AURORA—On Sunday, July 5, Sacred Heart Parish held its annual Festival of Music and Food, a multitudinous cultural event with musicians and dance groups.
Also a crowd favorite, was Bishop David Malloy who blessed the event held at River Edge Park. Bishop Malloy took time to walk the grounds and greet participants and volunteers many who asked for special blessings. As he walked along, families, especially children, greeted him fondly.
Among the extensive crowd was Avelino Alanís, who lost his wife and son in a car accident just a few weeks ago. He asked the bishop for comfort.
Bishop Malloy also visited a while with an elderly couple who are celebrating their 64th wedding anniversary this year. Handicapped people were brought to receive a compassionate greeting from the bishop.
“It’s always important to have the parish come together not just to pray – well, that’s where we start – but they come together and enjoy each other, enjoy the family especially,” said Bishop Malloy. “So many families here, that’s what is really beautiful about this … They are very kind, they are very, very warm, and they have great food.”
“This is the largest event that we have as an activity to raise funds for the parish,” Msgr. Arquimedes Vallejo, Sacred Heart pastor, said, adding that, “At this time, we are going to expand the church building.”
Part of that project is already completed, he said. “With (funds from) these activities, we have built the parking lots of the parish. We already bought the land, and we are already working in that parking lot.
And the aim is to expand the parish, to build the parking lot, to build the parochial offices, without the parish having any debt.”
The festival ran from 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.