By Ana Rodriguez Soto - The Archdiocese of Miami

KENDALL � This Advent, the people of St. Catherine of Siena are not just preparing their hearts for the coming of Jesus. They also are sprucing up their church.

About 120 people, working in morning and afternoon shifts, spent Dec. 11 pressure-cleaning, painting, vacuuming, scrubbing and re-finishing the floors, seats, walls and altar furnishings of their parish hall, which is where they have been celebrating Mass since a fire made their church building unusable.

The volunteers also tore down fences and cleaned out shrubbery around the parish grounds. They will return this Saturday, Dec. 18, to finish the job.

�The people have come together. They paid for all of these supplies,� said Father Alejandro Rodriguez, who was appointed administrator of the parish in mid-October. �This is preparing the house of the Lord as we have been preparing our own hearts. We spruce up.�

Father Rodriguez, who had a career as an interior designer before he entered the seminary, made a wish list of what needed to be done around the church and asked parishioners to sign up for the work days. He asked them to purchase gift cards from Home Depot in order to help pay for the larger items, such as new cabinets for the sacristy.

�This is like the MasterCard commercial. This is priceless,� he said, as he walked around answering questions and giving instructions to his swarm of worker bees.

�This is God�s house. We have to make sure that it�s ready to receive him,� said Olivia Anell, a parishioner for 12 years, who was polishing a wooden altar seat.

�I don�t want my husband to know that I�m doing this here because he�ll want me to do it at home,� said Patricia Caviedes as she painted the walls of the Blessed Sacrament chapel. �But for this guy here, I�ll do it,� she added, pointing to the tabernacle.

Father Rodriguez said both the buildings and the people�s spirit needed a boost after two-and-a-half years of celebrating Mass in less than ideal conditions.

�When the church is full, there�s two-thirds (of the people) outside and one-third inside,� he said, referring to the parish hall and the outdoor plaza that abuts it.

Tarpaulin curtains now hang from all sides of the covered plaza, but in essence parishioners have been celebrating Mass in a tent since the fire took place, with huge fans and portable air conditioning units staving off the sweltering heat in summer.

�The fire renewed our spirit. It made us grow a lot. And we certainly developed the virtue of patience,� said Margarita Pag�n, a parishioner for 13 years.

She remembered the parish community coming together in much the same way the morning after the arson-set fire, which took place just before Holy Week 2008. �We looked like ants around here,� trying to salvage whatever furnishings and icons had not been damaged by flames, smoke or water, and getting the parish hall ready for Palm Sunday Masses.

Unfortunately, reconstruction has taken longer than expected. The initial prediction was that it would take a year.

�It�s a lot of bureaucracy,� said Vilma White, a parishioner for the last two-and-a-half years who was one of those making sure the volunteers were kept fed and hydrated during the work day.

The parish was in the midst of raising money to build a new, bigger church when the fire happened. In order to expedite the return to normalcy, the plans for the new church were set aside and new ones were drawn up for the renovation and expansion of the damaged building.

�We have a little bit over $1 million (in the building fund) but the project (costs) over $2.5. We can�t build until we have the full amount,� Father Rodriguez said.

But he remains convinced that �we have to build a more honorable place of worship.� So he decided, as he put it, to �press the pause button� on the expansion and renovation in order to take another look at the plans and the parish�s financial status and see if it is possible to �achieve greater things.�

In one of his weekly letters to parishioners, he asked them not to become �confused or discouraged. Our plan to build a temple for the Lord is still our goal. It is precisely what the archbishop sent me here to do.�

His parishioners say they understand.

�The people are here, come hell or high w�ter, to support our pastors,� said White.

�We are a community that loves God, adores God,� said Marietta Olmos, a parishioner for 25 years. �We will be here with or without a building.�



Archbishop Thomas Wenski will be touring the damaged church and celebrating Mass with the community of St. Catherine of Siena this Sunday, Dec. 19, at 11 a.m.