Building Our Sacred Space on Faith
Budget. That is usually the main challenge in any construction project. When Msgr. Jaime Mora was assigned to CTK, at the beginning of the construction period, he had little cash on hand and inherited many debts.
I remember him asking me where he would get the funds for the construction. He asked me to raise some funds, but with a promise that he would return the money. When I asked him when he would be able to return the money, he replied, “It will be up to God.”
I was able to convince some close friends to help me raise funds, with a guarantee that the money would be returned, but with no interest. At the same time, Msgr. Mora was able to pay some creditors and was able to buy supplies again.
Msgr. Mora was not fond of asking for donations. But he had his way of getting things done. He looked for sponsors for the Stations of the Cross stained glass windows. Homeowners associations willingly answered for their chosen stations. In no time at all, all the Stations of the Cross windows had sponsors. He employed the same approach for the doors and the pews. Parishioners enthusiastically responded to his request.
But cash was still needed. So I suggested a fund raising project. He reluctantly agreed. For our car raffle, we were able to purchase a car with a hefty discount from a new client who happened to be a car dealer. We were able to raise some cash for construction through ticket selling.
The construction of the church did not happen overnight. In fact, it progressed quite slowly. But I realized that the slow progress was a blessing in disguise because as the edifice grew, the parishioners became more inspired to give.
The original plan was for CTK parish to be much larger to what we have now. Msgr. Mora was pressured to finish the construction and so he asked Architect to make a smaller church.
The church structure was finally finished. Still many items were needed. But Msgr. Mora again asked individual parishioners for specific items and they readily responded. Airconditioning the church was next in line. Some were not for it. One day, we were surprised to see that air conditioning units had already been installed. Still there were negative reactions. But eventually, weekend masses were held in the airconditioned main church. And the church was always full.
Msgr. Mora always had many projects going through his head. He wanted a rectory for his priests. He wanted a multipurpose building. His former room became the office of the Ladies of Charity. At that time, the crypt seemed to be a bad project. He complained of the slow sale of vaults. I asked him how many were unsold. He told me 200 units. To give him peace of mind, I offered to buy it all. Oh, I can still remember the big smile on his face. He said, “Go to Manang to finalize the transactions.” When I went to Manang, I found out that there were 400 unsold units! I told him I didn’t have enough funds to buy 400 units. So the transaction fell through. Although Msgr. Mora was disappointed, that too turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Years later, sales picked up and Msgr. Mora was able to adjust the previous selling price of P5,000 to P25,000. In fact, demand was so high, he decided to construct another 1,000 units which eventually sold at P50,000 each. Faith and sacred space. All of Msgr. Mora’s projects eventually came into reality. And just like everything in CTK’s story, everything fell into place in God’s perfect time.
