Fr. Simon's Letter - January 23, 2022

About six years ago, at a gathering of the priests of the Archdiocese of Chicago, Cardinal Cupich invited those gathered to take a hard look at the ‘signs of the time’ and encouraged us to prepare for the future. The obvious signs were declining numbers of those who are actively engaged in their faith, growing shortage of priests and failing infrastructure.

The inspiration for that day of prayer, reflection and discernment was the San Damiano Cross (pictured below). The story goes that while St. Francis of Assisi was praying before the icon of the San Damiano Cross, he heard Jesus call to him: “Go repair my Church, which, as you see, is falling completely into ruin.” 

At first, St. Francis initially took this to mean he was to repair the church buildings of San Damiano. However, he eventually discerned that Jesus was calling him to rebuild the spiritual life and vitality of the entire earthly Church. Likewise, we must see that the future of the Catholic Church is bigger than any of our parish buildings. It was here that the initiative ‘Renew My Church’ was set in motion.

Over the past few years many parishes have gone through this process. Some parishes merged with others, some closed and several stayed open. Our parish along with St. Mary of the Woods, will not experience structural change, however we are called to examine our parish strengths, challenges and opportunities in order to focus on spiritual renewal and build a culture of evangelization. 

In the face of this, what does it mean to ‘renew my church’? The Lord of the Universe speaks these words to us just as he spoke them to the saints before us. It seems like a tall order to renew the Church. Isn’t that someone else’s job? Our own little parish, maybe. But the whole Church? ‘YES’, and we will, because renewal always begins within our own hearts.

Through Renew My Church initiatives, the Archdiocese will re-commit our local Church to our gospel commission to make disciples, build vital communities of faith and inspire witness to bring the light and hope of Christ to a world in need. These mission imperatives guide all that we do in and through the efforts of renewal.

Our initiative of Renew My Church is focused on increasing the vitality of the faith communities of our parish and our neighboring parish, St. Mary of the Woods. Together with leaders from both parishes, called the Grouping Feedback and Discernment Team (GFDT), we will engage in a process of reflection, discernment and planning to consider how we can collaborate and combine resources so that we are better equipped to bring Jesus Christ to the world today. Over the course of the next three months, our parishes will discuss, share, pray and discern the best forms of collaboration to create a sustainable, vibrant and vital Catholic presence in our area. 

The members of the GFDT of QAS includes the pastor, principal, Paul Arends, John Conway, Lauren Gaffey, Joe Onofrio and Erika Tate. In the second or third week of February, the entire parish will be invited to reflect on our own efforts to renew our faith and our active participation in the life of the Church and to share ideas and ways that will help our community be a witness to discipleship.

May God bless us and may the Holy Spirit guide and enable us to be true to our calling.

Blessings!!