Fr. Simon's Letter - March 16, 2025

Happy St. Patrick’s Day and Happy St. Joseph’s Day! Whether you celebrate by being part of a parade, watching the Chicago River dyed green, attending Mass or making a meal that includes corned-beef, cabbage and Irish soda bread or share in the food of St. Joseph’s table, these days are special. 

For me, it is about celebrating my dad, Patrick Joseph, whose birthday is March 20th. He is named in honor of these two saints whose feast days precede his birthday. For most of us, these two feast days are about celebrating our culture and our roots along with those from our homeland. Some have remarked that everyone is Irish or Italian on these special days. 

As a believing community, we gather each day, each week, to celebrate our faith in the beautiful worship space of the basilica, which was made possible by the generosity and sacrifice of those who have come before us. In the early days since the parish was established, the people of QAS gathered not only to celebrate their faith, but also to celebrate the community. In the 1940’s, or maybe even in the 1930’s, they came together for a relatively fancy party at the Old Edgewater Beach Hotel. The event transitioned to the St. Patrick’s Day Party in the 1950’s when the Gym was opened. Later, it became the St. Patrick’s / St. Joseph’s Party for many years. In the 1980’s, the celebration took on a new name, the United Parish Program (UPP).

The St. Patrick’s / St. Joseph’s Party focused mainly on the people of Queen of All Saints, celebrating one another and the gifts each person brings to build up this community of faith. People made new friends, connected with old ones and pretty much enjoyed a good time. It began to dawn on them that as the community grew in size, more ministries and outreach programs were added, and buildings manifested a need to be cared for and repaired; eventually fundraising became an integral and important component of these gatherings. For years, the Raffle was the primary source of fundraising. In the 2000’s, as more and more people came together, the UPP moved outdoors under the grand tent. COVID forced us to rethink the cost of hosting the event under the tent, and as responsible stewards, we had to make the difficult but prudent decision to move the party to an off-site venue for a few years. However, we realize that our UPP is more than just a fundraiser, it is a celebration of community, and this year we have decided to bring the event back home.
We continue in our tradition as we come together once again to celebrate our community through the UPP. It is a time to be grateful for the past, mindful of the present and hopeful of the future. The UPP is our one and only fundraiser with a goal to raise $275,000, which will support the many ministries of our parish. 

The Raffle is still our primary source of fundraising, and will help us reach a third of our goal. To achieve this, we need to sell 3,500 tickets, which only cost $30 each. If we sell 3,500 tickets, another prize of $2,500 will be added and if we do better and sell 110% of our goal a fifth prize of $2,500 dollars will be added. With so many opportunities to win, it should be hard to resist buying your tickets now! Remember, if you buy a block of ten tickets, you will be entered for a special drawing for a $1,000 prize. We have only one more early bird drawing this Friday, March 21st – your final chance at the $500 early bird prize. Tickets can be purchased online at www.aesbid.com/ELP/QAS25/Tickets or by scanning the QR code, or you can pick up a pack of tickets in the basilica.  
Another way for us to embrace our community and raise funds is through our presence at the gala event on Friday, May 16, 2025 under the sprawling tent. You should be receiving invitations in the mail very soon. Please send in your RSVP as soon as you are able to help with our planning for this important parish celebration. I strongly encourage you to buy your tickets early, as March 17th is the last day to purchase gala tickets at a discounted price. Get your friends together for a full table or reach out and invite someone new to join you at the table. You can also support the UPP through sponsorships, ads and donating items to the auction. Our primary goal is to honor and support our community so that together we can build our tomorrow. I encourage you to visit our UPP website, www.aesbid.com/ELP/QAS25, the one-stop shop where you will find many other ways to support and be part of the UPP. 

Blessings!!
-Fr. Simon