Amador County – Changes on the horizon for Amador Catholic Center include a remodel starting this weekend, and the unveiling of a new namesake for its parish later this month.

The remodel of the front of the building begins this weekend, with the razing of a false wall at the front of the building, said Penny Dominici, a member of the Amador Catholic Pastoral Council. She said John Gonsalves is overall contractor of the remodel, which will include building a stone wall on the front, and landscaping in the front area of the building.

Dominici said the Center is also well on its way to getting a commercial-grade kitchen, thanks to Lodi Memorial Hospital, which donated kitchen equipment after a remodel of its own.

On a special service day, Nov. 30, Bishop Jaime Soto of the Sacramento Dioceses will reveal the saint or “blessed” person after which the new parish will be named. Soto will make the decision, and will be given results of a preference vote taken among parishioners. Dominici said Father Larry Beck knows the results of that vote, but did not disclose the preferences to parishioners.

Dominici said: “We were encouraged to read their biographies and to choose someone whose life we would like to emulate.” Soto gave church leaders three modern saints or “blessed” level church figures who are “up for grabs” because they do not have churches yet dedicated to them in the diocese. One is Blessed Teresa; one is Saint Frances Cabrini; and one is Saint Katherine Drexel.

She said, Blessed Teresa, better known as Mother Teresa of Calcutta, is “blessed,” meaning she has achieved a level of designation closer to church canonization as a saint. The Indian missionary was blessed in 2002.

Saint Katherine Drexel of Philadelphia was the second American saint, canonized in 2000. She was a vocal advocate of racial tolerance and founded Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Black and Native American people, which now has 63 missions.

Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini was elevated to sainthood in 1946. Cabrini was born in Italy in 1850 and in 1889 came to the United States to work among Italian immigrants, at the urging of the Pope. She founded schools, hospitals and orphanages in America, expanding to houses in Europe and South America at the time of her death in 1917. Cabrini is the Patron Saint of Immigrants, and was the first American resident to be sainted by the Catholic Church.

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.