Letter of Fr. Sanjeeb Xaxa SVD 

Dear Friend and Parishioner,

Having deeply reflected on the situation of the parish and looking ahead to the future of this beautiful old building I am writing this letter of appeal to you for support. There are many things which need to be done in this parish but, as I understand it, the immediate concern is our lift. There are various factors that made me arrive at this point such as;

1. I receive many phone calls from our elderly parishioners who were regular worshippers in this building: now they can only come if our lift is working properly.

2. Once a special need person came into the basement and called me over the phone. He wanted to pray in the church, but unfortunately the lift was not working. I came down and tried to fix it with my limited knowledge but could not. I felt bad seeing someone having to go away.

3. There are families with children in our parish, who want to impart their faith to their little ones. When they come with their buggies, it is difficult to climb the stairs and obviously a lift is a great help.

4. Finally, and this is very important:  I have gone through the files and found that we have paid frequently just for repairing the lift (each time they have charged more than £250.00) and the lift does not last for long and breaks down sooner than later. As a result we went for a thorough inspection of the lift (costing £1800) to find out the root cause of the defect, but the result reported that there is no fault in it and sadly, it broke down within two days. We are told that the lift is very old and the parts of the lift are not available in the market. 

These are the reasons which compel us to ask for a new lift. We are currently seeking estimates for a new lift, but do not expect it to exceed £50,000. It may even be less!

I have got two options: 1) To arrange for a new lift or 2) Leave it as it is.

I know it will cost a lot but I believe and trust in the Lord that it will be possible if it is God’s will and if it is not the will of God then we can’t fix it.

My humble request is that everyone should kindly reflect over it, pray over it and contribute whatever you can for this project and I am sure God will bless you double for your contribution - as St. Paul writes in his Second Letter to the Corinthians 9:7: “God Loves a Cheerful giver.”

Thank You for Your Generosity!

May God Bless You.

To know more about it, kindly speak to Fr. Joseph, Fr. Sanjeeb or any of the parish council members.

Kind Regards

Yours in the Divine Word

Fr. Sanjeeb Xaxa SVD

Parish Priest