to review the individual Bids.

I would personally ask your prayer for us as we meet with our Bishop and members of his Diocesan Building and Property Commission on Tuesday May 18^th and present all of our materials- Architectural Plans, Pro-Forma, Bids, Capital Campaign Results and Projections for their review. This is a historic time for us, as our parish has talked about building a new Church for a lot of years. I am very grateful for the leadership of Fr. Bill Vollmer, Fr. Herb Hayek, the different councils and staff over the years, and to Fransen-Pittman, Brett and Tom at Architectural Innovations and our parishioners for their perseverance over the years. A lot of difficulties were met and overcome!

During this Month of May dedicated to our Blessed Mother, I ask her intercession for us as well!

Totus Tuus!

Fr. Brad

Meeting with Bishop Sheridan and the Priests of Colorado Springs

This past week I was fortunate to meet with my brother priests and our Bishop for three days in Sedalia, CO. The meeting was titled “The Priest: Passionate for God, Compassionate for People.” It was a wonderful time for just us priests to meet, listen to some testimonials from my brother priests, engage in some guided reflections on the Priesthood today and just spend quality time with my brothers. The Diocese of Colorado Springs is a relatively small diocese, we have about 50 total priests in our Diocese. I personally love working in this Diocese as it is considered a Mission Diocese by the Holy See. We have a great blend of Priests here!

During our opening prayer service we reflected on the Rite of Ordination and the renewed our commitment to Priestly Service. Each of us were called by name. Bishop Sheridan asked us “Are you ready to renew your own dedication to Christ as priests of his new covenant? (I am).

At your ordination, you accepted the responsibilities of the priesthood out of love for the Lord Jesus and his Church. Are you resolved to unite yourself more closely to Christ and to become more like him by joyfully sacrificing your own pleasure and ambition to bring his peace and love to your brothers and sisters? (I am)

Are you resolved to be faithful ministers of the mysteries of God, to celebrate the Eucharist and other liturgical services with sincere devotion? Are you resolved to imitate Jesus Christ the head and shepherd of the Church by teaching the Christian faith without thinking of your own profit, solely for the well being of the people you were sent to serve? (I am)

My brothers, pray for each other. Ask the Lord to bless you with the fullness of his love, to help you to be faithful ministers of Christ the High Priest, so that you will be able to lead his people to him, the fountain of salvation. Our Bishop then asked us to pray for him that he may faithfully fulfill the office of Apostle which Jesus Christ has entrusted to him… and be a genuine sign of Christ’s loving presence among you.”

As I begin this blog (which is a new experience for me, and which our Holy Father has asked us to do), I ask you to pray daily for me, for my brother Priests, for my Bishop, for our Seminarians, Deacons and Religious Men and Women who so faithfully serve in our Diocese. Of course pray for our wonderful lay people here who sacrifice so much!

I hope each day to meet the title of last week’s meeting – The Priest: Passionate for God, Compassionate for People!

In Christ’s Love, Fr. Brad

Lenten Reflection

“The journey to which Lent invites us takes place above all in prayer: Christian communities must become authentic “schools of prayer” in these weeks. An-other important objective is helping the faithful approach the sacrament of Reconciliation, so that everyone may “rediscover Christ as mysterium pietatis, the one in whom God shows us his compassionate heart and reconciles us fully with himself” (Novo millennio ineunte , n. 37). Moreover, the experience of God’s mercy can-not fail to inspire the commitment to charity, spurring the Christian community to “stake everything on charity” (Novo millennio ineunte , IV). In the school of Christ, the community better understands the demanding preferential option for the poor, which is a “testimony to God’s love, to his providence and mercy” (ibid).

“Be reconciled to God! (2 Cor 5:20) …These words insistently echo in our spirit. Today—the liturgy tells us—is the “acceptable time” for our reconciliation with God. With this in mind, we will receive ashes and take the first steps of our Lenten journey. Let us generously continue on this road, keeping our eyes firmly set on Christ crucified. For the Cross is humanity’s salvation: only by starting from the Cross is it possible to build a future of hope and peace for everyone.”

Ash Wednesday Homily, February 28, 2001

Pope John Paul II