Dear Parishioners,

God has certainly blessed us with good weather for our construction projects so far this winter.  Great progress is being made, while some delays in receiving materials and other details are bumping finish dates into the future a bit.

For the Food Pantry, the windows are in, the brickwork is finished, and the drywall is in place.  Electrical and plumbing work continue.  There will be a dumpster near the pantry and the dumpster enclosure is being constructed.  We had hoped for a January date for completion, but it looks like the end of February is a more likely timeframe now. 

For the Parish Center addition, the drywall is in place upstairs where the parish offices will be, while progress with drywall continues in the lower level.   Several inspections have been taking place throughout the construction process, and the electrical and framing inspections were done in the lower level last week.  The lower level bathrooms have been painted and stall dividers are being added.  We expect to have those bathrooms accessible for the public by the end of January.

The delivery of the items needed to finish the ceiling in the upstairs conference room has been delayed until the first week in February, so we will not have access to the conference room for several weeks yet.  The windows that were in the sacristy have been removed and a door is being put in their place to connect the current sacristy with a priests’ vesting room that is part of the Parish Center addition.  This will allow us to store the server's albs in the sacristy, so they can vest in the sacristy, too, and not in the gathering space.

A Building Committee meeting will take place this Saturday, January 17, to update committee members and discuss possible changes with the Parish Center addition project.

As we journey through this brief period of Ordinary Time and look toward Lent beginning with Ash Wednesday on February 18, please continue to include our constructions projects, and those working on them, in your prayers.  If you have been paying toward a pledged amount, or have made one or more gifts, to help fund these improvements, you will be receiving a statement of those donations this month so that you may reference them for tax purposes.  Please contact our parish office, 701-852-3002, if you have any questions about your statement.  You may also contact the parish office to begin your pledge or inquire about gifts toward the projects in this new year.

I am grateful to each one of you for your prayers, your gifts, and your patience during this time of change in our parish facilities.    

Sincerely in Christ,
Fr. Adam Maus

We have expanded our parish office hours to 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and are now open during the noon hour.  The parish office will remain closed until 9:00 a.m., and will close at 4:00 p.m., even if staff are still working, to allow them some quiet time to complete daily tasks.

Required First Eucharist Retreats are January 25 and 29

Bishop Ryan students will come to Our Lady of Grace on the morning of February 18 for Ash Wednesday Mass.  The Masses for parishioners and guests will be celebrated at 5:30 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.  There will not be a 12:15 p.m. Mass on Ash Wednesday.  There will also be no Faith Formation classes, so that the children may attend Mass with their families.

Advent Retreat videos on our YouTube channel