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We are grateful for the opportunity to celebrate together in fellowship at the Gala on May 16th. Thank you to all the people involved in creating this year's United Parish Program...

Another successful UPP is behind us, a wonderful opportunity to build our community in a friendly setting on our own campus, while strengthening our parish finances and strengthening the future of our first and most important ministry—the formation of our youngest..

One day some time ago, I was sitting in the back pew of a chapel which belonged to some Franciscan Friars. The chapel was always open and I had stopped there to spend time in prayer and spiritual reading. Now this was a fairly large chapel - able to hold about a hundred people or so - and about midway through my time there, a mother came in with her young son, who was about two or three years old. The chapel had only a handful of people there at that particular time, but the mother and her son came and sat in the pew directly in front of me. I’ll admit I was a little annoyed at first...

Here’s how our “new church” looked in May 1957, midway through its construction. When Masses were finally celebrated in this magnificent space in July 1959 the proud members of this parish, especially those very few who had been parishioners a mere 25 years earlier when we had only 40 families could take a moment to reflect on how far they had come. They had built not just a mass of brick and mortar but, more importantly, a strong and vibrant faith community for the future.

We remember Mary, Queen of All Saints, in the month of May and we congratulate our parish First Communicants! Please join us for the May Crowning Mass with our First Communicants this Sunday, May 4 at 9am. You can see the stories of the eight apparitions of Mary (on the cover of the bulletin this week) in the window above the choir loft, underneath the rose window of the Immaculate Conception, patroness of the United States. The rosary is prayed at 8 am every weekday morning, year-round, before the 8:30 am Mass. Please join us.

Back in the day, when I made my First Communion, the date depended on the availability of the bishop. I received my First Communion and confirmation on October 24. Here at Queen of All Saints, First Communion and confirmation usually take place in the spring. Have you ever wondered why it is so? Is it because of the better weather, allowing more people to stand outside church and take pictures? Is it because the altar is filled with beautiful and fragrant blossoms? Is it because we are close to the end of the school year, and these two sacraments come at the culmination of months of preparation in religious education?

This is the first week of May, the month in which the earth springs into bloom (at least in Chicago) and we start thinking about planting gardens, family picnics and making vacation plans. It’s also the Month of Mary, the Queen of All Saints, the patroness of our parish.

Even as we mourn, we celebrate the life of Pope Francis with gratitude for his incredible leadership and his phenomenal example of humility, service, and faithfulness

As our Holy Father Pope Francis is laid to rest, a request that he so often made of you and me and the Church universal was to “please pray for me!” How many times did he conclude an audience, finish an address, or make a side remark with this request – to pray for him in the tasks that were entrusted to him as St. Peter’s successor, carrying the Gospel to the many corners of the earth. Please pray for me! St. Ambrose gives us the beautiful reminder to pray for the deceased - to not abandon them, but to accompany them with our prayers into the house of the Lord. Being that it was what the Holy Father often asked of you and me, how happy he would be if we did as he asked...

We often describe our call to stewardship as our selfless gifts of time, talent and treasure, in response to the wonderful gifts we have received from God. Our call to practice Stewardship of Talent is an invitation to live out our faith by discovering where and how the Spirit is calling us to serve.

Welcome to Queen of All Saints parish. We are glad you have joined us to celebrate Easter! On behalf of the staff of our parish and school, I wish you and your families a blessed Easter. May we know more fully the everlasting joy and peace of the Risen Christ within our own hearts. Easter is the Feast of Feasts, the joyful celebration of the true event of Christ’s Resurrection; and what makes this feast even more joyful is that it is also the celebration of our own Resurrection in Him.

"For more than a thousand years, the Church has sung five words that capture the message of Easter: CHRIST OUR HOPE HAS RISEN." Please click for an Easter message from Cardinal Cupich.

Today we enter the most sacred week in the Church’s liturgical calendar. This week we celebrate the mystery of a divinely extravagant love that lies at the heart of our faith. We begin today with the liturgy of Palm Sunday, when we gather together and reenact the scene of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem...

Not far from where my family lives there is a path that comes to life with ambitious high school and college students around this time each year. Most use it either because they’re part of a track and field team, or perhaps because they are hopeful of being part of one. Sometimes the coach is off to the side, waiting, encouraging, (or shouting), urging them on, monitoring their time. When the runners approach the street crossings, cars on the road need to wait as a squad of young people crosses. Of course, a thought that often comes to mind as we are waiting is, “I used to be able to move like that!”

Our Easter collection is one of our two major annual Holy Day collections to support our parish. Of course, we primarily depend on the support of our parishioners every week throughout the year to fund our total operating budget. This includes the maintenance of our beautiful basilica where we gather in shared worship, and our over 40 parish ministries that support each and every one of us at all stages of our lives..

Click for our Holy Week Schedule beginning on Saturday, April 12.

The parable of the Prodigal Son is likely one of the most quoted and most versatile of all the stories in the Gospels. This is so because at various times in our lives it is easy to identify with one or all of these characters. Of course, our motives for identifying with them can be mixed, such as when we prefer to put ourselves in the shoes of the generous father. He has been deeply wronged, and his youngest son has been a keen disappointment. We’ve all been there. And there is more than a hint of disappointment to be found in the eldest son, who complains that he has not received proper recognition from the father. We’ve all been the aggrieved elder brother; haven’t there been times when we’ve preferred to wallow in our grief and refuse to turn the page and move on?

Let’s live this Lent not as a time to “give something up” but rather to “give something back” - the gift of time to look inward to ourselves...

Good and gracious God, I know that life can be unpredictable. Sometimes I know what is good and right, but I don't have the courage to do it. Sometimes I am so busy with my own affairs, I forget to see the needs of people in front of me. Sometimes I am set in my own ways, and I resist growing and learning. Help me, Lord, to be open to Your will. When You prompt me to do the right thing, give me the courage to do it. When those around me need my help, give me Your heart to love them. When I'm stuck in my own ways, give me the grace to grow closer to You every day. Give me the trust and confidence of Mary. Let it be done unto me according to Your word! Amen.

From antiquity, the penitential aspect of the season of Lent was a time not only to do penance for one’s own sins, but also to pray in a special way for those who would be receiving the Sacraments at Easter. In the early days of the Church, becoming Catholic for many meant putting everything on the line - one didn’t know what one might be called on to sacrifice...