Twice a year, we host numerous folk from nursing homes in the area for worship and lunch at Christ Church. There are many examples of people gathering at table and finding God as the loving host. In one of those wonderful biblical turn of events, God is both guest (sitting at the table) and host (present in the hospitality offered by Abraham and Sarah). The message in this and other ancient Hebrew stories is that hospitality is a supreme value, shown by God and to be offered by human beings. Jesus of Nazareth experienced the hospitality of many people, among the most poignant being that of his friends Mary, Martha and Lazarus. Truth be told, there is a lot of opportunity for homecoming experience as people of faith -- in our houses of worship, at our own personal tables, through the hospitality of servanthood which we offer in the world.

Realtor.com, the most widely used real estate application on the Internet and the product of the National Association of Realtors, receives data from over 800 multiple listing services (MLS) across the country. While it is currently the most accurate tool to scan the inventory of homes, many homes appear on several MLS sites and can appear with different descriptions and photos based on the individual MLS system features and rules. Additionally, this new database processes aggregate data more frequently -- instead of merely at month-end -- allowing Realtor.com to be more nimble and proactive with its insights into the housing market.

In 1966, after bitter debate, the RTM appropriated $9.8 million for the building of Greenwich High School. The auditorium design was cut back, and most importantly, the area was topped by soils from all over Greenwich, but mostly from the town incinerator, which was in operation before it became the "Transfer Station." Forty-five years ago, that seemed the ideal solution -- it was porous and locally available, but by present standards it turned out to be the open-checkbook disaster we are now faced with. With the start of the current high school renovation project, it quickly became apparent that there were contaminants in the soil.

On March 26 at Town Hall, the Federal Emergency Management Agency presented its changes to Greenwich zoning which are required to qualify the town's properties for the National Flood Insurance Program. If a community adopts and enforces a floodplain management ordinance to reduce future flood risks to new construction in Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHAs), the Federal Government will make flood insurance available within the community as a financial protection against flood losses. Changes to FEMA's Flood Insurance Rate Maps removed 36 properties from the previous flood zone, added 154 properties, increased base flood elevations for 1,495 properties and decreased base flood elevations for 256 properties. Property owners of non-conforming structures in the AE and VE zones will have their insurance premiums rise and will not have any other impact until they need to make improvements to their structures. Any combination of repairs, reconstruction, alteration, or improvements to a structure taking place during the life of a structure, in which the cumulative costs equal or exceed fifty percent of the market value of the structure. The term does not, however, include any improvement project required to comply with existing health, sanitary, or safety code specifications which are solely necessary to assure safe living conditions. The Flood Insurance Rate Map changes, effective July 8, 2013, delineate the special hazard areas and the risk premium zones applicable to our town. The AE zone requires new construction or substantial improvement of any residential structure to have the lowest floor, including basement, elevated at least to 1 foot above the base flood elevation. The VE Zone (coastal high hazard zone) requires all new construction or substantial improvement to be elevated so that the bottom of the lowest supporting horizontal member (excluding pilings or columns) are located no lower than 1 foot above the base flood elevation level, with all space below the lowest supporting member constructed so as not to impede the flow of water. Sure, there's the high of the sale, but it's soon followed by a feeling akin to a shopkeeper whose shelves have been stripped of merchandise by an incoming throng of buyers.

How confident and successful they appeared, surrounded by popular appeal and growing numbers. Have you ever seen that saying of Jesus on the kitchen wall? What a career-ending sound bite that would make on the evening news. Why make us choose between you and our families? Today, leaders and politicians have staff members who measure every word, examine it for political correctness, and spin the truth to the purposes of their employer. The fatal flaw to be avoided is the embarrassment of offending anyone. Jesus wants to alert would-be followers that the hill is steep in places that they will be asked to climb. [...] this hard statement is the supreme compliment to family ties. [...] even this highest and noblest of relationships must pale in comparison to the love and loyalty to God. If we were followers of Jesus, as he followed God, he must be first loved more than our money, more than our ambitions, more than our sense of survival, more than our family. Msgr. Frank C. Wissel, D.Min., is pastor at St. Mary Church in Greenwich and the founding director of the St. Maximilian Kolbe House of Studies for boys in Bridgeport.

Selling your home (actually selling your property with building improvements -- your house and any outbuildings and easements) is an emotional trip. To you, it's your home with tons of fond remembrances of events, improvements and decorating ideas that came together to create your castle, your nest, your primary investment. To the buyer, it's the top pick on their short list of comparable properties with positives and, yes, negatives that probably were recorded on a pros-and-cons sheet and reviewed with their agent. [...] it's a future residence and lacking the emotion of the comfort and memories that you have. Selling your home, finding and buying a replacement and moving your furniture and possessions are one of the most stressful set of experiences you'll encounter. Look toward the future and the exciting adventure that awaits you in your new abode. Thanks to everyone who tried their hand on the Greenwich Facts Challenge crossword puzzle in my March 22 column. As it turns out, there were only two completely correct entries and, rather than pick one, I chose to treat both winners to the reward dinner at their favorite Greenwich Avenue restaurant. Congratulations to both winners -- who obviously know their town extremely well. Arch Street Teen Center is located next to Roger Sherman Baldwin Park Innis Arden Cottage at Greenwich Point was built by the Todd family in 1902 as a guest house. Trash pickup in Greenwich is public or private? The Town Skating Rink is named for Dorothy Hamill, who is known for her trademark spin, the "Hamill Camel." Real property is assessed every five years in Greenwich. Dundee and New Lebanon schools are the two International Baccalaureate elementary schools in town. Rosemary Hall was an independent girls school now owned by Carmel Academy. "Be here, be safe, be honest, move on, care for self and others," and "Go Gators" are the mottos for Glenville Elementary School.

[...] that prices have started to come back and inventory is thin, it us a great time to list your home and take advantage of the low interest rates that buyers will translate into lower carrying costs to buy your home. Before you get started in a marketing program, though, be sure you know the appraised value of your home and any defects with the house and property. Have a property survey handy or get one done, pull together the certificates of occupancy (COs) for any construction projects on which permits were drawn and get a property card on your home from the town assessor's office. Double check the town's property card for finished space square footage, room counts, plumbing fixture counts in the bathrooms and lot size. If you have a high radon gas count, termites, carpenter ants or structural issues with foundations, roofs, chimneys and walls, remember that it costs owners "hundreds" but buyers "thousands" to clear these issues up.

Why? Because they speak about renewal and new life. In the Hebrew and Christian traditions of faith, we recently have encountered the seasons and celebrations of new things, wonderful and powerful new things. Passover has been observed with its remembrance of the new thing that God did in the redemption of the people of Israel from slavery and bondage in Egypt to new life, new hope and new beginnings. Easter also has been celebrated with its recollection of the victory of life over death, a new thing that was both cosmic and personal in its effect. There are new beginnings in communities, in initiatives to better humanity, in organizations and in the human heart itself.

Small formal dining rooms are being looked at as potential kitchen/family room square footage if the house can be renovated. Open floor plans and larger kitchens are key concerns for today's housing tastes. If you're looking for a bargain (and who isn't?), what's better to buy: bank-owned properties, or short sales which are houses sold for less than their outstanding mortgage(s)? Short sales are on the rise as a better alternative to formal foreclosure by the lender in many areas -- good news for buyers and investors in markets where short sales are closing more quickly at solid discounts. [...] buying from the bank may still be a better option in other markets because of increasing REO (real estate owned) inventory, deeper discounts and shorter times to close. The average amount short -- the difference between the sales price and the loan amount owed to the bank -- ranged from $53,158 in Grand Rapids to $178,201 in Santa Barbara. The average amount short was more than $100,000 in seven of the top 15 markets, indicating that banks are now willing to realize a significant loss with a short sale in lieu of the increasingly complex and costly foreclosure process. The top 15 markets for buying REOs all saw sharp increases in bank-owned sales in the fourth quarter of 2012 -- ranging from an annual increase of 141 percent in Cleveland, Ohio, to a 19 percent increase in Sarasota, Fla. [...] the average sales price of a bank-owned home was at least 30 percent below the average sales price of a non-distressed home in all 15 metro areas. The final step in the foreclosure process in which property ownership returns to the lender.

Make space to keep the spiritual fires burning Sharon, my wife, has some useful pointers about the best way to do it, but her most oft-stated reminder is that "fires need oxygen." Sharon's admonition reminds me of a favorite poem about it, written by a contemporary poet, Judy Brown. When we are able to build open spaces in the same way we have learned to pile on the logs, [...] the gift of the fire of my living is the space, the oxygen, the spirit in which God gives me breath and vitality. In this holy open space, I actually find and encounter God, and my life is better and my relationships are better for that. In the Christian tradition, we are coming to the end of the season of Lent, a time that is intended to let in more oxygen and more space for our souls.