Build a Cross and Spread the Faith

I am constantly on the lookout for new, fresh, and innovative ideas to improve our schools. Every chance I get, I visit schools to see what good things are happening and figure out how I can take those good things and apply them.

Last year while visiting my daughter in San Antonio, I stopped by St. Pius X Catholic School to look at their facilities. In the middle of their courtyard, they have a seven foot tall cross made of tiles and each tile was created by one of their students. Like that State Farm commercial where the lady said, "I saw it and I was just like I have to have it."  I saw the cross and I was just like I have to have it!

St. Pius X in San Antonio

I took several pictures of the cross and texted them right away to Carrie Sealey.  Carrie is a teacher at Memphis Catholic.  She is very artistic and highly creative.  I knew she could organize the students and staff to design the tiles.

I'm that guy who comes up with all these ideas but need lots of people to help to make the ideas come to fruition. Well, Carrie took the idea and ran with it.  She recruited her father, Cary Mills, to build the cross and Cary recruited Billy Truemann, a Memphis Catholic graduate, to help him. McKenzie and Pair Glass Company donated the aluminum for the frame of the cross and Paint a Piece donated everything else needed for the construction of the cross including the tiles.

Memphis Catholic Students Creating the Tiles

The cross consists of 276 tiles painted by the students and staff.  Once the tiles were painted, they were fired at Paint a Piece. The tiles were painted as part of a Catholic Schools Week activity. The
students and staff were asked to paint what the mission of Memphis Catholic means to them and how they plan to carry out that mission.

Fr. Kirk Blessing the Cross

Even though the conception of the idea occurred last year, the actual work began in February with the painting of the tiles and ended in May when Fr. Thomas Kirk blessed the cross during a Mass at the Memphis Catholic outdoor chapel. It has taken great teamwork to accomplish this project and now the community garden is almost complete.

The picnic tables  and benches of the outdoor chapel were stained by the seniors as their legacy project from the Class of 2017.  The seniors donated money for the project and the Midtown Home Depot and Behr Paints made a very generous donation to this project.

The outdoor chapel has been completely rebuilt. An altar, ambo, and credence table were added as well. A ninth grade initiative, led by teachers Rebecca Rosa and Tim Hankins, raised the money to add these to the outdoor chapel. Derrol Jowell, the super-talented maintenance man, built everything from scratch.

Memphis Catholic Cross

After all work was completed, we decided that two more items are needed to really make the project complete.  We need to add electrical power next to the altar and cross by running lines underground to these two areas. When a large number of people are present, we set up our sound system so everyone can hear the Mass. It would be a lot easier if we didn't have to run extension cords every time we have Mass.

And, we would like to add lights to the cross so that it is visible 24/7 by everyone visiting the school and/or driving down McLean. It would be a great way of making Christ visible to all. You never know when you will touch a heart. Kind of hard to touch a heart in the dark.

"God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all." - 1 John 1:5

Cary & Patsy Mills

We want you to join us. It is never too late to be a part of this project. It is a great way of evangelizing our faith. A couple of hundred people have come together to make this happen. This is my invitation to you to join our team. Please click on Catholic Tree to donate to Light Up The Cross! and accept my invitation. All are welcomed!

"Let your light so shine before others, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." - Matthew 5:16

God bless you,
Didier Aur